Saturday May 14th

Hello!
So for some reason my last blog was deleted. I have no idea why. So I will now be using this one to keep you posted :)

I can't remember which days I talked about yet, so I will try my best not to repeat but also to remember the important things. Today we went to an open air market in Durban where they sell local food, art, jewelery, crafts, and spices. It was unbelievable, though it was also a bit touristy. I didn't spend too much money, but I had a ton of fun browsing around. They had live street performers who were singing and dancing to traditional music. 2 of the guys were dressed up with white face paint and galoshes and did a traditional dance that started when the mining industry exploded in South Africa in the 1800s with the discovery of diamonds and gold. It was super cool :) Then we went back to the hostel and got ready and went to the beach. It was really sunny and gorgeous (naturally I did not tan, but I didn't burn either! Thanks mom for 3 bottles of sunscreen, I'm totally going to use them!) We spent a few hours there hanging out with locals and playing in the waves at the area where they have a lifeguard. Essentially there is coastline everywhere, but there are designated areas which have shark nets and lifeguards (which I am obviously a fan of!) which we can swim at. Then we went and grabbed dinner at a restaurant at the beach (which overlooked the ocean while the sun was setting which was stellar) and I had nachos which made me sick. blaaaah. So that is why this post is rather disjointed, I took a gravol, but I really knew I needed to write :)

Yesterday we had our orientation at the university, which was a long awaited event for me. It is an unbelievable campus, with lots of hills and lots of outdoor areas. It was very lush because of the constant humidity here. The Memorial Tower Building where the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) is (which is the facility which organized all our guest speakers and our 'field trips' to different townships and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) during the course) has the highest point in Durban at the top which is suuuper cool. Our orientation with the research fellow for CCS was totally amazing, they're focused on environmental and socio-economic injustice, so they basically stole my heart. I also decided I want to live in the library on campus :D The research fellow (named Shauna) is the woman I am hoping to do my placement with because mine got screwed up. She is obviously really engaged in the community and dedicated to developing partnerships with grassroots organizations and with the university. I will keep you posted on what happens with me doing work with that, because it will basically be the best experience in the world.

It is a very unusual vibe in the group because some of the girls who are here are less excited about the stuff we will be learning than me (though that's not hard, since I am so unbelievably STOKED) which is taking some adjusting to. But they are helping me to ease up a bit, they actually convinced me to go out dancing with the group and I ended up having a lot of fun. Apparently I am a good dancer in South Africa! haha, weird. It was really nice, the guys give you 3 feet of space when they want to dance with you, so it wasn't like a club in Ottawa (which suited me perfectly) and everyone dances like a dork :D Don't worry, we are all really protective of each other and were always with at least one other person.

I'm looking forward to getting into more of a schedule, I feel like the academic focus will be a cool change. Right now it feels like I'm on vacation :)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm going to get ready for bed (haha at 7pm!!) I hope all is well across the pond, I miss you all lots.

Love Heather