Finally made it! 

After what seemed like a million hours of travel time I finally made it safe and sound to Cape Town. For the most part, I was in airplanes/ in airports for two days straight. Sorry I wasn't able to let anyone know that I got here safely but I really haven't had a strong internet connection till recently. So far in Cape Town it has been rainy and cold which actually for me is a nice change from the 100+ weather in Austin right before I left. IES (the program provider that has taken me to Cape Town) has kept us really really busy with orientation talks and other actiivities. It still feels like I am just visiting Cape Town and not actually living here for 4 months. 

Today was my first cultural experience because we got to go on a tour of the Langa township which is the oldest and most famous township in Cape Town. Townships are the shanty towns that were created during apartheid era South Africa to host black and coloured South Africa labour workers. However since the apartheid era policies ended in 1994 with the first democratic elections there has been a lot of controversy about how to help and or rebuild many of the areas of the townships. The thing that I found the most interesting about the township was that whenever we were walking down the streets kids would just come up to us and want to play with us or our cameras and have us pick them up. Way different then American children who are not as outgoing.

Tomorrow we are leaving for the Garden Route which is a well-known scenic drive/ adventure outside of Cape Town!!! I am really excited because hopefully I will get to ride an elephant so keep an eye out for a new profile picture! 

Cheers from South Africa!

Claire