It's a Party in the USA

Today I arrived back in the States after being South Africa for 4 months! The last week of being in South Africa was awesome. My mom and John met me in Cape Town and we tried to check off all of our things on our "Cape Town Bucket List". This included going to Robben Island, taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, visiting a colony of African penguins, wine tasting in the wine region, and eating some of the best food in the world. Mission accomplished. We completed our bucket list as well as a few other things. We visited the National Gallery, walked in the Company Gardens, and went on a seal cruise. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful Cape Town truly is. Table Mountain really is one of the most stunning places in the world and the Cape Peninsula is just as beautiful. I hope I get a chance to go back and spend even more time there. I loved it!

After a week in Cape Town we went to Johannesburg for a day and visited TLC before we left the country. It was crazy being back at TLC after a year and seeing familiar faces there. Some of the little ones I had helped take care of were long gone and living with their forever families. Others were still being loved by TLC staff. It was crazy seeing how big the little ones were. My mom wanted to swipe one little girl. I'm not surprised, after being at TLC for 5 minutes you start to get attached to all the kids. And as crazy as it sounds, some of the little ones remembered me. One little boy I spent a lot of time with came crawling to me instantly. Another little one I spent a lot of time with recognized my voice. It was amazing to feel so connected to these kids.

And now, after a 18+ hour flight (weather in Joburg was bad) plus waiting in the Atlanta airport plus flying 2 hours to Cleveland, I'm back. 113 days later. 4 months of living, breathing, eating, and sleeping in South Africa. I can't even begin to sum up all the emotions I've been feeling since leaving South Africa: I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm confused. Yes there were times where I was frustrated, but overall it was one of the greatest experiences in my life. There's definitely things I'll miss....

1) living by the beach

2) being proposed to by random Zulu men

3) going to open air markets on a weekly basis

4) working with CANSA

5) being the legal drinking age

6) living so close to museums, clubs, gardens, and other awesome things to do

7) pretending to be able to speak Zulu

And things I won't miss....

1) not having a car

2) being proposed to by random Zulu men

3) paying for taxis

4) tomato sauce (pronounced toe-mah-toe, it's supposed to be ketchup)

5) cockroaches

I can't believe this is the end of my semester abroad. Thanks for following my blog and listening to me complain and brag for an entire semester. Next time I'll post to this blog is on my next adventure. Who knows where that will be: Africa? Asia? Europe? Australia? It's anyones guess. Hamba Kahle South Africa! I can't wait to see you again!

Safari Trip

This past Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I was in St. Lucia. There, we went on a safari in a game reserve, went on a boat safari, and went to the beach. It was an AMAZING experience. Here's the run down of the highlights:

Safari:

So we woke up at 4:30 in the morning to be ready to head out to the game reserve by 5 am. We arrived at the game reserve around 5:30 am ready to see some animals. At first we didn't see anything exciting, just a few impala, a warthog, and some birds. Then we saw a giraffe super close to our car. After letting us take pictures of it for a while, it decided to walk in front of our car. We ended up tailgating the giraffe until it decided to get off the road! After seeing the first giraffe we saw SO many animals. We saw rhinos at least 10 times. We also saw a herd of 50-75 elephants. At first they were walking along the mountain side, then they walked down into the valley where our car was. They all crossed the road in front of our car! It was incredible seeing so many elephants up close! We also saw some rhinos really close to our car. At one point we thought the rhino might charge our car. We all had to sit really still and not talk. Eventually the rhino went back to eating some grass. After the rhino we saw some zebras, water buffalo, and tons of types of antelope. Unfortunately we didn't see any of the cats. But we did see a spotted hyena taking a nap in the grass.

Boat Safari:

The next day we went on a boat safari. There we saw nile crocodiles, tons of hippos, and cool water birds. We got a chance to see hippos up close from the bottom deck of the boat. I'm pretty sure that if I were to be reincarnated into any animal, being a hippo wouldn't be so bad. They lounge in the water all day, eat sea grass, and just bum around all day. They're also secretly bad ass. Hippos kill tons of people every year and are not an animal you want to mess with. Anyways, it was nice to sit back, have a couple of toots and hang out with my friends on the boat.

Today is my last night in Durban. There are only 8 of us left in Durban and we'll be having a sleep over at the SIT house because we don't want to pay for a hostel. We're going out to dinner to a thai restaurant on Florida road. Tomorrow, I'll leave for Cape Town to meet up with my mom and John! SO EXCITED! I've always wanted to go to Cape Town and now I'm finally doing it! This week I'll be crossing two things off my bucket list: visiting Cape Town and going on Safari. It's also exciting because I only have a week left in South Africa. Soon enough I'll be home. I love South Africa, but it's definitely time for me to head home.

Miss you all and can't wait to see you soon!