Arrival in Pietermaritzburg (PMB)

Woohoo!! I finally made it, and let me tell you, so far it seems like the long journey was worth it. People are not kidding when they say South Africa is the most beautiful place on Earth. It is so lush and the air is thick with a sweet smell of vegetation (although this also means it is quite warm and humid...but so far I'm dealing with it). I have been placed in the Denison dorms which are on the "New Campus" which means it is down the road a bit from the old campus and the Scottsville shopping center, but so far I am very happy with it. I have my own room with beautiful flowering plants right outside the window that provide a perfect privacy screen from the walkway outside. In my apartment (or suite, whatever you want to call it) there are six single rooms, a kitchen, living room, and two bathrooms--a very nice set-up. Most people haven't moved in yet because registration doesn't start for a while (orientation doesn't even start until Monday), but luckily there is a girl from Berkeley living next door to me, so right now we are running errands around town.

It took a little while yesterday getting to campus because it turns out the International Student Office wasn't expecting me until today or tomorrow (not sure how they got that idea), but luckily there were two other girls from my program on the same plane, so the professor who's supposed to pick us up was there--just a bit surprised to see me. He first took the other two girls to their dorm because it is in a different location from mine, and we couldn't fit all three of us and our luggage in the little car. So I wound up having to wait at the airport for him to get back. Oh, and by the way, that is the smallest passenger airport I have ever seen and the plane was the smallest I have ever been on. On the same plane there was a girl from Zimbabwe who was also supposed to be picked up from the Int'l Student Office, but there was no one there when we got in so I talked to her while we waited. I had a good conversation with her and she explained that the situation in Zimbabwe is not as bad as the western media makes it sound. She said that perhaps about half of the population is currently suffering, and they are in an economic crisis, but the other half of the population is doing all right (I imagine she is part of the latter half since she has the means to come to university in SA and she speaks that way about the situation). I actually just ran into her on the street, but I feel really bad because she was calling after us and I was told to be aware of people following you so I was ignoring her at first then I finally turned around and recognized her. I hope she doesn't think I'm some paranoid American now...

Anyway, better get going so I can pick up dishes and other essentials. As I wrote before, the common fast food in Israel is falafel. Well, around here it is Indian food!! I already saw a vegetarian fast food place...how awesome is that? Going to go do some more exploring now!