Jas is in South Africa!!!

Everybody Enjoy!

2009-06-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hi world,

So this blog began as a mechanism to keep my family updated on my travels when I was in South Africa, but now, it's a keepsake of memories and experiences that I'll treasure forever. Thus, I want to share it. This blog contains the ups and downs of my time in Cape Town so read, laugh, cry, learn from, and enjoy it.

If you're nosey and you read the comments, which I'm sure you will, you'll notice that I wouldn't have and couldn't have made it through without my amazing family. My mom, dad, granny, brother, sister, cousin, and uncle made (and still make) my world go round.

Anyway, please feel free to comment, ask questions, or just feel free to peruse. Maybe you'll see why I'm so in love with South Africa... I was different there... and I miss that.

Peace and love.

Love,
Me

Also, check out my new blog here or type http://wwww.jasminebowles.wordpress.com/

Departure Update

2008-11-19T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Here's the deal.

- Thank goodness for Jas and her fam. They're taking a huge bag to Jersey/NY for me. That will definitely help me out because as a standby passenger, I can't take a lot of stuff like that. The only reason I did it on the way here was because Lyndon and his friend got me the hook up, which he later got into trouble for.

- Jas and her family leave from Cape Town on Saturday, and from there they're flying to Dakar, then to JFK. So, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm going to make a trip up there to get my stuff.

- As of now, I arrive around 8 Saturday morning. Conveniently, Jas' Dad has a Blackberry so I've been able to use his charger for mine. Thus, my phone should be working upon landing. But this all could change. Lyndon said that my flight looks good from Cape Town to Dakar, but from Dakar to Atlanta, he's not so sure. SO, if at the last minute, he thinks I should stay on the plane in Dakar and just fly to JFK, that may be the deal. If that happens, which it hopefully will not, I should still be home on Saturday because there are ten million flights from NY to Atlanta every day.

- I'm almost done packing, and I'm trying to donate as much stuff as I possibly can to lighten the load. It seems to be working out well.

I'll be home soon guys.

Love you all,
Me

I'm at Camps Bay!

2008-11-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Just to let you know, I'll be at Camps Bay for the next day or so staying with Jas, her Dad, her grandma, and her best friend. So if you need me, call the skype number. There isn't much money on there, but if you need me, just call. Can't write much... so, ttyl!

Love,
Me

The Home Stretch

2008-11-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

So it's the final countdown to my arrival back in the states, and it's a bitter sweet countdown. I can't wait to see you guys, but saying goodbye to this place will not be easy. As always, I've over committed my time between goodbyes with people, tourist sites, and other stuff, but that's cool, I'll be busy up to the second I depart. I don't have much else to say. Here's some quick stuff though...

- Jas and I had a great time yesterday at the beach. The weather was perfect! (I'll meet her family this week)
- church was great today, it was a great Sunday conclusion to my trip.

That's all for now,
Love,
Me

ps. I'll be honest, it has cross my mind to get a tattoo of Africa... it just crossed my mind... that's all... for now
pss. Granny, I'll answer all your flight questions in the next post.

Here's what I've been up to...

2008-11-14T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hey family,

Another quick run-down ensues...

- I've spent the past few days at cabins at the beach in Simonstown with the student Y... it rained the whole time
- Jas and I are going to the beach in Cape Town tomorrow
- A few friends have already left for home... it's becoming more and more real that I'm leaving this place, I'm honestly not ready to come home :-( (I think... at least sometimes)

That's it... it's not much, but I just wanted to give a quick update.

I love yall,
Me

Amazingness!!!

2008-11-09T11:35:00.001-08:00

Guess who I saw yesterday? Bobby from Boston!!! Just thought I'd share.

ttyl,
love,
me

Cancelled :-(

2008-11-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

You guys will be happy to know that my climb was canceled due to inclement weather :-( But I will try again another day. I just did my usual jog, added a swim, and kept going on with my day.

I went to the slave lodge today. It was hard to do. That museum is eerie because it was a real slave lodge where they kept slaves in horrid conditions. Then, we went to St.George's Cathedral where Desmond Tutu preaches when he's in town. It is GORGEOUS!!!

Anyway, love yall and I'll ttyl!

Love,
Me

Almost forgot...

2008-11-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that I'm climbing Table Mountain tomorrow? Please family, pray that my knee doesn't fall off and that I make it to the top. I've been jogging around Rondebosch for the past three weeks, so I'm a little more ready that I was. I wasn't going to try it but I decided who lives in Cape Town and doesn't at least try to climb Table Mountain. So... I'm trying my luck tomorrow, and I WILL make it to the top!!! And yes Granny, I'm going to wear my knee brace!

Love yall,
Love,
Me

ps. if any of yall talk to my Momma... tell her I love her and to try to call me again on my cell +27-082-383-6741. Don't only call skype, I'm not always online so I'll miss her calls, but I always have my cell with me.

My President is Black and my Soror is the First Lady... God Bless America!!!

2008-11-05T08:01:00.001-08:00

So, there aren't really words to say what I feel. And honestly, none are necessary. The headlines and responses of the people speak for themselves. I'll just tell you what I was doing last night when I got the news. So...

