My First Week In Grahamstown

I landed in Johannesburg on Saturday evening and stayed overnight in a pretty touristy hotel and flew to Port Elizabeth the next day. From Port Elizabeth, I was driven to Grahamstown with two other exchange students and began my semester at Rhodes University! Everything has been going well this week, for the most part. Everyone here in my residence is really nice and really helpful when I ask them questions. They are always seeing if I need help and if I'm enjoying my time here.

This week is "O" week, orientation week, and the school has been hard at work making everyone feel comfortable and encouraging the first year students to mingle. I'm counted as a first year because.. well it's my first year at Rhodes! Plus I'm so new, I need all of the extra help and attention. They've been having a lot of social functions for us to meet other people. On Sunday night, they held a wine and jazz event that was a lot of fun. It wasn't jazz like we are used to in the states with saxophones and other brass instruments, they used percussion instruments and it was really cool. The night was so warm and there were so many people there that I didn't stay very long. We've also had a wine and cheese night, I didn't go to that because I wasn't feeling well. We've also had a braai, a barbecue with chicken and other things but not pork, and tonight, Wednesday night, there was a Chocolate Ball! They had chocolate fountains, chocolate cake, donuts, marshmellows, and lots of fruit. It was so much fun! They decorated the hall with black and white fabric and used white Christmas lights throughout the fabric. I'm not sure what they have planned for tomorrow night but I know that on Friday night they have a huge street party planned and it is supposed to be a lot of fun! They also have this really funny tradition of having the first years sing serenades to each other. The different residence halls each prepare a song and then waaaay early in the morning, like 5am, a guy's res will go to a girl's res and they will sing to each other. While this may seem weird and kind of like hazing, it's actually a really good way to meet people because afterwards, they have all of the girls throw their keys in a pile in the middle and the guys pick up one and then they chat for a few minutes before presenting their partner to the group. I've met some pretty cool people this way and it helps me get to know my res mates better. This O week thing would be a cool way to do it in the states.

Tonight, I went out on the town for the first time. Some friends from my res and I first went to this place called the Union, which is a bar/club located on campus, and then we went to the Rat and Parrot, one of the favorite bars in town. It was fun to go out and dance and have a good time with some local South Africans. These ladies are really sweet.

I've been pretty busy doing orientation with the international office. We've had a general lecture on the foundation of Grahamstown and Rhodes. We've also had one on the differences in the academic systems here and at home. I don't think that it will be that bad, especially since I've been talking to my friend Sarah, who went to Rhodes for a semester 2 years ago, about it. There should be a bunch of lectures and one tutorial session a week that will give me small group interaction and discussion. The examination period at the end of the semester lasts a month instead of a week, that will be different for sure. So I've been trying to get myself registered for classes and make sure that they'll transfer to MC. Right now I'm signed up for:
History 101: Africa and the World
History 201: Represnting the 20th C.
Ethnomusicology (African music and the theories of it, apparently a lot of international students take it)
and I'm trying to take an environmental science class but I'm waiting on confirmation of the credit transferring.

I hope to get into town and explore it more. It seems really cute. I also and looking forward to getting more involved in the community here at Rhodes. The clubs seem really interesting. Tomorrow night I'm going to a Christian group called 268 for a pudding and games night. I'll make sure to let you all know how that goes, I'm pretty excited!

The only draw back to my experience so far is the hard time that I've had adjusting. My sleep schedule is way off and I can't sleep at night but want to sleep all day. My stomach has also been acting up and when I'm hungry and go to the dining hall, it decides that it actually doesn't want to eat, at least not this new kind of food, and I have a hard time eating. Luckily, they have a cool system here where I can choose my meals, what I want to eat everyday, and that way I can choose things that are close to what I would eat at home. I can do this until my stomach decides to settle down enough to let me experiment because all of the food looks so good!

I'll do my best to upload some pictures here soon. I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet though. I hope everyone is doing well at home! I miss you all very much!