African Safari: Day One

   Today, we packed up our bags and headed out for our first overnight trip.We were headed to the Safari. It seemed like a super long drive on the way there, but it was really only an hour or two. As we drove, I couldn't help but be surprised at how absolutely beautiful the world is.
      Ever since the Slave Lodge we have been making fun of Kelsie because the birds and squirrels really love her. In the Company Gardens, the animals came right up to her and were super friendly, which freaked her out. It wasn't pretty. She also seems to attract the dog at the Hostel very well. Well, the Safari just made her a target for some jokes because we kept saying how we would get to see all of the animals because Kelsie would attract them towards our vehicle.

I can show this one better with pictures than words. Only pictures can explain how truly beautiful Africa is:

    The drive in at sunset was so beautiful. I was in complete awe with how wonderful this planet is. After the safari, we ate supper together, then headed back to the lounge for some cards and fun. We laughed and played cards until the lounge closed, then headed back to our beautiful cabins.

     Of course, me being the aspiring photographer that I am, I took over 500 pictures in just this day of the safari. I can only wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Words of the Day:

Deb: Infantile

Kelsie: amazing

Amy: Awe-inspiring

Mirvat: Serine

Dr. Curry: stimulating

Me: photographic

Archives and Holocaust Museum

     This morning in South Africa we had a good class about the beginning history of South Africa. We talked about the Dutch coming to form a settlement here, the slave trade and the types of slaves, and the different types of segregation laws that took place.
      It was really interesting because Dr. Curry started the lecture by saying that the 1940's Alexandria, South Africa bus boycotts were happening at the same time as the boycotts in Montgomery, Alabama. She explained how this was the thing that got her interested in South Africa, primarily because when her professor first told her this, he continued with the statement, "Someone in this classroom will want to know if the two boycotts had any influence on each other. He was right. She wanted to know, but he didn't have an answer for her. So she set out to find it on her own.
    South Africa had Apartheid from 1948-1990, which was similar to our segregation, but worse to an extent. Apartheid literally means apart-ness from the Afrikaans and Dutch derivatives. Class was really interesting and I enjoyed finally getting some back knowledge of South Africa. I came into this trip with 4 history majors and a history professor. I am not really sure what I was thinking at the time because I am not a history major. While I do really enjoy history, I am a psychology major, with very little world history knowledge, but it will be fine.
     After class we grabbed some lunch and headed to the Archives. It was so cool because there are so many old records that were there. We got a tour of the records. The guy showed us the old mugshots from South African jails and prisons. They took their mugshots with their hands on their chest so the officials could see if they had a finger missing. It wasn't uncommon for someone to lose a finger while serving time, so the mugshots were their way of showing that it did or did not happen during their sentence.
      Outside of the archives, we decided that it would only be fair if we had taken our own mugshots. We even came up with our own convict names as listed on the pictures. Here they are:

    After the archives we took a stroll through the Company Gardens towards the Holocaust Museum. When I think about history, I never think of South Africa being included in some of it. South Africa was a huge place where Jewish people came to hid from the war. They escaped the war and the concentration camps for South Africa.
     The Holocaust museum was pretty cool because it had a lot of history that is often forgotten. United States history tends to try to make it seem like it wasn't as bad as it really was. There are a lot of things in US history that get pushed under the rug, but South Africa was very open about their history and politics.
    Kelsie had a great knowledge of the Holocaust, so she ended up giving a private tour for Amy and I. She told us a ton of things that weren't on the boards and displays. We spent a good amount of time in there.

   We then headed back to the hostel after getting some supper. We sat around and played some pitch upstairs on the porch. We taught a couple of them how to play and had some great laughs.
    At this point, I am still having some trouble getting used to the rand. For every 1 US dollar it is a little over 10 Rand. I am constantly trying to convert it and figure out how much I am actually spending. Hopefully by the end of the trip, it will get better.


What a great day full of laughter and fun. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Words of the Day:

Mirvat: Hidden

Amy: Learn

Dr. Curry: intellectual

Deb: experimentation

Kelsie: interesting

Me: Breathtaking

Here comes the bad news...

So today was pretty fun! We had class, went to the archives and went to a cool holocaust museum..
We had a good supper and then came back to the hostel to play some 10 point pitch.

 I would love to tell you all more about my great day.. but unfortunately.. there are some other things that haven't made my day so great.

I can't say that I will be blogging for the rest of my trip, but I will definitely be keeping a journal to tell you everything that happens.
Tonight, while we were playing pitch, my laptop was sitting on the floor on the deck and it apparently got stepped on.. My LED screen has cracked.

