Vir Altyd. Forever.

 The time has come to say 'See you later' to the wonderful country that has been my home since July and the friends that have changed my life forever. I think back to July 14th when I stood in the security line at Pittsburgh International Airport with my tissues clutched in hand and my face red and streaked with tears. I didn't want to leave the comfort of Morgantown or my family and friends. To say that it got better after I arrived would be a lie. The first night in my flat I had no wifi, no way of contacting home. At the time I didn't even know I had a roommate. I took one look at the cold tiled floors and small twin bed and started to cry. Luckily the next day is when it all started looking up. That week I met my roommate and our friends from AIFS, learned about the university, celebrated Mandela Day, and made my way around town. Even though I was making friends and having fun, I still thought I'd be counting down the days until it was time to go home, five months away.

Had someone told me in July that Stellenbosch would have such an impact on me, I would have thought they were crazy. Of course everyone says how studying abroad was the best decision they ever made, but I didn't think that would be my case. But as the days and weeks and eventually months passed by, I found myself becoming so entwined with this new place that I actually started to cherish every day I had left. The thought of going home gave me butterflies because I knew I would never be able to get this experience back again.

There is a secret to studying abroad that most people will never talk about. Stories from abroad include the crazy adventures you have, the people you meet, the beautiful sites you see; it's never about how you fall so deeply in love with a country that you don't know normal anymore. We were all warned about a "third culture" that we would discover upon our return home, a combination of our lives before we left home, our lives abroad, and the new "normal" that we return to. No one ever explains that studying abroad can enlighten your life and break your heart at the same time.

So it's with a heavy heart that I say goodbye. Not to all of the amazing people that walked next to me on our journey in South Africa, because I know that we will see each other again. Not to the experiences, because they will live on forever. Instead, I say goodbye to the palm-tree shaded streets of Stellenbosch, the clear South African sky that made the sun a little too hot in the spring, and Concordia's courtyard where we'd lie at night and count the stars. Goodbye to the busy shops on Dorp Street, calm Sunday morning strolls, and tip-toeing through the park near the residences at night. We will miss our "just one" nights at Bohemia and stealing the stage at Catwalk, the views from Table Mountain and the rocky ride to Robben Island. Most of all we will miss the way it felt to sit up until 4 in the morning talking about absolutely nothing at all until our eyes were too heavy to stay open, walking across the courtyard in our pajamas when someone felt homesick, hosting big dinners in our small kitchens, and whispering our secrets during a boring three-hour lecture.

Stellenbosch has changed us in ways we may not understand until we've been home for months, but one thing we know is that the memories and friendships that were created there will last a lifetime. So, as my farewell to South Africa, I would like to thank everyone who made it such an incredible six months. I believe it is also appropriate to recognize the bravery and dedication of one iconic man, Nelson Mandela, who made our time abroad possible through years of struggle and perseverance.

At WVU, we have a saying: Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer. It rings true from the moment you join your peers in filling the coliseum at Freshman Welcome, to the day you are handed your diploma and become an alumn. I believe that in becoming a Matie, Stellenbosch assumed the same meaning for me, as a place that I will always belong to. Thank you South Africa, and most importantly, thank you Stellies, for everything you have given me. Vir Altyd. Forever. 

In Memory of Nelson Mandela, 1918- 2013
"ubuntu"

Chimooooo!

It's almost time for me to wrap up my blog, but before I do, I have one big promise that I must make good on...

So our friend, Chimo, keeps asking why he's never on my blog, so this post is dedicated completely to him!

We met Chimo on my very first night here. They invited us over to their house (or not their house... that was confusing) which is one block away. We met a few of his friends, which are now our friends as well. Now we see Chimo all the time-- even when we don't expect to. 7 out of 10 times we'll be sitting at Bohemia and Chimo will come out of nowhere (which is hard to imagine, because he's a pretty big guy). He hangs out a lot with our guy friends so we get to see him expected-ly too. We're all pretty glad we met him. I mean, what would a South African experience be without Chimo?? :) Thanks for being such an awesome part of our study abroad experience! We will miss you!

UK travels!

It has been nearly a week since I left South Africa and it's been hard to think about the fact that I won't be returning anytime soon. Luckily, I have 9 beautiful classmates whom I can also call my best friends that are abroad as well, and I got to see 8 of them this week!

I flew out of Cape Town Monday afternoon. It was quite a process just making it to the airport! Let me backtrack to Sunday... Since for some unknown reason there is no train that travels to the Cape Town airport, my plan was to rent a car that would take us to the DMB concert and then to the airport the next day. Everything was set, but then when Rachel and Damon went to pick up the car, there were issues with licenses and passports, etc. So Emmi and I rode the train to GrandWest and they got a ride from the car rental company since they felt bad about all the trouble. The concert was amazing! Dave is so incredible live, and his opening act was really good too. It was a little awkward because I'm use to concerts where everyone stands up and dances but there was only a small standing section in front of the stage and the rest was seating where no one ever stood up. That's where we were sitting. And the majority of the crowd was older than 30, which was really strange for a Dave concert. That night we took a taxi home, driven by a cool older woman who told us all kinds of stories about being a woman driving a taxi through that area.