I intentionally slept from 10pm to about 4am so that I could wake up and go to the viewing party on Main Road. So around 4:30, Jas and I headed out to the local diner to watch the results. It was awesome to be there, but it was too loud and I wanted to hear every word, so a couple of us moved to another viewing party at a local cafe where we could hear better. About 10 minutes after we got there, the headline that I'll never forget popped up... OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT!!! It was sheer uproar! The place went crazy. I couldn't do anything except cry... I was sooo overwhelmed. Honestly, that's how I spent the rest of my night... crying. Then, seeing Jessie Jackson cry, and Oprah, the speech (o the speech!!!) and everybody so supportive, it was just too much! I cried for like 2 hours, lol!!! As hard as it was to be outside of America at such a pivitol moment, I can say that I would not have rather been anywhere else than here! Seeing such international support up close is surreal. I celebrated my President's election with Kenyans, Tanzanians, South Africans, Americans, Indians, Malawians, Norwegians, Germans, Namibians, Zimbabweans, Zambians, Japanese, and Australians!!! And the thing is, they were all crying too, just as happy as I was. It was crazy! Our politics and choices in America effect THE WHOLE WORLD so it seemed rather fitting for us to celebrate our change together. Then, after we left at 7:30am (we were kicked out) we all ran down Main Road yelling Obama, singing, and yeah, more crying! It was awesome! And omg... what a power couple!!! Me and some lucky guy will be just like them one day, lol... just kidding Lyndon. That'll be me and you!!!! But seriously, they're such an inspiration. For the first time, the First Family looks like mine (well, thinner, lol). And I was talking to Caitlin and I told her to kiss my Jayden for me and tell him he can be President too if he wants too one day. Mixed kids have hope (cuz Obama really is mixed) but black kids have hope because let's be honest, if you're not white, you're black (so Obama is black too)!!! lol

It's amazing to be living this history right now! I'm especially happy that my family had the opportunity to see this in our lifetimes. Think of people like Nanny who is in her 90's and can actually appreciate this moment because she has witnessed almost a century of her people's oppression. But as awesome as this is, I just can't help but wish that his grandmother would have held on for just 24 more hours to see her grandson change the face of America's future. In addition to wishing that Martin, Rosa, Medgar, the four little Alabama girls, Biko, Malcolm, Booker T., Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Stokely, DuBois, Coretta, Grandma Jeanie, Grandpa Robert, Big Mamma, Papa, Tati, Aunt Pat, Uncle Tiny and so many of my other unmet ancestors and unsung heroes who struggled and suffered at my age just because they fought for what they believed in could see this right now!!! And I hope that Hitler (killer of Jews), Verwoerds (biggest advocate of apartheid), KKK members, and everyone else who hate to see minorities succeed are all turning over in their graves right now!!!

I love you guys, and tell America they can keep their 40 acres and a mule, we took 50 states and the white house instead!!!! OBAMA '08!!!!!!!!!!!

I love yall,
Love,
Me

ps. people are going crazy on facebook too! The mobilization of my peers has been cool to watch also! my status, and that of hundreds of others, is all about sheer pride in my country and Obama. Mine, in fact, is the title of this entry. BUT... I've been so surprised to see McCain's sore losers be so bold. McCain supporters have statuses like "Our country is going to hell, how could America let this happen"... or "look at what you've done America, you'll regret this"..."Now America is shot to hell because of one selfish man and his brainwashed lemmings. Thanks, everyone. I hope you enjoy the next four years of socialism" and so much more! It's appalling!

but there are some funny ones too like "I'm tryna figure out a way to take advantage of all these happy black ppl...somebodys gotta be givin away some free chicken somewhere..." or "I'm proud of America...but seriously, can we pay Bush off and let Obama step in tomorrow?" and thanks to Young Jeezy's song, most people's statuses say "my president is black" so this white girl put "he's white too......"

The point is, the young people are very very involved!

I'll see yall in 16 days!!!

YES WE DID!!!!!!!!

2008-11-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

WE DID IT YA'LL!!!!!!!!!!!! wooooooohooooooooo!

Quick run-down of events...

2008-11-03T22:26:00.001-08:00

1. IT'S THE DAY WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhh... I'm sooo nervous for him!

2. I have a final today :-( It's my political thought class. Pray that I do well please! I've been studying hard!

3. I got the third of those three essasys back, and on the last one, I got a B+. It's not an A, but close enough I guess.

4. As you guys know, Jasmine's family will be here soon. (among them, her father who works for corporate law and may find me a connection for a PAID summer internship...) Anyway, she said that if I need to I can send a bag or two home with them. Her, her dad, and her grandmother are all flying home together and that means that they get to take 6 bags between all of them. They live in the New Jersey/New York area. It's a way to get all my stuff home safely and an excuse to fly to New York to get it :-)

5. I applied to another legal internship in San Francisco through these people called the University of Dreams. It's the punk way to find an internship for rich people. You pay them, they find you an internship... the end. I got accepted to the program (yayyyyy!), but of course can't do it unless I win one of their scholarships, which I have applied for. So yeah guys, pray that I get that too!!!

6. Jasmine told me about this mentor program with GA Tech. I'm applying to do that next semester too and they pay $11 an hour and I can work with them up to 20 hours/week! I was worried about not having an on campus job but it looks like everything may work out.

