Paris, France

July 4^th – 6^th.

I got to Paris at a decent hour, giving me enough time to make it to my hostel (mind you I was staying in a Korean hostel – it was the cheapest and they gave you breakfast and dinner.. PERFECT FREE FOOD!!) At the airport I made sure to get a map and asked the information desk tons of questions. I was not about to ask a mean French person how to get anywhere. I was terrified of them! I got on the train and was headed towards the hostel (or so I hoped). I had to transfer trains once but I managed. I got to the end of the line, walked up the stairs and was immediately lost. So I stood there for a second waiting and looking around. I was hoping it would just click which way I had to go. I re-read the directions like 12 times. I started to walk and a guy came up to me (he was on the same underground train as me I am pretty sure). He asked if I needed help. I showed him the name of a couple of streets, which were written on my paper. He looked at them and then he started making hand gestures. I sort of got what he was saying.. so off I went trying to figure it out. I was like well I am just going to walk in this direction and hope and pray I find it! I acted like I knew right where I was going. I passed by a group of a bunch of hoodlums, but I wasn’t scared. I learned that confidence is necessary when traveling alone. I never acted lost (even when I had no clue where I was or what was going on). I just walked and pretended. It was all starting to come together. The directions made sense and I was coming to the correct roads. I was going to find it! I finally got there and I rang the bell for them to let me in. A cute little Korean came to let me in. I got checked in and she gave me a room. It was on the first floor with 3 other people, who I didn’t know. I got a tour and then I asked where I could get food. It was almost 10 o’clock and I was starving. She explained where the nearest grocery store was but that it closed in 20 minutes.

I was on a mission. I needed food and NOW. I practically ran to the store. I got there and they were starting to close up. All I wanted was some soymilk and cereal. That is all oh and maybe some fruit (apples and bananas). I found the cereal, no problem. It was the soymilk that was hard. So I headed for the milk that was on the shelf. That was usually where the soymilk was kept. However it seemed to me (in my little – I mean no knowledge of French) that it was all real milk. I couldn’t have that. The store lights kept going off and they might have made an announcement. I was determined to find it. So I tried to ask this nice lady who was shopping. She had no idea what I was trying to say. So her boyfriend (who knows maybe it was her brother) came over and he understood what I wanted. He just didn’t know where it was. He tried to ask a worker and he didn’t know either (at least that is what I caught – almost all of this was going on in French – I was just reading body language and the listening to some broken English). Finally as they were practically kicking us out, another worker knew right where it was. He took me to a cooler – lifted the curtain and there it was the oh so glorious milk that would not make me keel over. I was so thankful and joyous, I could have kissed the man. I said merci like 20 times, checked out and walked back to the hostel. I had a massive bowl of cereal and was happy. Life was good.

The next day my plan was to hit up all the major museums (since it was my only full day in Paris). I started walking around, I first hit up the Notre Dame Cathedral. Then I was on to the Louvre. When I got there I noticed that it was closed. What? I thought they were all closed on Mondays, not on Tuesdays. Turns out all the major museums are closed on Tuesdays. I tried like 3 different ones. ALL were closed. I was so disappointed but I just went to what I could. I would pull out my map and say ok. Here is where I am going next and start walking. I made it to the Arch de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower. I walked and walked and walked and walked some more. I never took the bus or trains or anything. I had my Camelbak backpack on (actually the knock-off brand from walmart but whatever) full of water and some snacks, and I was off and on a mission. I was bound and determined to see all of Paris in a day and a half. I got back that evening in time for the free Korean dinner. I was pretty good (I now know I can probably survive in Korea and not starve! Haha). After dinner I started talking to some Americans who were also staying at the hostel and we decided we needed to see the Eiffel tower at night. So a small group of us headed to the train. I immediately started booking it and one of the guys were with started making fun of my fast pace. I said lets go we’ve got things to see. He was like.. ‘ok you are one of those crazy tourists’ and I said I guess I am. Although their pace was much slower I forced myself to calm down and just take it in. We finally made it to the tower. I was so pretty at night! It was all lit up and the sun was just setting so the sky was a pretty dark blue color. Every hour, on the hour it twinkles. It is spectacular. A few of the people decided to go up it. I didn’t want to pay to go up it so me and 2 others decided to go look at it from a distance. We crossed the street, walked up some steps (they were steps of some museum I think) and just looked and watched. I took a billion pictures. We waited for it to twinkle again and then we headed back to wait for the others. I don’t exactly remember if we found them or not. We might have headed back on our own because we were sick of waiting.