The next day we were scrambling to find a ride to the airport. Most shuttles were booked except one, which was one I didn't want to even try calling because it looked expensive. We chose Bettina Shuttles and I got an affordable ride in a Mercedes nonetheless. The driver was the owner of the company and he was such a nice guy! As sad as I was about leaving, he definitely helped lift the spirirt of the ride.

To spare you all the boring airport details, I left Cape Town in the afternoon, had a stopover in Dubai, and arrived at London Heathrow at 7am Tuesday morning. The first step was getting through customs. I had no worries at all because I was only going to be there for a few days and already had a return ticket. But then I walked up to the counter and the woman starting asking me questions. I had always assumed that when they ask how much money you have they are looking for an amount that isn't too big, so I said "oh, only about $50." The woman raised her eyebrows at me. She asked if I could get more money, and I said of course, that my mom was sending me some that day. She then told me that she couldn't let me into the country because I couldn't live and eat off that amount of money. She started asking me all kinds of questions about my family and where they work and what I'm doing in London, etc. I showed her my return itinerary as she requested and as I leaned over to put my papers back in my suitcase I heard her stamp my passport. Whew! What a rough start. With that over, I made my way to arrivals and baggage claim, where I sat for a moment to get wifi. That's when I saw a message from Bethany, one of my friends that was meeting me at the airport, saying the plan was to meet me at 8, but to wait until at least 9 and then get a cab to their flat. I looked at my watch and it was already almost 8:30 and I didn't want them to miss me so I booked it to the arrivals area. I looked all over and started to panic just a bit because I wasn't sure where to find them or how to take the tube or how much a taxi cost. I waited a while in the main area then went to sit at the meeting point. After about 10 minutes I heard someone say my name and looked up to see Morgan. I cannot tell you how relieved I was!

After a quick breakfast we took the tube to Russell Square and then walked to their flat, where they all live, plus one extra person. It was pretty early so it took about an hour for everyone to wake up and make their way into the living room. I've never answered the question "how was you flight?" so many times in a row! We caught up on our adventures abroad, then went out in the city. We walked through the Christmas market and to Piccadilly circus. I got to see the Odeon theatre where the premieres are and a lot of the shops in the city. Later that evening we ate at the flat and then went out to Roxy. I was ready for bed by 11 or midnight because I was so tired from flying!

The next day we took a little long getting ready but hopped on the tube and off and Westminster, where I saw Big Ben and the Eye. Ten minutes later we were back on the tube heading home and then I only had a few minutes to gather my suitcases.

Unfortunately, Wednesday and Thursday the Piccadilly line of the tube was down because of a strike so I had to take a cab to a bus stop and then the easyBus to Gatwick airport. I gave myself plenty of time; since the stop was only 6 minutes away and I had to be there at 2pm I took a cab at 1:30. I wasn't worried about time because if  you miss the easyBus the next comes 10-20 minutes later and within the first hour there's no extra charge. Traffic was pretty bad so it turned 2pm as we were only half way there. I got to see the lion statues and blue rooster in the middle of the city, and even Buckingham Palace which I was super excited about! When my driver stopped, he pulled into a gate and asked me to open in it, so I knew we were at the wrong place. The website said Earls Court/West Brompton station so we accidentally put Earls Court station. Luckily the stop was only a mile from there but he charged me 7 extra pounds. That was probably my fault but I didn't have time to ask for change. We drove past a bunch of people with suitcases and kept going, then he asked where it was. Luckily, all those people were at my stop. I got out and raced across the street to make the bus that had just pulled up, but since I was 11 minutes late all the 2:10 people got on before me and it was packed. Good thing I didn't take that one, because I looked across the street and noticed my wallet lying in the road from where I had gotten out of the cab. I watched 2 more buses drive up, fill up, and leave again. The next bus wouldn't come til after 3 so I thought I'd have to pay. I asked a nice guy from Australia to watch my bags while I ran to an atm. I ran all over the place then finally found a local bank's atm. About 5 minutes after I got back a bus pulled up and the driver let me on because I was running so late, and he didn't charge me! The ride to the airport was so stressful because I needed time to store my big bag, get through security, and make it to my gate in about 45 minutes. After rushing and sweating, I made it to the departure board, only to find out I had  to wait 10 more minutes before they even announced my gate.

The flight was smooth and I made it to Edinburgh around 7. I had to wait a few minutes at the airport for Katie, but I was so excited to see her once she got there. We took the bus into town and walked a bit to her flat. I was starving so we went to the Golf Tavern next door and had dinner with a few of her friends. The pub was really awesome and very authenticly Scottish-pub looking.

