SOUTH AFRICA!!!

I can’t believe that I am actually here right now. As I was explaining to the people I sat next to on my flight to South Africa, this trip has been over a year in the making. I decided to apply for this program in early January of last year, applied, interviewed, and was accepted by the beginning of March. That was a long time ago and made for a lot of buildup. But I am here now, and I am loving it!
In case you missed it, I have a separate post for the end of my Europe adventures, so be sure and check that one out.
Travelling went smoothly. I awoke at 5:45am on Tuesday, my flight left at about 10:00am, and I landed around 10:30pm in Cape Town. I met a very nice couple from Sweden and we exchanged contact information just in case one of us is in the other’s neighborhood someday. I was not quite done with my journey. I had a one hour flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth which left at 6:00am the next morning, so I spent a nice night in the Cape Town airport by myself. I got some reading done and had some quality time watching Planet Earth (thanks Hal!).
Wednesday was a very long day. I got to Port Elizabeth (PE for short) around 7:15am after almost no sleep the night before, and started orientation right away. It was a little bit difficult to keep from nodding off, but I made it! I spent the afternoon recuperating from the long journey, but that didn’t stop me from going to a club with some friends on my first night in South Africa!
I suppose I should introduce you to daily life before going any further. We will be living the rough life in a place called Langerry Flats, and they are right across the street from a beautiful beach! Just for your info, we bought some post cards of a beach in PE, and our flats are definitely in the background, so don’t feel sorry for me! They are pretty small, consisting of two bedrooms, one with two people in it and mine with three, a small living room, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. They are cozy, but definitely adequate. I, Dave, Zach (who I travelled with in Europe) share a bedroom, and the other two in our flat are Sean Suter, another Minnesota boy, and Boris Sekulik, who is from Bosnia. They are all a lot of fun and pretty laid back, so we’ll have no problem sharing the place. I would introduce you to the rest of my group, but there are 30 of us total, so that would be pretty hard to keep straight.
Orientation continued on Thursday, but was different and more interesting in my mind. We had a tour of the city and its townships. Our first stop was the port’s shipping docks for an explanation of what goes on there, we also stopped by the city’s center and founding spot for a little history lesson on PE, and we made a stop in a township near the outskirts of the city. It was all interesting, but the township is what stuck with me the most. They are basically slums or shanties where mostly black South Africans live. The poverty was almost unbelievable, and thankfully the government is working on building more suitable living conditions, but it is a slow process. We visited a museum there commemorating the struggle against Apartheid in the townships. Despite the poverty, I found the trip to the townships inspiring, because all of the people there seemed happy. When we arrived, there were a few children that happened to be outside the bus and they waved at us and when we got out, started dancing. As we were leaving, we saw people walking around and everyone smiled and waved at us like we were celebrities. We left the townships and fifteen minutes later we were at a shopping mall to eat lunch. Talk about your culture shock, going from such poverty to a shopping mall that is no different than any you would find in the United States in only fifteen minutes. After our city tour some friends and I walked across the street and checked out the beach! After a couple hours of swimming, body boarding, and a game of soccer on the beach everyone was pretty tired, so we went back, had some dinner, and most of us just hung out in the flats.
On Friday morning, I finished up orientation at NMMU (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University), where we will be taking our classes. For the last of our Friday orientation our whole group attended a cricket match in PE that evening. I had basically never seen cricket played before, but by the end I was a screaming fan like the rest in the stadium! It was a really close game and the home team barely snuck by with the win! It was a ton of fun and we all got really into the game. The experience was definitely a step into their culture and I will not soon forget it. We were all in a festive mood, so after the match some of us paid a visit to a couple of nearby clubs and danced the night away!
Saturday was a very relaxing day. I got myself oriented to the neighborhood, got myself oriented with the beach a little more, and hung out around the flats a little bit. On the schedule for the evening was a braai, or a South African barbeque, with some locals. We were invited through a former SJU student who lives in South Africa and knows some people in our group. Everyone there was extremely nice, outgoing, and wanted to get to know us. It was a great experience and another fantastic look into the South African culture!
Sunday was another relaxing day (are you noticing a trend yet?). Every Sunday there is a little open air market all along the beach, so right across the street from where we live. They have almost everything imaginable, from purses and belts, wood carvings and food, to jerseys and electronics. I ventured down for a couple of hours with some friends, checking out the handiwork of those from PE. Afterwards, the whole group went to a soccer game between the PE team and another city team. It wasn’t too interesting until near the end of the game. We were down 1-0, and were looking kind of desperate. All of a sudden a few hundred people stood up and started cheering. They cheered for a few seconds then simultaneously started singing a song in a language I couldn’t understand. This might not be too surprising, except for the fact that the singing was really good! There were people singing in harmony and I don’t think I heard one person sing off key. It was better than a lot of choirs I have heard singing! I guess that’s South Africa!
Today is the first day of classes, but not for me and a few others. So, tomorrow is kind of the end of my vacation. I am excited to get into our routine and find out how classes are.
Well, I wish you all the best of luck staying warm back home and I will try and make an extra trip to the beach for you!
With love from South Africa,
Kirby

