The Eagle has Landed

After over 20 hours on planes that were completely full, being crunched into tiny seats and never sleeping a wink on any of the flights, I am finally in Africa! I am incredibly grateful to be settled in and experiencing this amazing country.

 I took a solid beating from Africa the first night due to the overwhelming temperature change. Ended up feeling slightly light headed and nauseous; than once I opened my bag and inhaled the aroma of the mouth wash that leaked over all my clothes I got violently sick and realized one needs to be prepared and drink water when going from 30 degrees or below to 90. Africa-1, Lindsey-0.

But none the less, these past 6 days have been absolutely amazing. Had my first night out experience Tuesday and have already made friends I can tell I will keep in touch with after all of this. I couldn’t have been luckier with the people I have ended up living with, and I know I am guaranteed to have a good time with them while I am here. I am surrounded by different languages and cultures that I can’t help but feel like I am visiting a handful of other countries as well.  I am eager to sign up for classes and start to really learn my way around Stellenbosch. I am completely infatuated with the culture and easy going, “I’ll get it done when I want to get it done”, walk around bare foot way of life here.

We have just finished up orientation and I have to try and decide what classes I want to take. There are so many that sound interesting that I am finding it very difficult to decide, but I am anxious for school to start up. I have also signed up in scuba club and will be getting my scuba certification while I am here! I also have joined an outdoors group and will be spending my time traveling around Africa going hiking, rock climbing, water rafting and they even offer sky diving. I am so anxious to get going with everything that I am finding I need to relax and remind myself I have 5 months here, I don’t need to do everything I would like to do as soon as possible.  Me and two of my new friends (Hannah and Dara) have been taking full advantage of the capability to legally go to bars, and have met some incredible people there who are a lot of fun and really helpful with all of our questions. I do have to say South Africans are a different breed of people. Everyone is ridiculously good looking and no matter where you go or what day of the week it is, a bar will be packed. It’s impressive. But I am having so much fun here and am looking forward to school and many more adventures.

I am trying to get better at writing in my journal so I am able to have more to share, so I will try and do better at that. But I am safe, alive and slightly burnt; So happy to be here and so happy to create more memories while I am here.

And now we play the waiting game...

I started this blog as a way for my close friends and family to get a glimpse of my time in South Africa. I have to start off by saying that this is my first time ever keeping a journal like this, so bare with me.

During my time in South Africa, I will be attending Stellenbosch University and living in student apartment living with 3 or 4 other people. I have already met one of my roommates, Emily Davies. She had asked me to be roommates with her through our facebook page and so now she will reap the benefits that are Lindsey Tracy. I am flying down a night before my departure and staying with my mom in Seattle.  Although it has come down to only a day till I leave, I am surprisingly calm while still being fully aware that once I land in Amsterdam and am alone I will be (for lack of a better term) scared shitless. I know things may and probably will, go wrong and I am okay with that. It’s all a part of the experience. I have to thank my dad for being as adventurous as he is to rub that outlook on me. I have always relied on my parents when it came to any of this traveling stuff, and the farthest I have ever flown alone was to Vegas; so I can’t help but be excited to learn how independent I actually can be. I am incredibly grateful that I am able to experience something like this in my life, and to my parents I am truly thankful. So Africa, here I come to kick ass and take names.