I am going to attempt to use someone elses laptop to keep up my blog, but there is no promises that someone will let me use their laptop every night for it... I am hoping, but there is no promises. I will still be posting on Facebook when I have internet, but that's probably it.

Tomorrow is the safari. Pictures will be posted to facebook. I promised to get a picture with a lion (;

See you in a 2 weeks if I don't see you before then!

The Amy Biehl Foundation and Nyanga

The Amy Biehl foundation is set up for a girl who was living in South Africa in the early 1990's. She was a college student at Stanford University majoring in African studies. She came to South Africa to help fight the injustice and segregation. She was here up until the first free elections, but then she was driving home from a township and was killed by a mob that thought she was there to fight against freedom, instead of fighting for freedom.
   Her mom and dad originally came to South Africa in hopes of making peace with the death of their daughter, but they also ended up making peace with the man who killed her. Now, they have started the Amy Biehl foundation to help townships and the surrounding areas to help people with after school programs. They help educate the kids about HIV, drugs and violence, but they also provide fun activities for the kids after school to keep them out of the streets.
    Their goal is to provide opportunities to become well rounded and prepare youth to be leaders, entrepreneurs, and stable in their future. They help them support their family in their future. They also help the surrounding areas by picking up trash, planting trees and planting gardens. They want to channel the kids energy into positive things such as sports, swimming, soccer, and arts.
    This is such a great foundation, but just like any other organization, they are limited by funding. It costs about 6M rand, which is about $600,000 to run the foundation for the year, including paying the 20 full time staff, providing one nutritious meal for the kids before they go home at night, and going on outings during their holiday breaks. They hold events to showcase what the kids have been doing during the after school sessions.
   Their motto is "You can be, If you want to be." But they also say that it takes dedication.
If you would like to donate, which would be great, or read more about Amy and their work you can check it out right here.

    Then we went to a little township called Nyanga and helped at the school there. Their school is all make shift buildings. They have 40 kids in a class and over 308 kids grades 1-7 in the school. Their are broken windows and obviously not enough funding. The desks are old and they don't have enough supplies, but the kids are so happy and they make it work. Their biggest problem is when it gets cold in the winter, they don't have heaters or electricity.
    We spent the afternoon working with some of the classes and talking to some of the students. A couple of us even taught a classroom how to do the electric slide. It was a fun day!

 Then we ate super together at a cafe and had some fun. We are now finishing up and calling it a night!

Over supper our words for the day were: 

Amy: Understanding

Mirvet: Knowledge

Kelsie: Resourceful

Deb: Rhythm

Dr. Curry: Spirituality

Mine: Happy'

Another great day finished up. Tomorrow we actually have lecture and then a trip to the achirves for some research! Exciting stuff!

I am so glad I came on this trip because I have already learned a lot, just in the few short days about how people live and the differences in culture. I also learned that Peanut Butter is really just an American thing. So is turkey sandwich meat! Who knew! 

There is your fun fact for the day and I can't wait to get home and share all of my memories and pictures with everyone.

Day Three In Beautiful South Africa!

          Orientation started today, at 9 am, meaning 2 am our time. It was an extremely long day, but it was fun and worth it.

          We walked from our hostel down to a little café. We had these great things called Chocochinos. It is a mixture of Whip Cream, espresso, and chocolate. YES! It was the perfect thing for the morning after having no sleep.

          After that we all jammed into the back of our ISA representatives car and drove to campus.

          One of the girls, Kelsie, is addicted to Pepsi. South Africa is a major coke seller. We finally found Pepsi in one of the cafeterias at the college. During lunch we got onto some great conversations and were joking that “What happens in Africa, stays in Africa.”

          After lunch we went to the Slave Lodge. It was a huge museum dedicated to showing life as a slave in South Africa. It showed the slave trade routes and the boats that the slaves would be taken to Africa on. Slaves were not allowed to walk the streets unless they had a pass and even when they had passes, they were not allowed to sing, whistle, or stop on the streets to talk to another slave.

          One of the quotes said, “We are, because of them.” This was their acknowledgment that without slaves, the country wouldn’t have grown and flourished as it did. Slaves were often artists, cleaned, cooked, farmed, and other hard labor.

          There was also a civil rights portion about Oliver Tambo, who was exiled and fought for the rights of Africans.

          The slave lodge was very interesting. It was very real as far as what actually happened instead of just hiding and forgetting like the United States often tries to do with slavery.

          I also came to the realization that in the United States, in public primary schools, we actually learn very very little about the world around us. We continually “learn” American history, over and over again, but many people in the United States can’t even tell you what year the Declaration of Independence was signed.

