(Written on Aug 4 2006)

Hi all!

So I have been in South Africa, specifically Pietermaritzburg at the
University of KwaZulu-Natal for about a week and a half now. I would have
sent this out sooner, but I just got access to the on campus computers
this week, and they are usually SO slow and crowded. Sorry in advance for
the length of this e-mail, but so much has happened.

I left the US 2 Sundays ago. Getting here is an arduous process! I flew
from LAX to Paris (10 hours), had an 8 hour layover, then flew to Jo'Burg,
SA (10 hours), and then to Pietermaritzburg (1.5 hours). It all went
pretty smoothly. I met interesting people along the way, had an
interesting/ overwhelming/ eye-opening run-in with a men's SA soccer team
in Paris (they were on my connecting flight), met a very nice Parisian/
South African guy who helped me through the Jo'Burg airport, and then flew
on the smallest plane I've ever been in to Pietermaritzburg (terrifying, I
half expected it to fall apart in the air). Since I arrived it's been a
blur.

Things are really different here. Safety is a big concern. We have to lock
up everything in our residences (doors, closets, kitchen cabinets, etc).
After dark it isn't a good idea to go anywhere alone, not on campus and
especially outside of it. There is a lot of crime, especially muggings.
The campus is fenced in with security gates all over, to get in and out of
these you have to swipe your ID card. That's also how I get in and out of
my, all female, residence (Lodge) and into some of the buildings on
campus.

The campus is really pretty. The older part, where I live, is over 100
years old, built in the British colonial style. The ordered red bricks and
clean white pillars are in sharp contrast to the unruly ferns, trees,
vines, and flowers which grow all over the place. The wild life is really
different too. The nights and mornings are filled with strange bird calls,
iridescent ibises and stray cats (weird I know) roam all over. My
residence look like what you'd imagine a British boarding school for girls
to be like. There are 2 floors, two communal kitchens, and four communal
bathrooms. There are large windows, long wide halls, and a big double
stair case. It is picturesque in its own way, and I sure at one time it
must have been beautiful, but now it is in slight disrepair and is shabby,
though clean. I like it. I share a room, with a girl named Erika. She is
from San Diego, and was here last semester as well, so that has been
really helpful. She is quiet and very nice. Our room is partitioned for
privacy, so I have my own space. There are a few Americans in Lodge, but
mostly local 3rd and 4th year honours students live there. The people who
live on campus ten to be the poorer black students whose families can't
afford to live in town or live in villages in more rural areas. It is
really interesting to get to know these girls, and get a more well-rounded
perspective on the culture and environment here.

Pietermaritzburg is mainly made up of black South Africans, but there is a
large Indian population as well, and a smaller white population. Watching
social interactions is really interesting and eye-opening. People tend to
mainly stay within their own ethnic groups. But as an outsider, I've been
able to meet people across the board. I have so many questions I want to
ask, but I am worried about crossing personal boundaries that I shouldn't,
so I'll have to wait until I get to know people better.
The first weekend here we had 2 planned excursions for all of the
international students. There are a bunch of us from Cali, some from New
Jersey, one from Germany, and 2 really funny Norwegian grad students. It's
a pretty good group, and I've met some people that I click with, we all
look out for each other which is nice. On Saturday we went on a tour of
Pietermaritzburg (the most well preserved colonial city in SA, so a lot of
the architecture is really pretty, albeit a bit rundown), the surrounding
townships, and some natural landmarks - like Haywick Falls, which was
really beautiful. Going into the township was a surreal and eye-opening
experience. It felt strangely voyeuristic. Hills, and hills, rows and rows
of tiny homes with tin roofs, which all looked like they were barely
standing up, I've never seen anything like that before. The township was
huge; I almost cried just looking at the immensity of the poverty,
comparing it how life is back home. I can't really even explain it. That
night we went to a braai, a Zulu style bbq (so yummy) - which soon turned
into a really big party. All of the international students were there, and
we got to meet a lot more of the local South Africans.

Last Sunday we went to the Tala game reserve. We rode around in those
safari jeeps a looked at all the animals. We saw rhinos, impalas, wilder
beasts, zebras, water buffalo, giraffes, and hippos! We got SO close! We
were about 10 feet from the giraffe and about 20 from the rhinos (we saw
five - 3 were babies!), we stayed a little further from the hippos. They
didn't have any large cats there, so we'll just have to go to another
reserve and see those later. Our guides name was Kalvin, he was really
knowledgeable about S African wildlife and environmental conservation, so
we got some good information along with our pictures. I'm still pinching
myself, I look at those pictures and half way can't believe that I am
actually here.

Classes started on Monday. I have three art classes - digital design, 2-D
studio work: oil painting and printmaking, and drawing, and one history
class, Making of the modern empire, focusing on Britain and America, as
the only American in the class, it should be an interesting experience. =)
I've also ridden in a Kumbi, which is kinda like a van that the locals use
as a cheep public transit system, they are crowded and not the most
comfortable, but I really like them, they feel more authentic than the
cabs. And I'm learning a little Zulu here and there which is really cool.
Most of the girls in my building grew up speaking their traditional
languages, and learned English later. So the halls are usually filled with
chatter, and the occasional song, in a language I cannot understand for
the life of me, but love to listen to.

So all in all, things are really good. This weekend we are going to
explore our new town a bit more, and we have another excursion to the
Valley of 1,000 hills, a traditional Zulu village, I'm excited. I think my
time here will be really valuable. There are so many things I want to do
and see that I don't know where to start; including seeing Shannon, my
roommie and one of my best friends form back home who is in Durban, a
large port city only an hour or so away. She and I have talked a few
times, and I feel better being here somehow knowing that she isn't 1,000's
of miles away, like everyone else I care about.

I hope all of you are doing well. I miss everyone soo much!
All my love,
Lauren