A little long distance lovin'

I was incredibly homesick my first week in Cape Town. I didn’t want to participate in orientation activities, I didn’t want to explore the city, I didn’t want to do anything but turn around and go home to the States. This is so unlike me. My favorite thing to do is to explore a new city, and I'm usually outgoing and excited to meet new people. We're talking some serious homesickness issues here, people. I wondered what I was thinking leaving everyone I know and love behind and moving across the world to a city I'd been to only once. I didn't know a single person on my study abroad program or in Cape Town. Not only have I never been so completely on my own, but I've always lived in cushy, safe, quiet suburbs, and I also had to adapt to living in a big, bustling city. It was the biggest risk I'd ever taken, and at the time I thought I'd made a huge mistake. 

Throughout all this, my incredible boyfriend, Russell, called me every single day, on his own dime, to make sure that I was okay.  At the time, he was a full-time counselor at a sleep away camp for middle school boys from inner-city New York City. His schedule was packed and he had his hands full, but he always found time to call me and make me feel like I wasn't so far away. Best boyfriend ever award? I think so. 

Russell with all the things I packed for South Africa on July 5th, the last time I saw him.

Russell is currently spending his first week in Alcala de Henares, Spain, a little town about 30 minutes outside of Madrid. He’ll be there for this semester, and I’ll be headed there to visit him as soon as exams are over here. While there is no way that he will be as homesick as I was, I feel bad that when he's adapting to all the changes that come with living in a foreign country, I'll be totally disconnected from the world on the side of a mountain in Tanzania. 

I can't think of any other way besides an automatically posted blog post to send him a message. So, this post, which will (hopefully) post automatically halfway through the week, is meant to be a reminder that even though I can't call him to talk, I'll be thinking about him. 

So, Russell, I know that you're absolutely loving your first full week in Spain. You will be absolutely nothing like me in my first week in Cape Town. I'm getting so, so, so excited to visit you and meet all of your friends there and your host family, which you will have met by now. Keep sending me messages on the reg, because otherwise you'll forget all the things you did this past week. I want to hear about everything. For some reason, this week I'm homesick for your home and your family, probably because I've been hearing about all your goodbyes. Its September 1st when I'm writing this, so its exactly four months until we both will be chillin on the couch in your living room, with your mom and grandparents and Ronnie, recovering from New Years eve in New York City. I can't wait to be reunited with them all again. Just like the past 2 months, these next ones are going to fly by. 

And hey, Russ? Remember that time in Sheehan 155 when I told you I was going to climb Kilimanjaro while I was abroad? You looked at me like I was crazy and said, "OK, Michaela." Just another one of my crazy ideas, right? Well, at this point, I'm 80% of the way there.

  I'll take a picture for you at the top.

A little homesick

This morning when I woke up I spoke to Russell on the phone. It was 2 am in New York City, but his whole family was up because of the hurricane. Their electricity had just gone out and Russell was telling me about the long list of precautions that have been taken for the hurricane. New York City has essentially been shut down.  I've been getting alerts from my school in Philadelphia like mad, telling me to stay inside until further notice, warning me of both a tornado and a hurricane. With an earthquake earlier this week, it sure seems like the east coast is falling apart without me. As hectic as all of this sounds, looking out my window and seeing sunshine makes me realize how far away I actually am. I'm not majorly homesick, but having everyone at home in slight danger isn't the most comforting of feelings. 

After I got off the phone with Russell, I decided to do something that makes me feel at home. A tradition when Russell and I visit each other (which is often) is to make big breakfasts together every morning, and banana chocolate chip pancakes are one of his favorites. Pancakes aren't common here (at least homemade ones) and banana chocolate chip ones are rare, so I was excited for my host family to try them. 

Chocolate chips were nowhere to be found, so I made my own. 

Mashing the bananas is usually Russell's job. His other jobs are stirring the batter and washing the dishes. The pancakes were not nearly as good without his moral support. 

At home I'm continuously fiddling with the temperature to make sure that they're golden brown. For some reason, here that's no problem.

The finished products, with some Vermont maple syrup my mom brought from the states.

They were a huge hit. I'll definitely be making them again. Yemmy

A few other things that make me less homesick:

Freddy, the family dog, is especially a comfort because my family dog, Rudy, passed away last week. Rudy was our family mascot, and Freddy is my host family's baby.

Amber, my host niece, is 20 months old and the smartest and happiest little girl. She calls me Kaya and lights up my days. 

So while I'm  very far away, I have lots to make me feel at home. I just hope that everyone in the states stays safe and dry today. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone on the east coast.

Many many hugs and kisses from Cape Town.

Happy Birthday to my Oldest Friend

My mom and I are missing my brother’s nineteenth birthday today. We just skyped him, but its just not the same. Dante and I are about 17 months apart and have always been incredibly close. He cried for days when I left for kindergarten, and then again when I left for college (just kidding, i wish). Dante has always had the short end of the stick on birthdays because our family is always on vacation, so we do what we can for his birthday on the fly. However, he’s had his birthday in some pretty cool places: Liverpool, England; San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua; a few times in Bar Harbor, Maine; Kilkelly, Ireland; Boston, MA, and now half the family is in Knysna, South Africa. 