The next day I got up early because I had to see the Louvre and the Pompidou all before 2 when my train left for Germany. If that kid thought I walked fast the night before he hadn’t seen anything. I had to take my suitcase with me.. so I was speed walking with all my belongings around Paris. I took the train to the Louvre stop and stood in line. I was lucky and had a pass, which allowed me to skip most of the line. But I still had to go through security. I checked my suitcase and then headed for the Mona Lisa – yes I was that tourist but only because I had to be. I had no time! The Louvre is sooooo freaking massive. I had no idea where anything was. There were like 3 different wings all filled with different types of art. I didn’t even know where the Mona Lisa was, but then I realized I bet if I follow this massive clump of people – they will lead me to her. I was right. They also had signs posted everywhere leading people to her. I don’t understand why that is the only piece of art people know – but it is. I finally made it and there she was a small painting behind thick pieces of glass on the far wall. There were at least 100 people in that small room all looking. I made my way to the front of the room so I could see her. I looked for a couple of minutes. Yup that was the oh so famous Mona Lisa. Took a couple of pictures and then turned around and probably took more pictures of the crowd then of her. They were way more interesting (at least to me). Different races, cultures all with their point and shoot or DSLR cameras taking pictures of the Mona Lisa. I honestly wonder how many photographs have been taken of her. Actually I bet it would make me sick! After wards I took a peak around the rest of the museum (actually only like one other small section) but it was all I had time for. I tried to enjoy but I was so rushed and scared to miss my train and I couldn’t really enjoy.

I decided to move on and make it to the Pompidou (the modern art museum). It is one where the insides are on the outside… so like the staircases are all on the outsides so when you ride the escalator you can see out and people can see you. It is an interesting building almost looks like a mouse cage with tones of tunnels and weird things going on. Haha Anyway I check my bag there as well and started running around the different floors. I immediately wished I had more time there. I LOVED it. The art there was spectacular and was super modern. I didn’t really think I like modern art all that much – but I like the art in that museum. I made it to most of the floors and finally decided I had to leave so I could be sure and make it to the train on time. I got directions from one of the workers (because they are required to know English and be helpful and not hate on me for not knowing their so awesome French language – or so they think haha). I made it to the train station on time, found my train. Phew I had done it. I had pretty much seen Paris in a day and a half. Good work me!

