Waterfalls, monkeys and love

Walking on this campus is like a fairy tale. Sometimes I wonder if I am really here. Can I really be here? Can this be possible? I wonder if I'm really trekking through the forest searching for Zebra. I wonder if I'm really sliding down a natural water slide at a South African watering hole.

In another sense, I look back on my life and my struggles with Crohn's disease and I just can't fathom that I'm actually studying abroad half way across the world. A year ago this life changing trip would not be possible. Thanks to medicinal advances I can travel with all the necessary tools to keep me healthy. All I can say is WOW. Thank you God that you have created such smart people who can make life so much more liveable for me and so many other people. Thank you for allowing me to fully and completely achieve my dreams.

Anyways, the campus here is beautiful. We are living in Pietermaritzburg, SA in the region of KwaZulu-Natal. Our campus is at the African Enterprise Center, a Christian non-profit organization that has graciously accepted the challenge of housing 35 college students every semester. APU has hired our professors directly from South Africa and they come and teach us at AE.

Next to our campus is a Nature Reserve that actually contains wild zebra! The only time I have visited has been at night, so I have yet to see them. Outside my window I can hear a waterfall that is just outside our "chalet" which houses 6 girls, whom I love!

In our free time we hang out in the "Cougar's Den - South Africa." We do home work in there, play games, there's a pool table and a TV too. Just down the street a little is a trail to go to the watering hole, where we can swim and be merry. There is also a natural water slide that is so much fun!

We eat our meals at the same time everyday and they are all home-made by our wonderful cooks! The South Africans are amazed at how much peanut butter we can eat because they only eat it on toast. They were amazed to see us eat it with fruit, on sandwiches, with chocolate...I can't imagine a world without Reese's!

Last weekend we visited the African Bird's of Prey Exhibit and toured PMB (Pietermaritzburg). We got to see where Ghandi started his violence-free revolution at the PMB railroad. This weekend were are going to Durban, a beach city an hour away. There I am going to attempt to fufill one of my goals of this trip...learning to surf!