Thus Far in SA

The time is already passing so fast. The experience has already proven to be well worth all the effort put into getting here. The town is sooo lovely and for the most part the people are very nice. I have to learn how to see beggers on the street and not give them anything. I cant say that I will ever be able to get use to it, but for practical and safety reasons it is something that we are not meant to do.
I feel way more like an adult here. They seem to put a lot more responsibility on those people who are still students. They have jobs and positions you would expect someone who has already graduated to have. They also bring alcohol to every function for the students. So you see administration and students alike sharing drinks. I also believe they use it to their advantage because the adventure centre here had a braai (south african bbq) and had free alcohol and were passing out shots but they also had booths where you could sign up for shark diving and repelling ect....so of course a lot of people got a few sips of liquid courage and signed up for things they would normally pee their pants about. I must say I signed up for shark cage diving without the help of any form of artificial courage. Though my bank account may hate me later I feel like its a once in a lifetime experience.
It is so easy to just walk around everywhere here. Its a great feeling. I've always wanted to experience going to school where the university and town were intertwined. Here I have received that wish but also added in with beautiful back drops of mountains and mostly great weather. Most of the things that would appear to be hindrances are actually stepping stones I feel. We do not have a microwave. We have some hot plates and a toaster oven. I feel this will be good because I will force myself to make the simple things I know how to make but am to lazy to make at home. All my classes seem to be be structured way different but I think it will help me better retain the information and they are all very interesting. I actually am looking forward to reading the text books and other prescribed readings....never thought that would happen!!!
Seem to have a nice group of friends right now, but still hope to expand more. We are planning an awesome trip to Cape Town after our early morning of shark diving. I cant wait!!!! I really hope to interact with the locals more though. Once I get into the clubs and community service programs I think that will be bound to happen with time. That is my first week and a couple days in a nutshell. Hopefully next week I will be able to reflect more on what is going on within myself in the adventure. Right now I am at the point at taking it all in and trying to figure it out and put meaning to everything. Its quite a rush of forgotten abilities and appreciating things that never seemed that important. I am really happy to be here and can tell that it will indeed shape my future.