The next day we visited the castle and walked the Royal Mile and Greyfriar's Cemetary, where the original Tom Riddle from Harry Potter is buried. Later we went to see Catching Fire that evening at the filmhouse.

The view from Katie's window

Friday Katie showed me Princes Street, where all the main shopping is. I was really surprised at how small-town Edinburgh felt, yet there were people everywhere. We stopped for tea at a spot above the street. That evening we went to see the play "A Christmas Carol." It was held at the Lyceum Theater, which is really beautiful inside. The play was incredible! I was a little nervous at first since I've seen the story what feels like a hundred times, but this one was very creatively-done. At the end, snow fell on stage and then the cast picked it up and threw it on the audience, and then snow started falling from the ceiling as well! After the applause, the older woman sitting next to me said sorry about something and she was very excited and teary. It wasn't until after I had reached for my jacket that I heard her husband say to the people behind us that Tiny Tim was their grandson. I talked to them for a few minutes while the theater cleared out and she told me all about him and how proud they were, which was so awesome to hear.

Saturday we slept in a little late because it was so cold but then made our way to the Christmas market and gardens. On our walk to Princes Street the day before, I noticed a statue of a woman and child with flowers laid at their feet. Neither of us knew what it was for and we didn't stop to take a look, but that day on our way to the market, I decided to look because there were even more flowers on it. As I got closer I saw a familiar green scarf with the words "South Africa" on it. It turns out the statue was in commemoration of the anti-apartheid movement, so people had placed flowers on it because of Mandela's death. Looking over the amount of items placed there, from pictures to flowers and South African items, I started tearing up. Considering that I had just been there and I was so far away, not expecting to see much about him in the UK, I was shocked and proud at the same time.

After snapping a few shots, we walked on to the Christmas market, through the gardens. There were some really cool vendors, like a woman who made necklaces and other jewelry out of clocks and recycled gears, another booth with spoon and fork jewelry, paintings of the city, wooden carvings, etc. We ate dinner at the Tavern again and then I went to bed around 10. I was surprsingly really awake when I had to get up at 3 a.m. to catch the bus to the airport. It was cool to see the city at night and be so awake for it all. My ride only took about 20 minutes so I was very early at the airport, where I typed  the first half of this message.

More flowers for Mandela 

My flight from Scotland back to London was a little rough. I had an entire row to myself so I tried to sleep a bit, but I woke up because I had to pee. Just as I opened my eyes, the guy one row ahead on the opposite side of the plane was handing a full barf bag to the flight attendant. So, of course, I started to feel every little bump of the plane even though I hadn't felt any of it before. I tried to go back to sleep but was too nervous that someone near me would get sick again. Luckily, I was sitting next to the window and started watching the landscape below and the sunrise over the horizon. I eventually fell asleep for a few minutes before we landed.

My last mission before my final flight was to pick up my big suitcase that I had stored, change my carry-on items into a duffel in that huge bag, and make it to the South terminal in time to check my bags and go through security. In my head, I thought this would take a lot of time so I rushed out of the plane to the airport. However, retreiving my bag and changing them out only took a total of maybe 15 minutes, and then I found out there was a train between the terminals, which only took about 1 minute. At the South terminal, there was no line to check my bags so I was ready to go by about 8:45 a.m. My gate wouldn't even be announced until 10 a.m. but I figured I should go ahead through security to the gate area just to be safe, because there would be food there, right? Nope. I passed all the restaurants and went through to security, where I had to chug half a bottle of water because I forgot to dump it out, and I was in the departures area by 9 a.m. I walked all the way to the end and found a Costa and a snack stand, so my breakfast consisted of a blueberry muffin, orange juice, and Haribo goldbears. When my gate was finally announced, it ended up being the one right next to Costa so I was the first one there. They had to check my bag and pat me down since the flight was going to the U.S. I waited as the room filled up and then finally it was time to board my 9-hour flight back to America!

The Last 48

I can't believe I'm writing a post about my last 48 hours in South Africa. I've known since last Sunday that this was my last week here, but it never felt real. Six days later I have my suitcases (mostly) packed, a pile of clothes to donate, and a bunch of miscellaneous items lying around because I have no clue what to do with them. Not to mention the huge pile of dishes that need my attention before I book it out of here.

It's completely surreal that I'm starting to do things for the last time. Today I watched my last movie in the Pulp Cinema: Elysium, ironically a movie with a terribly-done South African accent in it. I ate at Mochachos for the last time. Tonight I'll have my last cosmopolitan at Julian's (they truly do have the best in Stellenbosch), and listen to a band at Boho for the last time. It took me hours to laundry at Concordia for the last time this morning. To be completely honest with myself, today was my last full day in Stellenbosch.

