Home Sweet Home

Well I made it to South Africa in one piece. The flight was absolutely brutal and I am dreading having to do it again. What made it even worse was the fact that on the Toronto to Washington flight, a passenger three seats behind me had a seizure forcing the pilot to turn the plane around and make an emergency landing in Toronto to get the poor bugger off the plane.

I was picked up at the airport, compliments of the Legal Resources Centre (my internship organisation) and driven straight home, where I conked out for 12 solid hours, no word of a lie!

I live on Beadle Street (I don't know the number) in a small room with my own bathroom. The kitchen is part of the main house where three university students from Rhodes University are living together. Hanna and Nikki are the only ones I've met. The other one hides. The two girls are very nice to me, and we have decided that they will cook for me every night, and I shall do the dishes afterwards. This way, when I come trudging home around 5 p.m. from work, I can have a glass of wine and relax before supper :)

I have an alarm on my door, which I have forgot to deactivate twice prior to entering. The police telephoned the house within seconds and if there is no answer, the entire task force is there within minutes :) Grahamstown is very safe. Burglaries do happen, but as a result of people forgetting to lock doors or activate their alarm systems. Crimes of opportunity.. There is not much violent crime and people are very friendly. No walking on the streets at night though.

Afrikaans, English and Xhosa are the three main languages spoken here. Dutch and Afrikaans are very similar, so I get along quite easily and can even read judgements written in Afrikaans :)

And one last thing: they drive on the opposite side of the road, as in England, and it's simply driving me nuts because I always end up looking the wrong way. Parking lots are the worst!

over and out. Stay tuned for the next posting :)