7. Next semester is going to be crazy... with a full schedule of four classes and a PE, AKA, and work, I have to start preparing for the LSAT which is the law school entrance exam. I hope I can take an LSAT course, but those things cost between $1000-$1500. I'll have to find a way to pay for that too, either winning some money, finding an LSAT scholarship, or working part time at Magic City, lol. Somehow, I'll figure it out... I always do. THEN... I have to start visitng and applying to law school... ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is surreal! (Side note: that's why my stupid little brother needs to get his life together so that we can visit colleges at the same time I need to visit law schools. YES, I called you out on the WORLD WIDE WEB! Get it together boy! Georgetown, Duke, Emory, Harvard, Yale, NYU, Columbia, LSU etc.)

8. I miss and love you guys sooooo much! Only 17 more days! Also, you should all know this, because you all know me, but I am expecting a welcome home celebration with lots and lots of good (Bowles style) American food. (i.e. barbecue ribs, gumbo, crab legs, red beans, greens, Taco Bell (lol) etc.) And if not all that, can I at least get a welcome home sign?!?! lol

I love yall,
Love,
Me

Three weeks from today!

2008-10-30T16:03:00.000-07:00

Guys, believe it or not, I'll be home three weeks from tomorrow! It's bitter sweet because I'm ready, but I'm not ready. I'm volunteering with Habitat for Humanity Friday morning at 8:30 am so I'm excited about that. Remember the week before my trip and how I was writing three papers? Well, I got two out of three of them back and I got an "A" on both!!! I should get the third one by next week.

Well, I love and miss you guys very much! Talk to you soon!

Just wanted to share...

2008-10-27T00:53:00.000-07:00

Colin Powell endorses Obama
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27265490#27265490

AND

I thought this was funny. My Obama campaign subscription sent me this. It's a prediction of election day and what could happen if one person doesn't vote. lol Turns out, that one person is me, lol.
http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/index.html?nid=I_2BWKJVPP5nCNL_XZA4DTI0MjY5MzA-&id=

I'm back!!!

2008-10-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm back, I'm safe. That's all... more later.

Love you,
Me

Change of plans

2008-10-19T16:36:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

So I haven't left yet and it's Sunday night. We decided to leave Monday morning because it would be safer to drive in the morning sunlight. Plus, the drive is pretty and we wanna see it. But I've finished all my work, I'm excited about the beach, and yeah... that's pretty much it.

I love you guys and I'll take lots of pictures, as requested.

Love yall,
Love,
Me

ps. at church today, this guy named Israel Houghton and his band performed. They're a gospel group from the states (somewhere in the south). Yall should google him or something, they were sooo good live and his voice is like butter! lol... ttyl

pss. yall call me if you need me at +27-082-383-6741. i cant keep putting money on my skype, because it costs too much and yall have access to cheaper calling cards anyway. so yeah, that's the latest important news... i still love yall though. and yall can call my skype and leave a message and i can still call yall back

Wow... what a week!

2008-10-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

So as you guys know, I've been swamped with work this week ! I'm the biggest stresser of all stressers, but ironically, I haven't been stressed this week. It's been more like "don't cry, panic, starve, or not sleep... just do it." But amazingly...

My papers that were due Wednesday were postponed until Friday, and my paper due Monday is almost done. In short, I've written about 10,000 words in three essays which is like a total of about 25 pages IN ONE WEEK!!! I'm not even done yet (but I only have about 500 more words left.) May I also add that in addition to my huge final papers this week, I had a presentation and a short response paper due for another class. Somehow, I managed to make it to all my classes, sleep, eat, go to SHAWCO for the last time:-(, and survive. It's pretty cool, at Emory, I'd be freaking out about this stuff!

Anyway, it's almost over (until tests and finals start week after next). After tomorrow night, I get to focus on vacationing on the garden route for a few days!

Until next time family...

I love yall,
Love,
Me

I hate to have to do this but....

2008-10-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

When time gets tight, I hate having to do my quick listed bullet points of stuff rather than a long lovely articulate novella about what's been going on, but unfortunately, this is one of those times. So here goes...

1. I think I've found a mentor. Her name is Michelle and she is an African American third year law student at Georgetown studying abroad here at UCT. She's going into corporate law and already is signed with a firm. She is attending law school at absolutely NO COST to her because she won the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship. She's great. She said she'd be happy to guide me not only through law school when I get there, but she'll also let me know what I can be doing now to prepare for law school :-) I love getting new mentors.

2. On Sunday, I leave for the garden route. That's a route along the rim of South Africa with beaches beaches and more beaches. I'm excited. It will be just what I need after all these essays.

3. I'm halfway done with my first essay... two and a half more to go :-( I've been sooooo busy. This week, I'll be spending between 6-10 hours PER DAY in the library. I'm not looking forward to it, but I gotta do what I gotta do. It's actually not that bad, writing is my thing, studying for tests is not... that comes in two weeks, and that will officially suck!

4. I don't know if you guys remember me telling you about my book drive idea for the township I work in here. Well, I told my sorors back in Atlanta, and they love it. We're starting it next semester, so the Nu Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. will be hosting it's first annual book drive for South African township libraries... woop woop! (founded by me... yayyyy!!!) I'm also working on the planning for that. See, I told you I've been busy.

I think that's it guys... sorry so short, but I hope that my regular detailed blogs of substantial lengths return soon.

I love you all,
Jas

Don't worry guys...