Barcelona, Spain

June 29th - July 4th

I flew into Barcelona on June 29th  and arrived in the late afternoon (still enough time to hopefully get to my hostel before dark). I had the details printed out of how to get to the hostel, since I knew internet would be hard to find and a printer – even harder. I got some information from the information desk and figured out how to get into the city from the airport. When I got off of the train, I tried to understand the directions (which were sort of vague and also used a lot of directions – which for someone who is not very good at directions in the first place and who is in a completely new place and country for that matter – this was NOT helpful.) I tried to use my broken Spanish to ask for some help but that didn’t go over to well. I asked a cute old couple and they didn’t know where I needed to go and didn’t know English. I caught a little of what they were talking about in Spanish and just decided to try to wonder around on my own until I found what I needed. The Lord must have been on my side because I finally found the Bus number that I needed. It was so complicated. There are 50 different bus stops and they all had different numbers on them and had no directions or hints as to where the bus stops were with the numbers that I needed. I found the stop and waited for the bus (59 I think). The bus pulls up and I decide to be smart and ask the man about the street that I was supposed to get off of. He looked at me blankly – oh it must be my American Spanish that he can’t understand. So I showed him the paper, which had the Spanish name of the street and he said no se. He didn’t know where that street was. Are you kidding me? I am going to be lost in Barcelona. I sat down – just hoping that maybe this bus would somehow lead me to the hostel. After a couple more stops the bus driver asked a lady who got on some question and was pointing in my direction. I didn’t have a clue about what was happening but then the lady walked up to me and started speaking to me. I had to really focus to understand what was going on. Spain Spanish is so different than the Spanish I learned, and it had been years since I really practiced it. So I was struggling, but through hand motions and me responding with some Si y No. I figured out I was to follow her because she was getting off at the same stop. ALLELUJIA. This was a miracle. She motioned to me as she started to push her baby stroller off of the bus. I hopped up, grabbed my small carry-on luggage and followed. She motioned for me to go a la derecha y a la izquierda. I knew what those meant and I understood by hand motions. I walked and walked as the sun was starting to set, hoping that this lady knew where my hostel was and indeed she did. I was so thankful for her and the Lord for watching over me. I checked in, placed my things in my room and hung around the hostel. I got on the internet to let my family know that I had made it, talked with some fellow hostel mates about where they were from and were going, and called it a night.

The next morning I got up, got ready and started trying to figure out where and what I was going to do in Barcelona. To tell you the truth I really didn’t know anything about the city. I just heard it was a great place – beautiful and it had awesome beaches. I said sign me up! Well that morning I met a girl named Logan and her sister Liza. They were from Chicago and were backpacking around Europe for a month and a half. They asked if I would like to join them for the day. They weren’t for sure what they were doing but I said sure. I would much rather be with someone in Barcelona than alone – since I had heard it wasn’t the safest place. And I soon found out that was the truth. We took off to see Guadi’s park. It was a somewhat of a short walk so we decided to get some exercise instead of taking a bus. On our walk we stopped for some lunch and continued on our way. What we didn’t realize was that there was a mountain we had to climb to get there – ok maybe that is an exaggeration, but to a girl from Iowa it might have well been a mountain. We made it to the top huffing and puffing but continued and started our walk through the park. We stopped to see some green parakeet looking birds that were feeding on some bread that had been thrown out. I had never seen green birds in the wild – so this of course fascinated us tourists. After about 15 minutes we continued our journey to only get pooped on. It was a green sticky nasty poop and was all over us – in our hair, on our bags and all over our clothes. We looked up and didn’t really see any birds, but I figured they must have flown away. These two nice Spanish ladies walked up and offered us tissues (baby wipes) and helped us clean ourselves. We told them gracias after they helped us for several minutes and were finally out of baby wipes. They went their way and we went ours. A few minutes later two girls were running towards us saying they took your money, check your wallets. I didn’t believe them, but decided to check anyway. Sure enough all of my cash had been taken – even the South African rand that I had been saving. All of my cards were still there it was just the cash that was gone. I was devastated and then my stomach dropped. What if they took my passport? That was the next thing I checked. Thank goodness it was still there. I never knew whether to take it or leave it in the hostel. But I had brought it with me that day and could have cried I was so thankful they hadn’t taken it! We didn’t know what to do or think or even say. We started to run in the direction they went but found nothing. These ladies were good. We had never once set our bags down and there were 3 of us and 2 of them but they somehow distracted us enough to steal our money out of our wallets and put them back. All in all I was soooo thankful I only lost about 70 Rand (10 dollars) and around 20 Euro or less so around 30 dollars.

The rest of the day we spent looking at the amazing Gaudi Park and the intricate things he created in it. We also saw buildings he designed and went to the Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a spectacular cathedral that is still being constructed. The interior is basically complete but the outside will not be finished until 2026. It will tower above the other buildings and is so unique in its design. It is modern, funky and colorful. Gaudi was truly spectacular and absolutely unique. It is a must see if you are ever in Barcelona. I hope to return when it is finished one day!