          The slavery honestly surprised me because the United States often focuses on Africans being slaves. I was close minded to think that Africa didn’t have a slave problem, but they did. It was quite possibly worse than the United States, but they dedicated this building to their mind.

          Day 3 and I have already had that “Wow, I am American”  moment that they talk about when you talk about studying abroad. Don’t get me wrong, I love America, but I am often blinded to American problems only. This trip has already opened my eyes to the world around me. Not just South Africa, but wondering what else in history I don’t know about.

          After the slave lounge, we went to the waterfront mall, which was beautiful. There was a mall there and we ate supper on the waterfront.

          Now we are closing up day three with some time emailing home and finishing up the day and heading to bed!

          Another exciting day tomorrow working with the Amy Biehl Foundation!

We sat down at supper, Dr. Curry asked us to come up with one word every day to describe our experience in South Africa. 

Our words for the day were:

Amy: Beautiful

Mirvet: Fresh

Kelsie: Diverse

Deb: Left

Dr. Curry: Majestic

Mine: Historical

UP, UP and AWAY!

When someone suggests that you go on a 24 hour flight. Think about it deeply before you jump on the idea.

   We flew from:

            Omaha to Detroit: 1 hr 23 minute flight

            Detroit to Amsterdam: 7 hour and 35 minute flight

            Amsterdam to Cape Town: 11 hour and 10 minute flight.

We had about an hour layover in Detroit and ended up running through the airport to our next gate. In Amsterdam, we had about a 2 hour layover. These are not long enough layover for flights this long

So needless to say, the flights were extremely long and really the only thing I did was watch movies and sleep. I watched The Lego Movie, Acts of Valor, The Awkward Moment, and part of Frozen.

It was so boring and our take offs and landings were a little rough, but other than that, the flights were okay.

          We did spend a lot of time to ourselves and it gave me a lot of time to think. I am super thankful that I have a supportive family and boyfriend to help me do this. This is an experience of a lifetime and I really couldn’t have done it without them. Thanks Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Matt.

          I also can’t believe how much I miss my family though. I mean, I love them dearly. But last summer I spent 12 weeks at AIT and the summer before that I spent a 11 weeks at Basic with no contact to my family, so why is 2 1/2 weeks so hard. I am so excited to be here, but I will be thankful to be back in the United States, where I know what is going on. I feel misplaced here. The culture is a lot different and I haven’t really figured it out.

Big Thanks Goes tooo..

UNL: For setting up the trip, making sure everything went okay, and giving me a $750 scholarship!
Dr. Curry: For putting up with all of us crazy college kids for 3 weeks!
Robin Anderson: Who printed the letters for me to send out informing everyone about my trip and requesting a little help.
Gage County M.A.P.S. coalition for donating envelopes and labels for the letters.

Some of the Money Donors:
Kiwanis                                                     Verla Light
Grandma Jan and Grandpa Roger                Grandpa Earl and Grandma Vera
Grandma Cindy                                         Grandma Judy and Grandpa Gene
Roger and Dianne Aveyard                         Dawn Kendall
Roger and Jane Aden                                  Ernie and Jan
Bette and Marvin                                       Janice Waltke
Diane and Doug Swanson                           Troy Kendall
Mom and Dad                                            Pat May

Everyone who bought cookies from me, helped me with my letters, and supported me along the way!
Grandma Ida, Jessie and Dennis, Dad and Robin Anderson: for donating some extra stuff for the garage sale which was a HUGE help for getting the money for the trip.
A special thanks to Matt. Who helped me lick envelopes, place stamps, and supported me when he wasn't exactly excited for me. Thank you so much for unconditionally supporting the things I do. (:
Also, a huge thanks to my parents for supporting me with a little bit of worry. I wouldn't know what to do without you guys!



Now, I am getting to the packing point. I have less than a week left before my trip and I am extremely excited.

Things I am excited about:
Seeing the old architecture                            Making new friends
Taking MILLIONS of pictures                      African Safari
Wine Tasting                                               Staying with another family
Going out on the town with the girls               The sights
The experiences that I will come back with      Learning about the military of the country
Learning more about differences in culture


Things I am nervous about:
A LONNNG flight                                          Forgetting something important at home
Not knowing what to do                                  Something going wrong while I am away
Making a fool of myself because of culture differences
Being away from home (Crazy, since I have been gone for 11 weeks straight.)
Missing America                                              Realizing how "American" I am
Not being able to speak some of the language


I am so excited, but also very nervous about this trip. It is going to be chilly.. but I am extremely nervous about not packing the right things for the country's weather. I am trying to pack some warm weather clothes and some cold weather clothes. I don't want to pack my winter coat, but I don't want to be without it if we need it..