2008-10-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

I'm fine!!! Sorry for being M.I.A. I've been busy. Next week is the last week of classes, and I've got three huge papers due. But I'm okay, I love yall!!!

Love,
Me

I guess we've all been busy.

2008-10-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

It seems as though we've all been busy because I haven't been hearing from you guys very often nor have you all been hearing from me very often.

Anyhoo, life here has been great. As of this weekend, the weather is that amazing tropical Cape Town weather you all hear about. But then again, I don't want to jinx myself. Saturday I went to a school formal which was fun. Then Sunday, church as usual and Sunday dinner with my SA fam, Brittany, Jenny, and Jamal. We've been doing dinner for like the past month... it's nice.

These next couple of weeks are going to be crazy. I have two ten page essays due next week on the 15th, classes end next Friday, I have an essay due that following Monday, and then one week later finals begin.

We're gonna take a trip after classes end and before our first finals up the coast of the Garden Route, which is a drive up the eatern coast of South Africa. Home of beaches, gardens, tourist attractions, and the highest bungy jump in the world (which I wont be doing... no worries).

That's most of the updates for now. I'll ttyl

I haven't mentioned this much, but...

2008-10-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

I really hope you're all registered to vote! We have one of the biggest rights EVER that so many people have died for and many more still don't have in other countries. We have to exercise this right. I won't even get into Obama-mode right now, but just understand this election is sooooooo important, in a way that the others in the past haven't necessarily been. This time, it matters more than ever. GA residents only have two more days to register... get out there yall!

For your personal enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fp1iWZGz7s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70

http://www.dipdive.com/dip-politics/wato/

I love going to the library!

2008-10-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hey fam!

Nothing much is going on. Quick run-down of recent events...

1. After this week, which is almost over... I only have two more weeks of school left!!! crazy! Then, I'll be a second semester junior, which is petrifying, because that means LSATs, law school research, serious internship hunting, and then, I'll blink, and then I'll be a senior, which is even more petrifying! eeeks!

2. Highlight of my rebellious life... I was thrown out of the library yesterday!!! Lyndon called, I answered, and the librarian had a FIT! It was hilarious. I got written up for my delinquency and everything! Sooo exciting! :-)

3. (Dad this one's for you...) Kirk Whalum (and some other old people, lol) are coming to town next Wednesday. One of my friends wants me to go see them with her, she's a 32 year old PhD grad student. That should be fun :-)

4. Our SHAWCO end of the year banquet is tomorrow, which makes me sad about leaving my babies behind. Plus, I haven't seen them in forever. Two Wednesdays ago, I was sick, Last Wednesday was Heritage Day so no school for anybody, this week, they're off of school for break, and then I'll only have two more Wednesdays with them :-(

Well, I love yall, sorry nothing exciting is going on. I'll try to be more adventurous and get back to you! Smwaaaaah!

So, guess what?!?!

2008-09-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I went whale watching today in Hermanus and it was awesome! We saw such cool stuff. Jas was able to come and we were finally able to hang out, which was also awesome. Guess what? Her Dad is a corporate attorney in Jersey/New York and will be here in a few weeks. He's probably gonna get me the hook up next summer, if not with his firm (on Wall Street by the way), with one of his homeboy's/homegirl's firms. I'm sooo excited to meet him. After all my internship seeking, it really is WHO you know! I might have the legal bombest internship in New York next summer... woohooo for networking!!!

Anyway, I love yall!!!

Love always,
Me

Whew... finally time to blog!

2008-09-25T11:35:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

I've missed you (well, writing to you that is)! Everything is going well here. Not much is new, so I'll just share the simple stressors of my life.

So, lately, I've been really frustrated. Here's the issue:
I looove going to the gym, and yes, I said I love it! Really, it makes me feel good afterward, it's good for me, and when I stick with it, there's a funny little thing called results :-) So anyway, when I first got here, I paid the 550 Rand (under $80 US) for the five month membership, and I was doing sooo well! Like going 4-5 times per week, working with my trainer, getting results, etc. Working out was my first priority because I was still in vacation mode. Then, school happened, and let me tell you, this school thing is really interfering with my college experience! Anyway, so school happened, and I stopped going to the gym. So I had to catch back up with all my school work, and to stop myself from getting behind again, I've implemented madatory library time after my last class for a minimum of two hours. It's really paying off. I go even when I have nothing" to do because there's always SOMETHING to do. So, now that I'm caught back up with school, I'm ready to go back to the gym. But I cannot seem to fit school, the gym, and my gotta-have-it-to-do-well library time. Here's why...

I didn't tell you guys this because I didn't want anybody to have a heart attack, but a little over a month ago, I was coming home from the gym and it was just starting to get dark. It was about 6ish in the afternoon. My gym is on Main Road and if you guys remember my descriptions in the beginning, Main Road is the "main road" in Rondebosch, my area. My street, Grotto Road intersects with Main Road and I live about a 5-7 minute walk from Main Road. So anyhoo, I left the gym and was walking up Grotto when a man started walking briskly behind me. I tried to implement some of my safety skills from the beginning of the semester and crossed the street to see if he was following me or if I was just paranoid. He crossed the street too. I crossed it again, and he crossed it again. At that point, I was sure I was being followed, and I ran to my friend's apartment complex on Grotto and got in safely. Then I called one of my roommates who met me and we walked home together. Scary yes... so, MY POINT IS...