The other 3 days were filled with wondering, seeing the market off of la Rambla, watching a spectacular water show up on the hill that over looked the city, taking pictures of a couple who we watched get engaged, and spent a whole day at the beach with many topless women and naked children. Downtown was filled with color, loud noises and scam artists trying to get you to bet on their games. We walked up and down the main strip taking in all of the happenings and also walked around the famous market off of la Rambla (which is the main drag where everything happens!). It was filled with color, smells, raw meats, foods, fruit drinks and everything and anything you could think of. It was so great to have Liza and Logan with me when I was walking around. Liza had been there before so she sort of knew her way around. The water show we went to was spectacular. There were so many different colors and hundreds of people who came to watch it. It was also seeing a couple get engaged. I thought about telling them I could email the pictures to them – but then decided that would be a little weird. So now they are just up on facebook – and maybe one day they will stumble upon them!

The day at the beach was wonderful. We got up and headed that way – which took about an hour since our hostel was located way up on the hill away from the beach. When we got there it was already packed with people so we had to search for a place to sit. I immediately noticed all of the topless women that were roaming around. It was so interesting and a little disturbing to me, but I guess I just got used to it and tried not to stare too much. But I must say it was nice to not have to worry if anything was showing – because everyone else was showing all they had. It was very hippie-ish and I kind of liked it (after I got out of my closed, small town, American mind set). We sat there all afternoon. I swam in the ocean (yup topless once I got in). It was funny I had actually forgotten my swimsuit top – it was shipped home with all my other things – so I was in a sports bra. I had the urge to just take it off several times so that I could fit in – but decided against it until I hit the water and not many could see! It was liberating. That night I put tons of Aloe on. I had forgotten to lather up in a couple of places and it totally showed.

The last day was filled with packing and a little bit of wondering before we had to part. The girls had to get on a train and I had to get a bus/train ticket that would take me to the airport. Their line was super long so I said good-bye to them while they were still waiting in line! They were so great. I am so thankful and blessed to have found them. I honestly don’t know if I would have survived Barcelona with out them! I got to the airport (and I am pretty sure this was the airport that never once checked my passport – that is strange!) So I got on the plane and headed to Paris!