In addition to missing his birthday, I’m also going to be missing the family road trip to Nashville, TN to move him into his dorm at Vanderbilt, and won’t be in easy contact for his first semester at college. So essentially I’m a worthless older sister. But I ordered a sick birthday present for him before I left, and he gets a whole blog post to dedicated to him!!! So anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM KNYSNA, SOUTH AFRICA, DANTE. Enjoy your last year of being a teenager, don’t let that midlife crisis get you down.

 

Dante and I on his 17th birthday in San Juan del Sur, Nicargua. 

Mama Lovin'

So my mom is currently en route to see me. In Cape Town. Her journey will have taken 26 hours, 2 flights, and a trip halfway around the world, but she’s doing it just to see me for 6 days. She’s been to Cape Town before and I coincidentally have a long weekend this coming weekend, so on Saturday morning we’re driving up the west coast of South Africa to see the Garden Route. It is a beautiful drive along the water and is one of the biggest tourist destinations in South Africa. Some of its major attractions the highest bungee jump in the world (I wish I could do it, but I doubt my mom will be okay with watching her baby jump off a bridge into a river), several game reserves, beach towns, and other outdoors activities. We’ll get back midday on Tuesday. I’m currently scrambling to get all my homework done for next week so I can enjoy it all, but I’m too excited to concentrate.

I just realized today that as of next Friday, I will have been here for a month. I have NO idea where that month went. It feels as if I’ve been here for a week and a half. If time here is going to fly by this fast, I’m going to need to do another semester here to do everything I want to do. But I won’t do one, I miss you all at home too much! Which is why its going to be so nice seeing my Mom. She’s staying with my home stay family while we’re in Cape Town, and I’m really excited about them getting to know each other. I’ll be sure to post pictures of this weekend, I know its going to be incredibly beautiful, just like every other experience I’ve had here. For now, here’s a picture of the sun rising over the city I took during my first week here. I love the colors of the skyline. 

Its crazy looking at a city this big while everyone in it is asleep. I wake up so early here, and get to campus just as the sun is rising. There’s something so refreshing about the morning, and I’ve gotten into the habit of it so now its not even hard to wake up early anymore, especially when I have a delicious home cooked breakfast waiting for me (prepared specially by my homestay Dad, Alan) and a campus that is so beautiful that from pictures it looks like it was painted onto the mountain. 

On another note, I’d like to thank all of you for all your facebook comments/emails/messages about this blog. I feel so much closer to you all because of them. I’m so glad that this is actually READ by people, and that you all care about what I’m doing here. People I haven’t spoken with in ages have read this blog and recontacted me. My friends and relatives can see what it is that I came halfway across the world to do. Its so cool that you all are so far away from me, but know exactly what I’m doing here. Blogs are the best. I hope that as I learn about the culture here, you all get to learn a little bit too. If there’s anything specific anyone wants me to write about, please let me know. Coming up I think I’m going to do a post about race here and a post about the University itself and my daily routine… Anyways, I need to get back to researching South African youth unemployment. Keep up the contact, it never gets old. 

Welcome to the 20s, Deia!!

To everyone at home: I miss you so much!! I just want to apologize for my lack of interaction with you all. It’s been so hard for my mind to straddle the Atlantic Ocean and the Equator. I know that my family is busy doing things without me, and that America does actually function without me there, but its been hard for me to remember exactly what is going on in the states just because every single minute of every day has been jam packed with orientation activities, class registration, figuring out my class schedule, transportation (travel between school and home takes about an hour and forty five minutes a day),  chilling with my home stay family, homework, trying to find an independent study advisor, planning upcoming vacations with my mom and dad who are both coming to visit soon, maintaining a long distance relationship, getting to know the city, and then meeting South Africans. There is so much going on right in front of me and so much I’ve been struggling to remember exactly what is going on at home.

So, I know that I might have forgotten to wish you a Happy Birthday (this is to my best friend, the person whose birthday I’m supposed to remember before anyone’s—see below). Or, I might have forgotten to call you at the prearranged time because of the time difference.  It might have taken me a while for me to respond to your messages because internet is SO unreliable here.  I’m sorry, but from here on out (except for on weekends when I’m travelling), I’ll have access to the internet through school as well as minimal but reliable access to internet at home (I don’t want to use it a lot because I don’t want to have my  home stay parents pay the expensive internet rates). So email me, message me, whatever, I’m here to respond!

And, to my best friend who I didn’t wish a happy birthday, HAPPY 20^th!! I hope it was the most incredible party the Cape has ever seen. This is the second year in a row where I haven’t been there on the day to wish Deia a Happy Birthday. I was en route from Morrocco to Spain last year, but only had internet access during the school day in Spain anyways. Here, I don’t have that excuse. I was just crazy busy and am a bad friend. Here’s hoping next year I’ll be in the states to celebrate it WITH you for the first time in three years. Then you won’t have to log onto my facebook and post on your own wall like the time I was in Ireland on your birthday…

Welcome to the 20s, its going to be filled with so much more of this:

Deia and I, freshman year of high school, NYC.

Deia and I, sophomore year of high school, Paris, France.

Me, Deia, and Ashley, junior year of high school, Montreal, Canada. 

Deia and I, freshmen year of college, San Francisco. 

Deia and I, sophomore year in college, Cadiz, Spain.

Bridget, Deia, and I, sophomore year of college, Philadelphia. 

I LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH DEIA!! In our twenties we will: graduate college, get real jobs, be roomies, travel so much more, and maybe even be in each others weddings? (AHHHH). 

Next stop on our adventure: Barcelona, Spain and the rest of Europe.