P.S. Here are the captions for the pictures

Top pic (right): The living room of flat 13 at Langerry. Cozy, but very adequate!

Second pic (left): The view of the ocean from the balcony of our flat.

Third pic (right): My bedroom.

Fourth pic (left): Photo of the taxis we take from the flats to school. They drive up and down the road, someone usually hanging out the window to "advertise" for lack of a better word, and pick anyone up who wants a ride. They're pretty economical, costing only about 60 cents per ride. It's a cultural experience itself!

Bringing Europe to a close…

Greetings to all of you freezing your rear end off in Minnesota and beyond. Well, I am going to split this post up into two separate ones, just to make it a little more understandable. I will finish telling about Europe, then write a separate post about South Africa.
I don’t think there was ever a dull moment throughout our Europe trip. When I last left off, it was Saturday and we had just experienced the atrocities of the Dachau concentration camp. Well, the next day (Sunday February 1st) was a travel day. But as I just said, the excitement never ended. We had to catch two trains in order to reach our final destination, Amsterdam. Everything with our first train went smoothly, but we were kind of nervous about our second one. We only had about 8 minutes from the time our first train was scheduled to arrive until the second one was supposed to leave. Of course our first train ended up being about 15 minutes late, our only train that was late the whole trip, so we missed our next one. It was more just an inconvenience than anything, because we were able to catch another train about three and a half hours later, it just drew our traveling out and put us a little on edge. We got to Amsterdam, took a cab to our hostel, and just hung out for the rest of the night.
On Monday morning my three travel companions departed for South Africa while I stayed in Amsterdam an extra day. Initially they were scheduled to fly on the same day as me, but their flight from Amsterdam to South Africa got cancelled about a week before we left. Basically their only option was to move everything to a day earlier. That left me to conquer Amsterdam alone. I looked at my options and decided to check out the Vincent Van Gogh museum. I found it was interesting and and eduacational. But I think, as they say, getting there was half the fun. I was pointed in the right direction, got on a trolley, and was left to figure it out. It was a little nerve racking, but I got there without too much hassle and felt empowered by my accomplishment. In the end I was glad that I got out of my comfort zone and got to know the city a little bit better. I spent the night in a dorm room hostel with five random people. After chatting and joking around a little bit I called it a relatively early night, for the next morning, I was to set sail for South Africa!
Peace,
Kirby

My Apologies

I have a couple of things to apologize to my wonderful readers about. First, I'm sorry for making that last post ridiculously long. Lots of stuff has happened and I haven't had too many opportunities to blog. Also, sorry for not getting any pictures up yet. I'm still trying to get that figured out (although I haven't spent too much time on it). If you have any tips, feel free to let me know.
Peace,
Kirby

The European Tour Continues!