Tomorrow we'll leave in the early afternoon to figure out the metro to the airport so we can pick up our one-day rental car, then head to GrandWest for the DMB concert. After that, I have one last night in my bed and before I know it I'll be on my way back to the airport for the last time. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to this place.

Part Six: The Western Cape

Day 16, continued

We made it to Knysna a couple hours later and checked into Island Vibe Backpackers. It was still pretty dreary outside so we decided to rent a couple movies. We went to a little store called Vee's Videos and got two movies. The woman at the counter was so nice! A man, who I'm guessing is her husband, came out from the back to talk to us as well, and we stood there for about ten minutes chatting.

That night we decided to add up how much everyone owed each other, which turned into mainly how much everyone owes Nick. We couldn't believe how expensive our trip had turned out to be! Granted, it was way less expensive than most trips we had seen advertised, but more expensive than we originally planned. Personally, I blame the Boma.

Day 17
The next day the weather was a little better but we decided to keep moving towards home. There was one last thing I had to do though. We drove back towards the eastern cape and stopped at the border, where there happens to be a big bridge they call Bloukrans. Since I first came to South Africa I knew I wanted to bungy off this bridge, and our friends in AIFS did it over September recess, which fueled me even more. But I was so nervous when we pulled in! Nick had already jumped with AIFS and Emmi is TERRIFIED of heights so I had to convince Damon to go with me. Unfortunately, though, he wasn't even scared! He went first and just stepped off the bridge like it was nothing. We were in a group with 4 other people: one woman who was from Chicago and had a bad ankle so she had to use a body cord instead of an ankle one (which sounds better, but you flip over when you get to the end), and a man named Corey who lives in Hawaii but I'm not sure where he's from. I went last. I was so terrified that I thought I might not jump, but I told myself I had to just go whenever they counted down. I hopped up to the edge without looking over it and then closed my eyes. I opened them briefly while they were counting, then closed them before I bent my knees and jumped. I opened them again to see where I was falling to, and then I tried to scream but the air caught in my throat and I couldn't. I closed my eyes again as I hit the bottom because I was spinning a lot. I opened them every now and then to see the view and kept breathing in through my nose and out of my mouth. It was scary, but even more it was uncomfortable, especially when the cord would pull you back up a little and let you down again. My hands went completely numb and I just waited to feel the tug on my cord. I'd like to say I was relieved when I heard the guy coming to retrieve me, but I didn't really take a breath until I got onto the platform. I clung to the grate until they had me completely unstrapped and I could stand again. I really thought I would like the experience once it was over, but I don't have any desire to ever bungy jump again. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad I did it because I can say I jumped off the highest bridge in the entire world, and also because now I never have to do it again. Watching our videos in the shop, I couldn't believe my neck didn't hurt worse from the whiplash. I had really hoped to do a pretty swan dive off the ledge, but once you're up there you have no control of your body because of the fear.

(Having trouble with the video upload, but it is on Facebook!)

With that checked off my list (and Damon hating me just a little), we made our way back to the western cape. This time we stopped at a sunny spot in Wilderness for lunch and to figure out what we wanted to do with the rest of our time. We decided that it wasn't worth it to stop anywhere to stay overnight, especially since we were only about 5 hours from Stellenbosch, so we decided to go to Cape Agulhas and then head back to Stellenbosch one night early.

Day 18
I woke up in my bed at Concordia the next morning, completely exhausted, but we had one more stop. We ate breakfast at Julian's then drove towards Cape Town to hike Table Mountain. One word of advice: Don't attempt to take a standard up the hill to Table Mountain. Caroline didn't exactly cooperate and now I'm traumatized. But! We did make it up alive and well.

The hike was a bit harder than we expected, but the views were beautiful! We passed several waterfalls and some really pretty flowers before hiking up the rocky Platteklip Gorge (with quite a few stops on the way). The clouds were rolling in and it got pretty cold at the top. We finally made it up but couldn't see much of anything until after lunch when the clouds dispersed a little. It was hard, but it's awesome to say that we hiked to the top of one of the natural wonders of the world! The ride back down, however, was not so wonderful. We took the gondola, which is a big round car with windows all around and a floor that spins. There were so many tourists packed in with their souvenirs and cameras. We had a couple tourists shove a camera over our shoulder and knock us out of the way to get pictures, which was ridiculous. Needless to say, we were glad once we were back on the ground (Emmi especially).

The trip was incredible and I couldn't have asked for better people to spend all that time with. It certainly had a couple of downs but those made for the best stories, which we can laugh about now and years to come. I'd say it was the best way to wrap up our time here in South Africa for sure! :)

Oh, and just in case you didn't catch my 'Goodbyes Begin' post.... 20 minutes before we had  to say goodbye to Nick, we did get that jumping picture right!