The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has come to a close and TOMORROW is the big day! After immersing myself in South African studies over the past couple of days, I feel as prepared as I could possibly be. I do not have many expectations, but trust that the month will challenge, inspire, and teach me in ways that I cannot begin to fathom.

Just got done packing and I'm excited to be leaving tomorrow! After reading all the books and writing my paper, I'm incredibly excited for everything we are going to get to experience!

Well, it is the night before I travel to South Africa, and I have to admit that I am a little trepidated. I have my bug spray and sunscreen, so I am basically good in that aspect. However, I am concerned about security issues, or lack thereof. Like any travel excursion, one must be well aware of surroundings - however with just under 50% of people unemployed and just of 60% below the poverty level - they seems to be reason for crime and violent crime at that. I understand that PLU would not be hosting a trip anywhere unless they felt it was safe enough for their students to travel.

So, I finally finished packing. I feel I am going to leave something important behind, but I know if I will be ok witout it. I have the most important thing....sunscreen. I'm excited to be able to travel somewhere that will have nice weather. I tried to stay up all night so that I could sleep on the airplane. I was so excited I couldn't staying up wasn't a problem. We leave in about 5 hours and I can't wait to arrive in South Africa. Though it will be dark when we arrive I can't wait to hear the noises of the city.

We leave in only 4 hours now and I am both excited and nervous. There are so many things I think I am forgetting, but I'm sure everything will work itself out. I am going to miss my friends and family, but most of all I am thinking about how much I am going to miss my wife. Since we met, we haven't been apart for more than a few days and I hope everything goes well while I am away. My wife and I went on a trip to Greece in July, but prior to that I had never been out of the country.

We are settled into our lodgings "Soetwater Enviro Camp" just outside Cape Town South Africa. We unfortunately do not have the internet capabilities we thought we would but hey I guess that means we'll just have to remove ourselves from the facebook drama for a while.

Hello! We've been in Cape Town for 4 days now and there are so many experiences to tell about! Today we visited Crist the King Revival Church in downtown Cape Town--quite an experience! The service was bilingual--the pastor spoke english but a translator was there for the mostly Congolese, french-speaking congregation. The pastor spoke feircly and passionately. And the music was wonderful, a great african rythm.
In a few hour we'll head off to see Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years.

Africa! What do you think? I bet you don't think of what I'm seeing here right now in this super fancy mall on the Cape Town waterfront! I almost guarantee you don't. Granted, there are some parts that I had expected. Mostly the polarization between rich and poor we had been taught about before leaving. What I didn't expect was how extreme it is. And how practically on top of each other they are. Imagine thousands of people crammed in on top of each other in extreme poverty, and literally across the road is a much bigger area reserved for five buffalo. Amazing! (and not in the good way).

I can't believe what I've seen in the last 4 days! It's been out of this world. Frankly, I don't think I have been able to take it all in, but really, I think this will forever change my life.

We have only been in South Africa for four days but it seems like ages since we left home. I think all of us came to Cape Town expecting something completely different from what we have found. Right now we are all at the mall at an internet cafe writing e-mails. I am amazed at how similar South Africa is to what I would expect anywhere else in the world. I went into this expecting a different universe and here I am in a shopping mall.