England with Marie

Miraculously finding Marie in London – June 24^th 2011

I left South Africa around noon on the 23^rd to fly to Johannesburg and then on to London that evening. I hung out with Jan and Adrian in the airport and later Hanna from Norway came and Marius. So we had a nice little group of foreigners to hang out with. But I had been chatting with Marie and she said that she would come to London by bus and we would stay there for a couple of days. So we facebooked back and forth and she said that she would give me more details soon about where to meet and such. Well it was a couple of days before I was supposed to fly out and I hadn’t heard the more details. She had just said something about meeting at Victoria station around 10 because that is when she got in. I asked and she didn’t respond. I was a little nervous but was like oh well I guess I will figure it out. I checked my emails and facebook at the airport and still nothing. So I got on the plane not knowing anything but it didn’t even bother me for some reason. I was just excited to be able to see some movies. So Adrian and I were on the same flight, so that was pretty cool to know someone kind of randomly. The flight lasted about 12 hours. We finally landed. I got my bags and went to get my passport stamped. The lady started asking me 20 questions of which none of them I could answer. She asked how long are you staying? I said um like 5 days. She asked who I was staying with and I said my cousin from Bradford. Do you have her address? No. Do you have her phone number? No. Who are you staying with here in London? I don’t know. (I was hoping Marie did!) I said I am sorry I don’t know this information but that I was hoping to find it out when I got into airport and used the Internet. She said no that is fine, I wish you luck, stamped my passport and handed it back. I said thanks and was starting to get a bit worried, but still nothing to bad. It would work our right? It had to? So I headed to check the Internet hoping Marie had responded. I was beginning to think maybe she forgot about me.. which I mean really how could she forget about her favorite cousin? I got on and she had commented on my post that said I hope I can find Marie because I don’t really know where to meet her. So she had written I told you VICOTRIA COACH STATION in big bold letters. I didn’t know why she was being so sarcastic or why she had thought she had told me because I had never gotten anything. But I was like welp I guess we will give this a try. So I sat around for a bit not wanting to get to the coach station to early. I met a family from New Mexico, which might have just made my day. I then went upstairs (after talking to the information desk) to get a bus into the coach station. Well conveniently my card didn’t work. I am pretty sure my dad has told the bank like 12 times where I am and where I am going. But they still love to block my account, which I guess is both good and bad. I was very impressed by the kind ladies working the desk. They were willing to let me call my bank, which ended up not working. Then the lady said that I should try the Internet. After I told her I had no money and my card didn’t work, she was happy to let me use their computer behind the desk. She just turned it around and got me to google. I tried to sign on to my bank account but it wouldn’t work because they didn’t have the latest version of whatever program is need to run it. So instead I got on to my email and emailed my dad that I urgently needed him to call the bank and tell them to unlock my card. I also found out that my mom’s cousin, Natasha from California, was also in London and she wanted to meet up. So I wrote down her phone number, used my dad’s credit card (for emergencies only) to pay for the bus ticket, and headed into town to find Marie. I got on the bus around 9:30 and they said I would get there around 10:30, which was after we said we were going to meet. But I thought well hopefully she won’t leave and will wait until she finds me. I got to the coach station and no Marie. I asked the lady at the information desk what time the bus got in from Bradford and she said right around 10. Great.. had she already left? Mind you I have two suitcases and big bad with a sling strap and also my bookbag and all of it was filled with glass from my stained glass class. So IT WAS HEAVY. I started walking around the station, then outside of it and then over to the one where the people depart. I walked up and down and couple of times and was about ready to give up or try to the Victoria train station when I happened upon her. She was walking out of the doors as I was about to walk in. I don’t think there has been a happier time on my trip – 1. Because I hadn’t seen her in about a year and 2. Because I found her! I was getting worried that I wouldn’t. I remember thinking if only she had given me her phone number I could have called her (using someone else’s phone since there were apparently a lot of nice people in London). But we found each other and immediately starting talking about why she didn’t give me more info. But she said.. I did! I sent it to you on Facebook and I said nope never got it. Later when we were at her place we realized that it showed up on her Facebook that she had sent it but that it was no where to be found on my facebook. So we decided that anything important must be sent my email because Facebook and Mark Zuckerburg must hate us! But all in all I was right, we found each other and it all worked out!


London with Marie – 

We walked all around London for a couple of days. Seeing all the old historic buildings, peaking into a couple art museums, sitting in on an Anglican service, and eating out at a pub. We stayed with a lovely old gentleman with a good and proper accent. We of course drank our fill of tea and ate crumpets. The weather was actually quite wonderful and it only sprinkled once – I don’t quite understand what the hype is about England being so dreary. It seemed pretty nice to me. I especially loved that the sun was up from about 4 in the morning till 11 at night (well until I wanted to sleep in – then it wasn’t so great!) I got to see the Westminster Abbey, the London Bridge, The Eye (a big Farris Wheel), Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament and many more that I can’t even remember.

The first night there Marie took me to a pub and we ate some delicious food for only 25 dollars (the Pound is sooooo strong against the dollar it is absolutely ridiculous). She also ordered Fried Brie Cheese. It came with a raspberry sauce and it was the greatest ever! We also stayed out super late on evening till maybe around midnight (although it seemed like 9 since it had just gotten dark!) and we took pictures of Big Ben. It was amazing. I love taking night photos and it was a gorgeous evening. We also went to an Anglican service, which was very interesting. It was similar to Catholic Mass but I felt like it was a little more traditional. I wasn’t really sure what was going on but I did walk up and take communion. I just followed Marie – who had been living in England for a year and who knew what to do!

