The Cecil Rhodes Memorial that is part way up the mountain behind campus


You all might be cursing winter at this point with all the snow that has been hitting the East coast, but trust me, living in 100 degree heat for a week is no fun either. It has been so hot here the past few days all of our stomachs have been hurting. Luckily it is still beautiful out everyday so we can seek refuge at the pool. I am getting creepily tan, by the time I get home I will look like I belong back in Africa.

Last week four of us decided to spend Friday hiking up one of the large mountains that overlooks the Western Cape. The sandstone mountain range has several peaks and we were aiming to get to the top of Devil's Peak which stands 1000 meters (3281 ft) high. Table mountain is a hundred or so meters higher but is more of a tourist attraction as it is part of Table Mountain National Park. It was a cloudy morning when we set out and at a certain point we hit the clouds and just kept rock climbing upwards without a real sense of where we were headed. The different paths upward are not marked so it is a guessing game to get to the peak. It was a relatively steep hike and there were a few points where we were climbing up vertical stretches of rock (my fear of heights was definitely kicking in, luckily the clouds made the height less noticeable). The top was still amazing even though we couldn't see the entire Cape peninsula that is visible on clear days. I have not uploaded my pictures yet but when I do I will add them to this entry.

This weekend I am traveling with a group of people to the wine lands in Stellenbosch. We are leaving Saturday morning, staying in a hostel that night, and taking a Bike and Wine tour all day Sunday. We will be biking about 20 miles total and going to 4 different wineries. Drinking and bike riding in the heat is going to be an adventure for sure! Our house is being fumigated for bugs while we are gone so hopefully we will be greeted by a bug-less house upon arriving home. A group of people from my program are going to Durban this weekend; Durban is a large city in South Africa that is farther west and only takes a few hours by plane to travel to. One of my friends has a friend living there and we are planning to fly there at the end of March for a long weekend and stay in her apartment.

Classes are going well, I turned in my first paper on Thursday. I am starting to get a handle on how courses work here and am fairly caught up on reading. Only having class three days a week is great. Right now I am procrastinating writing a history paper that is due on Monday. The heat makes it hard to focus, as does having lots of people around that are procrastinating also. A bunch of us set up camp outside in the backyard with our laptops to get a little breeze.

My ear healed quickly and has not been an issue for a few weeks now and my money situation is finally mostly sorted out. I bought a new phone on the street for $20 US, it is an old school Nokia that nobody has used for at least 10 years - but hey, it works! I also bought a new wallet at the 5 Rand store, which is the SA equivalent to the dollar store...except 5 Rand is equal to .50 US. The wallet features a lovely photo of the Jonas Brothers and I put a sticker of an elephant on it; I am a little embarrased to use it in public so I might have to get an upgrade soon.

Back to the grind! Enjoy the cold, my endless summer almost makes me long for the need to wear a scarf and hat...almost.