You're probably thinking, "you idiot, just go to the gym after the library, duh", and my response is, "no, because it's about usually about 4 when I leave the library which means I'll get to the gym at 4:30 and work out til 5:30/6 and be scared again." So, that's a no. You may also say, that's still easy, go between class and the library, but um, that's a super no. That means I'd go from home in the morning up the mountain to campus (which I've been walking everyday to fit in at least some exercise) go to class, walk back down the mountain past my house to Main Road go to the gym, and then go back up to campus for the library, and um... no! I refuse to go up that mountain twice a day!

So today, I left the library around 4, went to the gym for the first time in almost two weeks, and managed to get home before 6. It was fine, still light outside and everything. But, while I was there, my trainer yelled at me for staying away so long, and then, she mentioned the forbidden solution! The one I've been avoiding forever... she mentioned, yup, you guessed it, the morning workout! YIKES!!! My first class doesn't start til 10 so it's totally plausable, I've just been trying to think of everything BUT that. I could go at like 7:00 or 8, still fit in a good hour of workout, before hiking up that mountain around 9:30/9:40 in time for my 10 o clock class. Yeah, so I'm going to try it tomorrow and see how it goes. It'll be great if it works out, but... o the woes of a morning workout.

Whew... so yeah, that's such a small issue, but something that's really been on my mind lately, lol. So sorry I don't have any cool African experiences to share right now, except people randomly speaking Afrikaans to me because they think I'm colored. I'll do better, lol. As I often say, I just need to get my life together, lol.

I love yall,
Love,
Me

ps. I'm probably going whale watching in Hermanus this weekend, I'm excited!
pss. God worked a miracle last night, you'll never believe it, I sure didn't... get ready... MY BROTHER CALLED ME :-) lol
psss. Tiffany, kiss Aiden for me :-) Thanks for your update, smwaaah!

My bad...

2008-09-25T09:11:00.001-07:00

hi family, I'm still alive... sorry for the delay!

More later!

I love you all,
Love,
Me

I'm kind of upset because...

2008-09-21T16:07:00.000-07:00

I just spent over an hour uploading the FUNNIEST video EVER onto this thing, only for it to do two things:
1. stop working
2. use up boocoo credits uploading for NOTHING!!! and in case yall forgot, internet AINT free!!!

But seriously, you guys have GOT to see this video! I know you guys have seen Bon Qui Qui, and if not, check her out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkdcYlOn5M

So, I've done it for my friends a THOUSAND times and of course, I do it well because of my southern belle ghetto tendencies, lol. So, they wanted me to do a re-enactment. But, one of my friends Jenny, suddenly broke out in Bon Qui Qui phrases (that we of course use ALL the time), we turned on the camera, and here you have it... white Bon Qui Qui.

BUT, as I mentioned, the uploader isn't working, so you guys will have to wait until I put it on youtube... :-)

okay, I could't wait http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2Igas7oz4 ENJOY!!! lol
ps. As far as production goes, I made this video all by myself :-)

Talk to yall tomorrow,
Love you,
Love,
Me

Guess what?!

2008-09-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

Hey,
This will be short sweet and simple:

1. I got an A on my religious studies paper about Islam and prostitution!!! yaaaaaayyyy!!! (leaving here with a 4.0 would be AMAZING!!!)

2. Did yall know Sarah Palin's baby (the pregnant one) is having a black baby?!?!?! The plot thickens!!! But check out this young man http://www.blackbottom.com/watch.php?v=WdBJd9b9i8A I really respect him :-)

3. I go through musical phases. Last week it was John Mayer (who is soooo flyy) and this week, it's Erykah Badu. Her "Live" album is the BOMBBBB!!!

That's all,
Love you all,
Jas

ps. where ya'll been? Dad? Granny? sheesh!!!

Aaah... the sweet feeling of completion!

2008-09-16T15:52:00.001-07:00

My paper's done! woooohooooo! Now I can catch up on all the other work I've been neglecting!

Good night, lol!

Love you all,
Love,
Me

I still love people (HAPPY BIRFDAY MOMMY!!!)

2008-09-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM... I hope your day is AWESOME!!! hugs and kisses from the motherland :-) smwaaaah!

Hey guys,

As many of you know, all my life I've been a people person. Sometimes too much, and to my detriment, but most times, to my satisfaction. I still think people are inherently good, and that bad people had to learn to be that way. People aren't born bad, sinful, but not bad.

Anyway, a couple of days ago one of my study abroad advisors (the black one, lol) emailed me saying she had a friend who would be in Cape Town and she wanted us to meet. So I emailed her friend, she called me, and we met up today. And she's pretty much amazing.

This is the part where you DO NOT JUDGE:
Her name is Katrina, she's 27, she's black, she's from Philly, she's here doing an international gay and lesbian film festival, she lost her mother at 16, she's never known her father, she was married but her wife left her last year, no family, and she's all she's got in the world.

