To all of the worried parents, friends and family: We are safe and sound in South Africa!
After many gruelling hours in airplanes we touched down early Friday morning in Johannesburg, weary with jetlag but excited to begin our adventure! With a single missing bag to show for all of our airplane-hopping we were led to meet Stephanes, our cheerful bus driver for the next three months, and "Elwierda," our already epic bus.
Our first two days were spent at a beautiful retreat centre called Heronbridge, recconecting with one another after a whole month apart! We had some quality sleep time, getting over our jetlag. We also got an introduction to the country and to strategies for safety from Johannes and Mpho, two people with whom we'll be working closely in the months to come.
On Sunday we drove to Pretoria, a large (over a million inhabitants) city very near Johannesburg. We attended a church service done in the Afrikans language before meeting the families hosting 1-3 of us for the week. It was thrilling to be welcomed into their homes; my family has been excited to prepare some delicious Afrikaner dishes for us.
This week we've been immersed in Afrikaans culture, visiting monuments and museums, exploring Pretoria with our host families and hearing from different speakers (including Piet Meiring at the U of Pretoria) about South African history, Aparteid and the current situation.
We've had some great weather and some surprise thunderstorms. We've met some great people and re-established our tight community. And the experience has just begun.
-Brock P.
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thanks for letting us know.. I posted this on the CMU Facebook page as well
ReplyDeleteThe parents, friends and family were certainly glad to hear all arrived safe and sound! We were amazed to track your journey using Google Earth and discover the unexpected size of Pretoria--more google searching revealed daily posted traffic reports so in some respects large cities are the same the world over! It sounds like you have discovered the fascinating differences pretty quickly, too.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to hear from Piet Meiring at the U of Pretoria--hope you took good notes so you can share with all of us. We appreciate all the posts and being able to go back and revisit them and the rich experiences described. Best wishes, Beryl