We also took a tour to Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge and Bath. The Cathedral was gorgeous and there was a wedding happening the exact time we were there. We got to see the bride and her father walk down the isle. I took some illegal pictures of it and it turns out they are some sort of royalty! When I got caught and told not to photograph, I played dumb and apologized. Stonehenge was incredible. It was just like you see in the books – old, falling down and surrounded by hills or green grass. The day we were there, there was a Druid religious ceremony happening in the center of it. Apparently it is a religion that revolves around the sun, so they come twice (or maybe 4 times a year) around the solstices. So all of our pictures have people where medieval looking outfits in the center of it! Marie was a bit upset and just wanted a picture without the people, but I thought it was pretty great because how many people have pictures where there is a religious ceremony happening in the middle of Stonehenge! Our next stop was Bath and it was so amazing. It was this cute city filled with rock buildings with a small river flowing through it. It is home to the Roman Baths – I was confused about what they are but apparently it is a museum filled with ancient Roman showers (or rooms and places they bathed). Marie and I decided not to go in and explore the city. I guess they are pretty interesting but I wasn’t to set on paying 20 some bucks to see some showers. I could go to the Home Depot for free and look at some!

Our last day in London, we slept in a bit, packed up our stuff and headed for the bus station. It was supposed to take us an hour or so but it ended up taking us FOREVER. We got stuck in some crazy traffic and ended up having to get off of the bus (which the driver was not happy about letting us off and I don’t think he was supposed to – but after begging we got off) and run to the bus station. We were a few blocks away and had all of my luggage – like 60 some kilos – well over 100 pounds plus Marie’s bag. We drug all of this stuff up a hill and about 3 blocks not really knowing where the bus station was. And we did all of this in about 10 minutes. We got the bus sweaty and exhausted just as they were about ready to pull out. We were so stinking lucky. I don’t really know what plan B was – all I knew was that we needed to make the bus and we did. I almost died but we made it. We got to Bradford – where Marie had been living for the past year around 9 that night. We took a cab to her place and got settled.

The next day one of her older friends took us around to see the Yorkshire Dales – rolling hills with quaint towns dispersed about them. It was gorgeous. Green hills, dotted with sheep and other livestock, surrounded by rock wall fences, which had been standing since the 1200 or 1300’s. So ridiculous! We wound through the narrow roads I swear almost dying several times. The worst was when a tractor was coming. He had to back up until he found a small place to pull into – then we were able to pass him.

Then next couple of days we spent hanging out in her school. She helped out in a 4^th grade classroom and did a lot of art things for the school. So I helped her out with some projects and interacted with the kids. They were mostly all from Pakistan and were mostly Muslim. I got to sit in on one of their prayer sessions where they pray to Allah. It was so interesting to hear how the children talked about marriage and women. Most of them will probably have an arranged marriage. They live such different lives than we do! I loved the kids so much and was sad to leave them. I can’t even imagine how Marie felt after spending the whole year with them!

My time in England had finally come to an end. We went out to eat (Abby, her boyfriend, Marie, Leigh and I) to an Indian place, which had the largest Naan bread I had ever seen. It almost took up the whole table! England was such a great time. I was sad when my 7 days were up. But I was looking forward to going to Spain and also getting that much closer to being able to go home! I left my large suitcase, which weighed in at only 45 kilos with Marie so she could ship it home for me when she shipped hers! I was happy to not have to lug around so much stuff. I was down to one carry on sized luggage and that is what I would have with me for the next 3 weeks!

The last day in Port Elizabeth, South Africa....