BUT... she's made this film and received the honor of being flown here, all travel and living expenses paid, and she's sharing her film with the world. That's cool and all, but the thing that I liked about her was her passion. You know those people you meet and talk to who have this "thing," may it be music, theater, poetry, politics, children, AIDS, women's rights, religion, baseball, travel, or whatever, but whatever it is, it moves them. Her passion happens to be stopping violence against minority lesbians, which apparently, is a big problem. I didn't know that, but that's what happens when you meet and talk to people unlike yourself... you gain insight into things that you never thought about, never thought existed, or never thought affected you. But as someone said (can't remember who...) "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," so even though my religious views don't allow me to agree or advocate the gay and lesbian lifestyle, I respect it and the people who choose to live their lives as such. They're people too, and in many cases, some of the best people I know. So in short, meeting Katrina today was cool and it reminded me about just how much I'm in love with people... everybody. Black, white, asian, african, mixed, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, gay, straight, Republican, Democratic, etc. You learn sooo much by embracing people unlike yourself and stepping out of your own comfort zone. It's like on my spring break trip, there were 7 of us, I was the only black girl, three of them were Jewish (like hardcore Jewish, lived in Israel, parents are immigrants, dual citizenship, celebrate all the Jewish holidays kind of Jewish), one atheist, and two other semi-Christians (like the kind who were raised Christian but could take it or leave it kind of people). Again, that's waaay out of my comfort zone in the sense that I'd probably never meet or hang out with people so unlike me back at home, let alone travel with, but I learned a lot from them during those ten days, and I think my experience was richer for it. (okay, back on topic... I have self-diagnosed ADD...)

The point is... I loved meeting Katrina for her "pursuit of happiness" despite what she doesn't have (family, money, etc). She's got heart, and lives for a cause and that's pretty cool! As Malcolm X said, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything". I haven't seen her film, but I looked it up and watched the trailor and it seems to be about the struggles of coming out as a black woman (http://www.underneaththemovie.com/trailer.html). And call me ignorant, but I never thought of how black lesbianism is a culture all in itself. I should've known though, being black is one thing, being a woman is another, so being a black woman and ANYthing else is always even tougher.

Anyway...

Yeah, I'm still working on that paper. It'll happen. Due Wednesday. I work well under pressure; or at least that's what I'm telling myself :-)

I love yall,
Love,
Me

Just trying to catch back up...

2008-09-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So this week has been pretty chill. I've been the worst student ever (again). Monday, I didn't go to class, Tuesday I only went to one, Wednesday I didn't go to class but I went to SHAWCO, Thursday, I only went to one, and Friday was the first day I finally went to all of my classes. I don't know, after break, I just could not get back on track. Next week though, I'm on it! Plus, I have a paper due on Wednesday that I need to get on top of. I started it last night, which is a good start. Today, me and a couple of friends went to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful. We just laid out in the gardens and did some homework. It was lovely :-)

Since I've been back from break, I've made a list of everything I must do before I leave here. So finally, I can check off Kirstenbosch. But the reason I made the list is because I've realized how quickly this time has flown by. In that amount of time, I've done a lot and seen a lot but there's a lot more I have to do before I leave. Actually though, I've done a lot more than most people, which makes me feel good. Many people still haven't been to the top of Table Mountain, gone to Robben Island, been to the winelands, and other stuff. But because of this extensive list I have, we're gonna have to maximize every weekend. Next weekend (or the next weekend), we're going whale watching in Hermanus.

Also, the weather is picking up nicely. Today, it was like 80 degrees, which was lovely. But I hear that tomorrow it's back to rain. We'll see.

Well, tomorrow, I'm going to church and then to Cavendish (the local mall) for a few items I need. Hopefully, I'll get to catch up on some work before school starts back on Monday. Also, I moved my ticket up a week early so that I'll be home for Thanksgiving! So now, I leave on November 21 and I'll be home on November 22. But we only have 5 more weeks of school. Classes end on October 17th. Crazy huh?! But then I have finals, so the 22 of November is when I'll be looking for all my hugs!!! PARTY AT MY PLACE, lol :-)

so, while you guys plan my party, lol, I'll work on putting the "study" back in "study abroad."

I love and miss you all,
Love,
Me

ps. I'm glad you all enjoyed the pictures. As always, I loved your comments, you guys are funny :-)

It's done!

2008-09-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

The captions are now complete... enjoy the pics guys! More to come after me and the girls get together to share pictures :-)

Don't be mad but...

2008-09-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to the pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasmine.bowles/AfricanSpringBreak#

BUT

I haven't finished writing in all the captions yet. So if you're too impatient to wait, ahem (LYNDON), then feel free to have a look now, but do check back later for captions, because they tell the story of the trip and make this album come together.

Enjoy! Love you all,
Love,
Me

ps. wish my luck on my first test today!

I'm back in one piece

2008-09-07T16:00:00.001-07:00

Hey family,

Details on the trip later, I'm exhausted. Just know that I'm back in Capetown, safe and sound. Others, however, weren't so lucky.

Please pray for my friend Terrance and his family and briefly read about him here:
http://www.nbc4.com/news/17383189/detail.html

We weren't close, but we'd always hug and speak when we saw each other. What happened to him, God forbid, could have been me, my friends, or anyone, anywhere. He was on spring break just like me, near water just like me, with friends just like me, studying abroad at UCT just like me. Life is so short and he was sooooo nice! I visited his facebook today and all of his friends have posted nothing but the best things on his page. Apparently, he sang gospel in the church and was very into performing arts and theater... just keep him in your prayers.

