Submitted by Stephanie Nally on the 2014 winter session program in South Africa sponsored by the the Department of Human Services and Family Studies and the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics…
I have been in South Africa for ten days now. Even in such a short amount of time, I can already say that these ten days have been the best of my life. I have quickly made friends that I am confident will be life long and seen and done things, I never imagined I would. We have toured the city of Pretoria and seen first hand the beauty of it. We drove around on a giant tour bus and all the locals waved and blew kisses to us as we passed. The welcoming feeling we are being given here is so refreshing. We have seen Capital Hill and immersed ourselves in the history of Apartheid by visiting the actual prisons and museums. A very big highlight in my opinion was when we visited Lesedi, an African cultural village. Here we were taken on a tour around the village and shown how the tribes lived their everyday lives. It was here, as I ate foods such as ostrich and alligator and watched tribal warriors do elaborate dances, that my mind began to finally process the fact that I am definitely not in Delaware anymore. We have also visited a cheetah research center, gone on a mini safari, and done a four hour hike in a game reserve. It seems like every new day and every new activity is my new favorite highlight.
Finally, we have begun our placements at the orphanages and schools. This is in fact the reason we all came on this study abroad, so it is more than exciting to finally be with the children. I have only had one placement so far, so I am extremely looking forward to the next one.
I am thoroughly enjoying my time here in Pretoria and cannot wait to see what the next three weeks have in store for me!