Greetings from Europe to all of my faithful readers! Yesterday morning I looked at the date and realized that it has been almost a week since I blogged last, so I decided I better update you all on what has been happening. The time has flown by and I definitely have plenty of stories to tell. The majority of this was written while on the train from Florence to Munich, so if you are worried that I’m spending all of my time blogging, rest assured that I am taking in all of the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Europe!
It been only six days since my last blog, but if seems like both a month and only a second. We have done so many things since then, but the time has just flown by. I last blogged on Sunday afternoon, our last day in Zurich, Switzerland, before catching an overnight train to Rome. That night Zach’s uncle took us into Zurich to explore the city a little bit, and then eat at one of his favorite restaurants in town, a place he claimed has the best sausages. The food was tasty and before long we were headed towards the station to catch our overnight train. The train ride seemed to fly by. Of course it helped that I slept for the large majority of it. The next morning we stepped off the train in Rome, found our hostel and before long were off to conquer the city! We made our way to ancient Rome, and after walking the streets for a while we made our first stop at St. Peter-in-Chains church not too far from the Colosseum. It was built to house the chains that bound St. Peter and also has one of Michelangelo’s famous works, a statue called Moses. From there we stopped and had lunch at a small pizzeria called L’Archetto diCavour and got our first taste of authentic Italian food. It was delicious and I really wouldn’t mind having a few of those places closer to home! After lunch we made our way to the Colosseum. We ended up hiring a tour guide there, probably one of the better decisions of the trip. He was very informative, feeding us with interesting facts and dispelling myths about the Colosseum left and right. Another perk is that the tour guide was hilarious, something that cheered us up and added to our enjoyment. The coolest part was that we see the Colosseum in so many pictures and movies it seems like we know what it should be like. But being able to see it in real life is so much better, being able to see the whole picture. The tour also included the Roman Forum and Paletine Hill, both a short walk from the Colosseum. I cannot claim to be well versed in my Roman history, so I was able to learn a great deal from the tour guides turning a good experience into a great one! After experiencing ancient Rome we went back to our hostel and rested for a while in anticipation of the evening to come. I contacted a friend of mine, Matteo, who had been a foreign exchange student in Marshall when I was a sophomore in high school. He is in medical school in Rome, so he was able to come and meet us at our hostel. He arrived around 8:00pm with a friend of his and we set out for our destinations. Our first stop for the evening was the Trevi Fountain. It was amazing! It is huge and beautifully lit up at night with a number of statues in and around it. The scene seemed to be alive and with all of the young people around the atmosphere was buzzing. For all those up at school, it definitely beats up on the Sexton fountain! Our next stop was dinner at a small restaurant where we sat outside and enjoyed the warm Italian night. Good food, an outdoor table on a nice night, and good company, made it seem like a scene straight from a movie. Afterwards we decided to check out the night life a little bit. Matteo showed us around a little bit, we made a couple of stops, and ended up having a really good time. It was really cool to be able to catch up with Matteo and get a glimpse of his life and culture after his experienced of mine five years ago.
The next morning we got up, grabbed some breakfast, and got our tourist faces on again. We hopped on the metro and set our course for the Vatican! Between getting off the metro and St. Peter’s square we got hit up about 20 times for tours, no exaggerating. Apparently we looked American since all of them spoke in English right away. One tour guide even offered Zach a “North Face discount!” We stuck to our plan and instead chose to get audio guides (basically a recording of a tour guide) which worked fine and saved us some cash. We first went to St. Peter’s square and the Basilica. Words cannot describe how beautiful the scene was. After a few minutes in the square, we decided to avoid the coming rain and make our way through the Basilica. Afterwards we paid a few Euros to see the top of the copula, the dome