On another note, my trip was great and I can't wait to share every detail (that I can remember, lol). I wish you guys were here :-(

i love you all very much,
love always,
Me

ps. I had an epiphany during my trip... everyone has that "thing," their financial vice. the thing that they splurge on no matter what. some people like jewelry, some like fancy cars, some like big houses, some like expensive clothing, etcetera etcetara. I think that the one thing that i'll spend (almost) any amount of money on (when I get some, lol) will be travelling. it's priceless and often worth every cent. that's all :-)

Hey guys... I'm safe!!!

2008-09-03T05:40:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

I'm writing you from the internet cafe at my hotel in Livingstone, Zambia. I forgot to bring my travel journal on this trip, which kind of sucks, because when I write you, I'm doing everything from memory. The Zambian president died in France last week and so his funeral is today. As a result, everything is shut down and the country is silent. I've been here for a couple of hours, as we left Kruger yesterday and flew here from joburg. So far, everything has been WONDERFUL... everything as in my experiences and activities. (details on the girls later) But lets just say, this is one of those vacations you'd like to take with three types of people...
a. people you really love
b. people you really like
c. lots of people, so that the people you like can change everyday and you can float amongst different groups

for me, i am traveling with neither a, b, or c. again, i'm having a blast, but in case you guys haven't noticed, i'm a bit of a leader, and following (as in activities and choices, ie. where to have dinner, what to do next, how to do this/that, etc) these girls around southern africa wasn't on my itinerary. but the thing is, i have to for safety reasons. they're all so... un-me. they're loud, rude, and rich.... spoiled brats :-( I mean, they're not terrible people, it's just, they'll talk about someone loudly and right in their face. they actually talk about EVERYONE loudly and right to their face. (sorry, i know that's not what you guys feel like reading about, i just needed to vent)

KRUGER WAS AMAZING!!! I want so badly for you guys to come and experience these things. When i get rich, I'll make sure you all have an all expenses paid trip because these are things that EVERYONE should be able to do. Not to mention the people i've met. Well, i can't write long, because it's sort of pricey but i love and miss you all.

short rundown of spectacular events:
- buffalo raided my campsite in kruger and drank out of the pool... soooo cool!
- a pride of lions killed a buffalo and we saw them eating it
- a herd of elephants (like 30 of them) running to the waterhole to drink
- almost attacked by hippos
- monkeys and bush babies broke into our cabins
- meeting thulani, our safari guide (details on him later)
- currently poolside along the zambezi river

and the best part is that i have pictures of all of it!!!

tomorrow we're going white water rafting down the zabezi which is the river that victoria falls flows in to and the next day we're taking a sunset cruise.

i love you guys so much and there's no one/group of people i'd rather be here with than you :-(

ps. all the african people look at me like 'you sellout/americanized black girl' because they see me with a whole bunch of loud white girls... that sucks too, lol... except it's not so funny
pss. saturday they wanna go on a canoe safari... i dont! that's the type of stuff im talking about. i don't like canoeing, especially if there are animals involved. i need one at a time please, a canoe, or a safari, not a canoe safari.
psss. i wanna go on an elephant back game viewing, where you ride on elephants through the bush :-) but yup, you guessed it, no one else does.

PRAY FOR ME FAM!!! i'm having a great time and am making the best of every moment. i cant wait to show you my ten million pictures!

hugs and kisses to you all... smwaaaah!

pssss. donations welcome, lol

See you in ten... days that is!

2008-08-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

hey guys,

so al, our guy, is coming to pick us up in like 30 minutes to go to the airport. from there we'll catch a 9:20p flight and head to joburg. We'll stay there overnight and then in the morning, some kruger person will pick us up from our hotel and take us to kruger!!! soooo excited! Yesterday, I posted a link to the itenerary and i hope you guys can open it and take a look so you'll know where i am on any given day.

i already miss you guys distance wise, but now i'll miss you for the next week because we can't even talk :-(

well, do keep posting so I feel missed when i return, lol. particularly, let me know what's going on with that reckless county of ours, and my man.... OBAMA! (Mom, you better have tivoed last night's speech... if you didnt... grrrrrr!!!!)

OMG... al just called to say he's outside... he's waaaay early, like 30 minutes early! I was gonna call each of you but, guess not!!!

geeze louise... sorry, i love you, i miss you, and i love you somemore!

love always,
Me

I just wouldn't be right...

2008-08-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So I finally finished that paper... whew! And the big day is tomorrrow. I'm super duper excited! I've got a lot to do tomorrow because I haven't even begun to start packing. I started my malaria pills today... one day late, but whatever :-) Just kidding, well, about the whatever part, but I really did start the malaria pills a day late, lol. Just pray on it yall!

Um... honestly, other than that, I don't have any big updates. I just wouldn't be right if I didn't do a goodbye blog. Seriously though guys, you won't be able to write or call me for ten days. Well, you can write and call me but neither will elicit a response for ten days. I'm gonna miss you guys! I'll take LOTS of pictures and post them (semi) immediately! If I can check in one more time tomorrow before I leave, I'll do my best! smwaaah!

Love you all,
Love,
Me

ps. here's the itenerary for my trip http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=f82e46b4ab&attid=0.1&disp=vah&view=att&th=11bff4bffb9d2bb8

pss. i hope you're all registered to vote... this is history!

