sawubona

Sawubona: "hello"
"Hello, new friends"
"Hello, new semester"
"Hello, new (very difficult) language"
"Hello, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities"
"Hello, AFRICA!"

We arrived to Pietermaritzburg yesterday afternoon around 2. We unloaded the buses and were greeted with a humid heat I haven't felt since I visited mom's hometown in Florida in July! Immediately sweating, we managed to ignore the heat as we were enamored with the beauty of our new home. It is unreal. All shades of green foliage against the blue sky with the puffiest white clouds create such a gorgeous landscape. Plus the buildings are all pure white and brick. Talk about picture-perfect!
We had lunch before moving our luggage into our rooms. Apparently you have 3 large meals a day along with tea time twice a day! The rooibos tea was delicious though. After lunch we were given our housing assignments. I live in a chalet with four bedrooms of 2 girls in each, with 2 bathrooms and showers. We have a common area with 2 more desks and a kitchen. It's great! Its called the John Wilson chalet. I keep calling it the John Wayne chalet, apparently I am influenced by more country than I realized! Anyways, we moved in, had a quick orientation about the semester, and were given free time before dinner! We walked around campus and discovered the waterfall, the natural swimming pool with a rock slide into it, the prayer chapel surrounded by a koi fish pond, and the game reserve next door that houses zebras and antelope! Sounds rough, doesn't it? We are staying at the African Enterprise, which is a Christian organization similar to a church camp. So right now there are a group of Australians staying here that we met yesterday too. It's a neat company, I might go to the church were the CEO preaches this Sunday.
After dinner I unpacked and got situated into my new room. Oh, by the way, there is this gang of evil monkeys that live right outside our chalets. The ring leader is missing one eye and his tail, so he is terrifying. Anyways, if you leave your doors unlocked or windows open, they are smart enough to break in and go through your clothes, throw them everywhere, eat any food you have, open and squeeze toothpaste everywhere, and POOP everywhere! Including the walls and ceiling. Awesome, right? So my suite mate comes home yesterday and finds her clothes all out of her suitcase, the lamp knocked over, dirt everywhere, and poop on her pillow. As they say it, "TIA, This Is Africa!"
This morning we had more orientation and learned about more opportunities we have this semester. We get to see the big 5 on our safari, lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and rhinos. Additionally we see hippos, giraffes, zebras, etc. There is a chance to go in a cage with cheetas, and go shark cage diving. I'm not sure about the sharks, but we'll see! I'm off to lunch soon, then a trip to the mall to buy some of the necessities I left at home. I've been laying on a grassy hill with friends for the past hour, not too bad. Until later!