Michelangelo designed covering the center of St. Peter’s Basilica. This was another very good decision and 323 steps later, there an unbelievable view of Rome and the Vatican lay before us. We spent probably half an hour just taking in the sight and enjoying the fresh air. Next we went to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. We spent the better part of a few hours wandering the halls of the Museum and being wowed by the works of famous artists such as Michelangelo, Bernini, and Raphael, to name a few. The Sistine Chapel was definitely my favorite part of the day and maybe even of the whole trip so far. It was so much to take in and I loved every minute of it! The day seemed to fly by and before we knew it we were back at our hostel spending the evening sipping on wine and recounting the adventures of the past couple of days.
On Wednesday our touring was limited to the morning and we planned on visiting only the Pantheon and Castle of Angels, the latter of which we didn’t even make it to. The Pantheon was a very impressive structure even by today’s standards, and it amazed me that it was built before the birth of Christ. We ran out of time for the Castle of Angels and had to catch our train to Florence. It was very nice to be able to see the Italian countryside, seeing the side of Italy that isn’t the impressive architecture. When we got to Florence we spent about an hour wandering around looking for our hostel before we finally hailed a taxi. We settled in, went to dinner at a pizzeria called daGaribardi and, slightly fatigued from the day, decided to lay low and plan our excursions for Thursday.
First thing Thursday morning we went to the Academia museum, home of one of Michelangelo’s most famous works, a statue called David. Most of the museum was not of particular interest to me. But when we got to David, I knew what all of the hype was about. The statue was unbelievable and well worth the trip to the museum. Afterwards we went to the Duomo, a cathedral that took over 150 years to finish. When we got there I saw why. It was huge and there was so much detail on the outside that I could have spent days looking at it and still not seen all of the intricate details. We continued to explore Florence on foot after this. We went to a hill on its southern side and got a great birds eye view of the city, tried some of the world-famous gelato (ice cream), among other things. After supper we took in a little bit of the evening in Florence. We just strolled along the streets checking out the little shops that were just closing and saw some of the fashion stores Italy is famous for such as Prada, Gucci, Burberry, and Versace.
Yesterday was pretty uneventful. We woke up and caught our train which left at 8:30am. A few cities and a lot of countryside later we found ourselves in Munich around 6:30pm. I definitely enjoyed the train ride and tried to not think of it as time lost travelling, but as a tour of upper Italy, Austria, and southern Germany. We found our hostel quickly and went to dinner at a German beer hall/restaurant. It was an experience like none other. The inside was dimly lit and the tables were about the same size as picnic tables, but held up by huge beer barrels with benches on each side. Almost all of the tables were packed with people and atop each were big plates of food, bread pretzels, and of course huge mugs of beer. The four of us sat at a table with four Danish guys. They knew a little bit of English, but we didn’t get to talk to them very much. It was definitely a new experience and we felt a little out of place, but it was a great time.
And that brings us to today. This morning we got up, took care of some things and took off for Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp to be established. It was definitely a change of pace from the past week and a real eye-opening experience. Its one thing to hear about these places in a history class or read about it in books, but it’s a completely different thing to experience it first hand. It gives you a different perspective and a glimpse of the suffering and cruelty that existed such a short time ago. It was a great learning experience. We spent most of the morning and afternoon there and have otherwise just been taking it easy in our hostel. I think that we are all getting a little bit tired, but needless to say, I am still loving our European tour! I’m also starting to get anxious for South Africa and all that is to come. Some is nervousness, but mostly I am excited for all of the great things that are to come this semester! That’s about all I have for now. I hope all is well with you, and I welcome any e-mail or updates with your life.
Wishing you the best,
Kirby