So after days of saying goodbye to lots of other people it was finally my turn to say goodbye to the few who were left. The last night I was there we had a final goodbye braai (this was much smaller than the first goodbye braai we had a week early – which I must say was pretty insane. I think I even met some international students I had never seen before!) After the braai, I said my goodbyes to Shawn, Alyssa, Patrick, Chelsea, Maria, Meli and maybe a couple others. There were not many left to say goodbye to. It wasn’t to hard to say goodbye because we know we will all see each other again next November for Shawn and Alyssa’s wedding! I got home and went to bed. The next morning was insane. I got up early so I could go to the glass studio and collect my work.. since it was only fired the night before. But when I got there it was still to hot to open.. so we had to wait. I ended up walking back home so I could finish packing and stuff and Tammy said that she was going to watch the temperature for me – she is a sweet heart. I got home and attempted to finish my packing. Well then June decided it was necessary to come up then as well – that is always a pleasurable experience. She rambled on about how messy things wore and how I need to wipe up the crumbs and do the 3 dishes that I left in the sink. And then she complained about not having matching forks when she knew that in the beginning they were all matching (come to find out they weren’t so she did apologize). Then she was saying that there were scissors missing (which I found for her). It went on and on. Finally I left and went to stained glass. My pieces were finally out! I didn’t get much time to look at them before they got wrapped but hopefully they look ok. Tammy and the professor wrapped them for me and then she drove me home! She is such a wonderful lady. I finally made it out of the house. I left a few things behind for Breana and then Tish and I headed to the airport. She was so sweet and decided to take me!!

We arrived at the airport and I put my bag up on the scale to see what it weighed.. it ready 31 kg (and I said that is ok right?!) haha nope so not it was supposed to be 23 kg. And it turns out I could only check one bag for free when going into London Heathrow. Perfect. I was planning on checking 2 and then taking 2 bags on. She told me I could re-arrange my bags and put my heavier things in my carry-on and then it should be ok. She motioned for me to go behind the counter where the conveyer belt was at for the bags to go on. So we crawled underneath the bar that went over the scale and made it to the floor space behind the counter. I opened up my suitcases and began to move things around. I threw out some unnecessary items and then put all my heavy glass in the smaller suitcase to carry on, which they said they would not weigh. After about 20 minutes we finally got it all sorted. The checked bag weighed about 23 – a little over so it was almost 24 and then who knows how heavy the smaller bag and my other carry-on bag weighed.. but let me tell you my shoulders and arms know that it was way to much for them to handle. So Tish got some random presents and I got to take all of my things on with out paying extra. I was so glad when they let me put my carry-on bag underneath the plane! So then I just had my two bags to worry about – my book bag with all the important things and then my pink bag, which was huge and filled with glass!

I got to Joburg with no problems. I was on the same flight as Jan and a couple of others so it was really nice because I wasn’t alone. So Jan waited for me to get off the plane and we headed into the airport to collect our hand luggage that was stored underneath. Then we walked around the airport, started buying things and finally found a place to rest and get some food. I hung out with Aidrian from Norway while Jan went up to some luxury lounge and got free food and Internet. Gosh why does he get everything cool!?

The cat drama.

So we had this kitten, which I think I have already talked a bit about that kept coming around. We thought it probably thought that our house was its home because it was there so often and would come around hungry and with flees. One day June came up (after the most peaceful 3 weeks of our lives when they had been gone) and found the bowls that we put on the ground for the cat. I explained that we didn’t want the cat but that we weren’t heartless and when it came around hungry we would feed it. She told us she would take it to the SPCA or then her husband later said that he would kill it. I felt bad for keeping the cat around and just wanted it off the property so that I or anyone else wouldn’t get in trouble for it. The missionaries came over that night and they said they had a family that would probably take it – so they could get it off out hands. I told them that sounded like a pretty good plan so they took it that night. All was good – I hadn’t heard from them so I figured it was taken care of. Well then the lady (the owner Michelle) came back and asked for her cat. I hadn’t known where she lived or seen her around for about a month. She came once, asked for a gray cat and then walked away. I told her I would call my friends and see if I could get it back. I called the Missionaries and they said they had released it on a random road somewhere. I didn’t want to call Michelle and give her the bad news so I waited for her to come back. I was terrified. She came back and was all upset when I gave her the news. I told her I was so sorry and gave her the missionary’s number. They told her the story and later she came back and talked to me. Keith (my photography/graphic design friend from Zimbabwe) happened to be there because I told him I didn’t want to be alone – that this lady was crazy and I was scared of her. She had also threatened to take me to quart. So she said I had to come down and talk to her face to face. So Keith came with me as back up. I started talking to her and she kept blaming me and I said I understand I am so sorry to give away your cat. She also said that I kept changing my story and all this other stuff. Then Keith butted in and said something as well and then it made her mad and she ended up running off back to her house crying hysterically. Her boyfriend was fun to deal with as well as he was yelling and saying how stupid I was for what I did. It was so hard because I really did feel bad and it stressed me out so much. I even cried over this crazy cat! So that was the last I heard from her. I left her a note on her gate that I am hoping she got to apologize. I guess she still is going to try to take the missionaries to court. So we will see what happens with that. Thank goodness this all happened when I had about 3 days left in the country!

