Let the plays begin!

We arrived in Grahamstown safe and sound and was welcomed by the sunshine and warm weather!! I keep bracing myself for the rumored cold, but we are lucky to catch this great weather! We moved all of our belongings into our dorm and got settled. Rhodes University is beautiful and we are excited to be here. We each get our individual dorm rooms (so nice!) which include a desk and sink and lots of space, which is welcomed at this point in the trip - some personal space!! I can't imagine having single rooms back at SPU, such a luxury!

Dr. Segall took us on a walking tour so we could orient ourselves as we are mostly on our own this week. We hiked up to Settler's Monument (denoting the place where I believe the Dutch settlers arrived and set up camp). It's a beautiful center where we will be seeing the film "Crime" tonight. Also gave a splendid view of all Grahamstown with the rolling hills and mountains beyond...lots of pictures! :)

We then meandered downtown and proceeded to pick out places to eat (as we're on our own for dinner...this is the time to try authentic South African foods!) We also made our way through the markets which are packed with rows and rows of people selling anything and everything. As Dr. Segall said, there is a stall here for everyones taste! Clothes, jewelry, trinkets, toys, South African handicrafts, paintings. Our eyes are drinking in the noise of vendors calling out their products offering good prices "Special! Special for you today!" live music and dancing on every corner, colors abound and smells of funnel cakes (they call them "small doughnuts") and kudu on a stick (kudu is a large looking deer-like animal). It reminded me of Territory Days back home with a splash of Ren. Fair except there are rows and rows of beautiful South African treats! Needless to say, we are having fun bartering and picking out souveniers to bring home!

These next few days consist of class, assignments and seeing plays and films! Our first play was last night, "The Return" which was about a South African returning to his home after living in exile in America with his wife - an African American - and the meeting of cultures when they visit his parents. It was great and I thought well-done. This is the National Theater Festival so Grahamstown is bubbling with excitement and people from all over coming to see these plays. It's an experience I'll soon not forget! Next week we will finish our time in Grahamstown and head to the game parks so the Lion Sanctuary and Safari before making our long journey back to Cape Town. It's fascinating and each new place brings out a piece of South Africa and there are so many pieces still unturned...after all this is a rather large country (Desmond said it is equivalent to 9 states...not really sure what states we're talking about, but you get the picture!) It's beautiful and full of energy and I can't even contain my excitement for this part of the trip - though we are lonely for our Stellenbosch friends! I hope to continue to update my journey, but these next few days are packed so stay tuned! :)