Day One...Adapting!

Well today was a day of adapting, adapting to people driving in the right side of the car and on the left side of the road. Learning labels at the Pick ‘N Pay, as well as acclimating to the prices (a jar of peanut butter is R21.99, which is about $3 US). It was quite the surprise when I was paying at the grocery store and my bill was R645, my jar dropped, but then quickly did the math a learned that I spent about $85.00, which is much better than the 645! I was very grateful that they did have Diet Coke (or Coke Light) because I don’t think that I could have survived had I not found that! My roommates and I had to team grocery shop because our fridge is slightly larger than a mini fridge, so we had to make sure that we could share food and have enough room. Speaking, of roommates, I am sharing a room with Carrie, and Katherine, and Ashley are in the other room! We have a beautiful view of the Indian Ocean and the ocean front from our balcony! The living room and kitchen are a tight space, but Carrie and I already were rearranging our living room/dining room and our bed room to maximize space in a tiny flat! But back to the adjusting…the time difference is been playing tricks on my sleeping patterns! We didn’t get much sleep last night after missing our flight to PE and although we were put up in a very nice hotel (probably the nicest I have ever stayed in…we were welcomed with glasses of wine and fresh squeezed orange juice) but I didn’t get much sleep, I guess it was all of the worrying about catching our flight the next morning and getting to the airport at 4:00am! The hotel was nice, Delta paid for the hotel and covered a very fancy dinner! The room itself was amazing! The shower was a little funny because it was against the wall in the bedroom so when we were showering, we could see the silhouette of the person in the shower! Thank goodness we had four rooms, three girls in three rooms, and Alex got his own! Also, I called home today for the first time today and I wanted to make sure that both Mom and Dad were home, and I couldn’t wait any longer, so I called at 2:30pm our time, which was 8:30am at home…so I woke Mom up, but I don’t think that she will be upset with me! Actually, as I write this all three kids in my family are in three different countries! Dane is back in the U.S. Marcus is in Canada for a roadtrip before heading to college, and then me in South Africa! Poor Mom! It was nice hearing Mom and Dad’s voices, especially since was the one last night while we were trapped in the airport, I just looked at my friend Carrie as we were sitting on a watching 40 bags of luggage, and I said, “I want my mom and dad!” Then when I was worrying in the hotel at 2:00am, she kindly reminded me that this is part of traveling and to breathe in the love and breathe out the stress, which I think will be the mantra of the trip when the going gets tough! But now that we are settled into the rooms, there are a few things that I still need to go and pick up for my closet to be organized (there’s my type A personality), although my closet is very empty compared to what I have been used to! After everyone got settled in, the whole group went to dinner at Buffalo Bills. I had a salad and chicken with baby red potatoes with a yummy glass of wine! All for the whopping price of $10.00 and now I have lunch for tomorrow from the leftovers! On the walk to Buffalo Bills we were able to scope out other places to eat (like those recommended to me my Molly and Alexa, Nandos and Blue Waters)! I am excited to see more of the city. Now, the roomies and I are sitting down in our “living room” and watching a movie before going to bed for the night. Tomorrow is orientation at NMMU!

P.S. The internet is not working yet at Langerry, so when it does, more emails and blogs will follow!