Exams

This past week I had 2 finals (exams) - one on Thursday and one yesterday (Saturday). I studied quite a bit for them. They were my history classes about post-apartheid in South Africa. I really liked these classes. I learned about recent history in South Africa and about their political issues here! But it was a bit stressful having two tests so close together. I had to write 2 out of the 4 essay questions on the tests. So I had to know my stuff in order to write about an hour on each topic since the tests were 2 hours long. My last test is the 15^th, so I have a good little break. I think the tests went well, at least I hope they did! But last night was fun because Breana and I decided to have all of the CEA plus UNI people over. We made bacon wrapped shrimp and steak and everyone else brought sides. We had a lot of good food and fun. There were about 14-15 people in our pretty small flat. But it was great! We finally could have a small party here since our landlords are gone until next weekend. (Who are pains – June treats us like we are her grandkids and tires to tell us how to live our lives!)

Walks on the beach

I have finally been taking walks along the beach – I guess I took it for granted for awhile – but it is finally perfect weather and less busy. I walk 20 minutes to the nearest beach and sit and watch the waves crash against the sand. It is so peaceful. I decided that one day I have to live near the ocean and for longer than 5 months! One day at the beginning of June, I was just sitting in the sand because it was such a nice day. As I was watching the surfers and the waves I noticed dolphins. There were a few people on the beach that day as well. They were watching the dolphins as well. It was spectacular; the dolphins were riding the waves. The water was so crystal clear that I could see the dolphins in the wave even when they were under the water. It was obvious that they are made to streamline and move quickly throw the water. They would also jump out of the water. One time one dolphin jumped out and landed on another dolphin. It was just so amazing to watch and it made me want to be out there with them. I decided that I would ‘learn’ how to surf (more just figure out how to paddle out) so that I can swim with the dolphins. I just want a means to get out closer to them. My dream is to swim with dolphins one day and observe them more. Ever since Sea World, (only a few years ago) I got the idea that I should be a dolphin trainer. I am just a bit behind; most kids have this dream when they are 8, not 19! The only thing about this day that I am sad about was that I didn’t have my camera. However, I bet if I had had my camera I wouldn’t have actually watched the dolphins. I also don’t think that pictures would have captured the experience.

Today (June 11) I walked on the beach as well. I went to the market down by kings beach and after decided to make the trek back to Friends (to skype) by walking along the beach. As I was walking in the sand barefoot I saw a group of people gathered around something. I couldn’t tell what it was and thought maybe it was a turtle – it was light in color and was not moving (at least not very fast). But as I got closer, I noticed it was clear and it was a jellyfish. One of the girls gathered around it was kicking it around - of course only touching the top of it and not the tentacles. I wonder if she knew that the tops don’t sting you because of Finding Nemo, because that is how I know! They told me I should touch it – so I reached my foot out and squished it. It was dead so I didn’t feel to bad stepping on its head?! Or whatever I was stepping on. It was squishy put structured as well. So interesting. I just wish again that I had brought my camera. The beach was very busy today because it was so nice today (and since it is the middle of winter here nice days are harder to come by – as in there will be one or two bad days a week instead of all of them that are nice!) I got a little further down the beach and noticed a family looking at the ground. It was another jellyfish. So I stopped again to touch it will my foot and observe it. I ha never seen a jellyfish on the beach until today, something must have been up. Maybe there was a jellyfish killer somewhere out at sea today and they washed up? I am not up on my jellyfish facts, so I am not sure what could have been going on.