And we're off!

Thinking back, it seemed like this trip was nothing more than a dream, something distant that might never come about. Maybe I was trying to live in the present, or thinking about it made me nervous. Maybe I didn’t want to think about the fact that I would be leaving almost everything I have known and loved for four months. But now I’m living it, loving it, and feel ready for what’s in store. So far, saying goodbye has been the hardest part. Since then my focus has been on the present and what lies ahead in the next four months.
Thankfully, I can say that everything has been smooth sailing so far. After bidding my mother farewell at the airport, I made it through security without any hassle, found the gate and my group, and had a short wait for the airplane. I suppose that this is an ideal time to introduce the group I am traveling with in Europe. It is I, Zach Merten, David Sandager, and Colleen Smith, all juniors at CSB/SJU that are studying abroad in South Africa.
The flight was uneventful, we got our baggage right away, and it seemed like they didn’t even have customs or immigration in the Netherlands. It was shortly after 6:00am on Friday morning when we left the airport and we were scheduled to catch an 8:30pm train out of Amsterdam, so unfortunately we didn’t have a hostel to leave our luggage at. We spent most of the day on Friday walking around Amsterdam, which was not as enjoyable as it could have been with our luggage on our backs and a light rain falling. The highlight of Amsterdam was definitely the Anne Frank house. If you are not familiar with Anne Frank, she was a Jewish girl that spent about two years of World War II with her family in hiding from the Germans. She kept a detailed diary on her experiences, which her father published after the war. Other than that, we had some morning coffee and then lunch in some neat little cafes, then spent some time warming up and playing cards in the Amsterdam public library. We spent Friday night on an overnight train to Zurich, Switzerland and arrived around 8:30am on Saturday morning. There to meet us at the train station was Zach’s uncle, also named David (not to be confused with David in our group). It was about a 15 minute car ride to his home where we got to freshen up a bit, something that was much needed. Before long we were on the road again, off to check out the Swiss Alps. We saw some good sights in the car, but the best was a place called Pilatus Luzern, where we took a tram to one of the highest peaks in the area. It was mostly overcast and snowy on the way up and for the first little while when we were at the top, so I didn’t think too much of it. But about a half hour into our time at the top, the snow and fog moved out and all around us was one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen! Just take a look at the pictures and see for yourself! After that, we went back to David’s house, took a much needed nap, and then went out for dinner at a small local restaurant. The food was delicious and the company was even better. Two hours later we were on our way back, and after some intense cribbage, hit the sack. I can’t remember a time when I slept longer and better than last night. Today has been pretty laid back. We went and saw a beautiful cathedral in a small town about 20 minutes away, and are now getting ready to catch our overnight train to Rome. So far, the trip has been very close to ideal. David has shown us unbelievable hospitality and everything has gone like clockwork. I can only hope the next week goes as well!
Sending all my love from Europe,
Kirby

Ok, and since I can't figure out how to put captions for the pictures, I will just do it here.

Top Picture: Sweet architecture along one of the canals in Amsterdam!

Second Picture: View on the outskirts of Zurich with the Swiss Alps in the background.

Third Picture: Top of the mountain in the Swiss Alps. Pretty chilly, but well worth the scenery!

Fourth Picture: Myself with an amazing view of the Swiss Alps in the background.

Final Picture: I definitely like taking pictures of scenery. This is one of my favorites taken in the tram on our way down the mountain.

Itinerary

Here's an overview of my itinerary for the ten days in Europe and a couple of the trips during the semester that are already planned. I'll probably update it throughout the semester, so keep checking back!

Jan. 22nd: Fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, Netherlands!
Jan. 23rd: Hang out in Amsterdam; catch overnight train to Zurich, Switzerland.
Jan. 24th - 25th: Tour Zurich and surrounding area; catch overnight train to Rome, Italy on evening of the 25th.
Jan. 26th - 27th: Tour Rome; catch morning train to Florence, Italy on the 28th.
Jan. 28th - 29th: Tour Florence; catch overnight train to Munich, Germany on evening of the 29th.
Jan. 30th - Feb. 2nd: Tour Munich; catch morning train to Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Feb. 3rd: Fly from Amsterdam to Port Elizabeth, South Africa!

Feb. 4th - 9th: School/group orientation.
Feb. 9th: Classes start.
Mar. 5th - 9th: Group excursion to Durban, South Africa.
Mar. 31st - April 5th: Group excursion to Cape Town, South Africa.
Apr. 6th - 13th: Spring Break and lots of travelling!
Apr. 17th - 19th: Group excursion to the frontier.
May 18th - 20th: Final Exams.
May 21st: Fly from Port Elizabeth, South Africa back home.
May 22nd: Arrive in Minneapolis.

Ok, that was probably a good thing to do. My life seems a lot more in order now (seems is the key word). Pretty sure that's all I've got for now.
God Bless,
Kirby

It all begins!

Well, I guess this is the beginning. My adventures have not technically started yet, but they will soon enough. I have been doing some things to prepare, mostly getting needed supplies and doing some research on what we will be doing in Europe. I leave on January 22nd to spend ten days in Europe before heading down to Port Elizabeth, South Africa on February 3rd. I'll hopefully figure out how to put my tentative schedule for travelling throughout the semester. I think that's about it for now. God Bless.
Kirby