I am very excited to see all of the pictures that come from this experience as well as the fun memories that are there! I can't wait to share this experience with all my loved ones! Thank you so much!

Thank you everyone, for your love and support.
In just a week, I will have landed in this beautiful country and be spending my time learning and having fun.



If you have missed some of my South African experience so far! Check out this link to read the rest. http://tragicbeautifulthingcalledlife.blogspot.com/search/label/South%20Africa

Here is the South African Plan

Think back to early elementary school. Probably your social studies class very very early in Social Studies when you learned about the equator, the different hemispheres, and the different climates of these hemispheres.

Remember that moment when your teacher said that opposite hemispheres have opposite seasons. I don't. Well. I had a flashback during my South Africa Itinerary meeting today. It was like on an episode of That's So Raven from when I was young, when she has a "vision" and all time stops.

When I go to South Africa, It will be winter and it will be cold. I can start returning all of the dresses that I have purchased for the trip in the last week. Oops.

Oh well, the dresses will be there when I get back, I suppose.

We will be gone for 16 days. We will have 6 "class periods" 3 volunteering days. Go on a Safari, a cable car, a hike, a beach, see the seals, have dinner in nice restaurants, having dinner on the waterfront, go to plays, and "clubs," go on a wine tasting, visit Robben Island which is home of the Prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, stay with a South African Family, go to the archives, read 4 books and write a 8-12 page paper. And somewhere in there we will be going shopping, museums, and the night life.

Holy Cow. Deep Breath.

I can do this. I'm a college kid. I don't need sleep.

All of these things sound like so much fun and the trip will be great. I met 4 of the 5 other people that I am going on the trip with tonight and they all seem great. My roommate for the hotel is 24, so there will be plenty of knowledge to here from her. Excited that everything is starting to fall together.

Thank you for everyone who has donated towards my trip. I wouldn't know what to do without each and every one of you.

Bring on the fun loving, tourist, photographer that I am.

Education Abroad

When I was young, I would spend Saturday mornings on the couch just like any other kid. I curled up in the living room in my pajamas with uncombed hair to watch TV, but instead of watching the typical kid’s cartoons, my father and I watched the History, Discovery, or Travel channel together. I was always fascinated by the history of things not talked about or stressed in the average history class such as the history of other countries and the history of products that people use every day. This is when my love for history and my desire to travel the world started to blossom.

My parents ensured that our family went on a vacation every summer. It was always somewhere filled with fun, but also educational. One summer, we spent two weeks traveling throughout southern Nebraska. We stopped in Red Cloud to read about Willa Cather. We spent a day in Pioneer Village in Minden learning about the settlers of the west. We concluded our trip in Hastings during Kool-Aid days.

During the first semester of my freshman year at UNL, I took two history classes. I took Women in U.S. History and The Minority Experience. Both of them were the highlights of my day because they gave an unusual perspective on the classic U.S. history tale that is taught starting in early elementary.  They were the typical history story from the different perspective of women or minorities, such as Hispanics, African Americans, and Native Americans. These really interest me because they are often the stories that go untold or unexplored in history.   

From childhood to a blossoming young adult, I always had a love for long walks along the tourist paths. One of my strengths is being able to travel and spend many hours visiting new places. Being a soldier in the National Guard has given me the ability to always be ready to move, but to sit and wait when it is required of me. 

University of Nebraska is providing a three week trip to South Africa this summer that I am aiming to go on.On the trip, we will participate in a home-stay, historic sight-seeing, including the prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, spend some time on the beach, and learn about the differences in the culture of South Africa.  

This trip will help me in my future because I hope to use my degree to help families of deployed soldiers. The United States Military is made up of all different kinds of people. Having the knowledge of different cultures will help me, help them.  I am excited to go on the South Africa trip to Cape Town because it is not a topic commonly covered in history classes in school. 

I have also never been out of the country and I am looking forward to the experience of another culture that can only be gained through visiting that country. I believe that this trip will truly be a chance of a lifetime. I cannot wait to see how this trip will benefit me in the near and distant future. I look forward to learning all about the different cultures and broadening my horizons.

           I appreciate everyone who can help me with this cause because it is truly something I believe is worth my time to travel. I understand that not everyone cannot give to my fund, but I would really appreciate the people who can! I hope to see the world and experience life while I am still young.
    Take a virtual tour of South Africa to see how truly beautiful the country is right here! The beaches and ocean looks so inviting!
    Thank you very much! If you can, please Donate here!