Must... write... paper!

2008-08-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I've got a huge mid-term paper due Friday in my religion class, so I won't be writing much today. I was in the library for like 8 hours straight (in spite of the family joke, yes, really, i was, lol) and I'm still less than half way done. I've done all my research, I've just gotta go through it and put it all together. The topic is interesting, I've just gotta make myself get it done. (I'm writing about a sect of Islam in Nigeria/Hausaland Region called the Bori cult and its spirit possessing prostitute women... sounds fake, but yeah, it's real, lol.)

I really want to get it done tomorrow, and I've got SHAWCO, so needless to say, I'll be busy this week. And then, I leave for spring break on Friday!!! What are you guys gonna do without me for like 9 days?

Anyhoo, I figured out how to take pics and record video with my webcam thing, so enjoy, lol!

Love you lots,

Something's happening...

2008-08-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So today was a great day from start to finish! I woke up this morning and went to church, came home did some work, ate lunch, then went back to church, went to a Chinese restaurant, and now I'm at home.

I went back to the Hillsong church with some friends, which is the church I told you guys about that's really production-y, like strobe lights, fog machines, and rock bands. But today was really good. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Six of us went this morning, then three of us went back tonight because they had a praise and worship thing tonight where it was allll music. It was really cool, again, nothing that I've ever been used to between Catholocism, the Kingdom Hall, and good ol' Bethlehem Baptist Church in Memphis, but still, it was cool despite its difference.

As some of you know, I had a tough day yesterday because I've just been feeling super alone and super far from any and everything familiar. But after talking to you guys, I felt a lot better, and after today, I feel tons better. I'm not sure what it is, I can't quite describe it, but something's happening. Like today's church experience was really special/different/strange for me (in a positive way). I know everything happens for a reason, and I know I'm where I'm supposed to be right now, but it's been tough feeling alone. But after today, it's like God put me here, "alone" (even though I'm really never alone) so that I'm away from home, school, family, boyfriend, friends and all of the distractions that those things and people offer, so that I can become better on my own, as a lady, a student, a volunteer, and most importantly, as a Christian.... so we can have some me and Him time, lol. I'm away from you guys because I'm supposed to be, ya know? Again, I can't quite place my finger on "it", or how to describe "it", whatever "it" is, "it" is muuuch bigger than me. but yeah, that's just a peek into the craziness going on in my brain right now.

Anyhooo, I'm back off to school tomorrow. Plus, I've got a huge paper due Friday. I'll talk to you guys again soon.

Love you all,
Love,
Me

Best feeling ever!

2008-08-22T18:18:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

So the past couple of days, I've been the absolute worst student ever! I had two papers due on Friday and waited until when... yeah, Thursday night to finish them. But whatever, they got done in time which is all that matters.

Also, just like at home, I neverrrr go out here (go out as in hop around from club to club and get drunk). Not only is it expensive (well, expensive relative to Cape Town but muuuuch cheaper than Atlanta) but also, I figure I shouldn't do anything here that I don't do at home, so, I don't go out much here either. I'm a super duper home body. Anyhooo, a few of my friends managed to get me out of the house tonight and we went to Long Street. I'm sooo happy I went because I had a ball.

Story of the night:
I only brought R100 with me out tonight in an effort to curb my spending a little bit because going out can really take a toll on your funds. Long Street is cool, but every night there are tons of beggers who know tourists will be there to party. It's actually pretty tough to enjoy yourself because there are sooo many of them. Anyhoo, we were walking from the first place we went to towards the second place, and this kid (looked kinda short for his age, perhaps a young teenager like 12-15) came up to us in tattered clothes and said in the fakest American accent possible, "where you from? I'm Bobby from Boston!" We laughed and were like, "oh, nice to meet you Bobby," and began to start walking away. It was clear that this kid's name was NOT Bobby and that he was NOT from Boston, which is actually why it was so funny. He imitated an American accent very well. As we began to walk off, he asked for money, and as the rest of my friends walked away, because honestly, it's common. That's what you do, you walk away... normal. But for me, there was something about him that just stuck out. I still to this very moment don't know what it was about this kid. I tried to walk away but he put his arm around my shoulder, walked a few more steps with me, and in the most sincere manner I've heard said, "I just want to buy food. I PROMISE... I won't do anything else with the money. You can even buy food for me! That's all I want... something to eat!" So, he got me. My friends walked ahead into the bar, so I got my friend Luke to walk with me down to the corner store. Luke, Bobby, and I walked to the store and when we got inside I told Bobby to pick out three things, any three things he wanted. He picked a bag of rice, canola cooking oil, and a pack of chicken. It all cost me like R70 (which is like $10) which means after that and the cab fare to Long Street, which was R20, I only had R10 left on me, which is a little over one dollar. After I bought Bobby his food, he was soooo gracious, and so thankful... all he kept saying was "God bless you, God bless you, oh thank you so much, God bless you." We left the store, I told Bobby to have a good night, and he ran away with such relief and joy that all I could do was cry. Picture it... Here we are, on Long Street, in the middle of clubs, bars, drunken people dancing on the streets, and me.... crying with a white guy walking down the sidewalk. It's a pretty funny image now, but that kid, Bobby, I don't know, he's special. Do you know how many kids I've turned away? How many people I walk by everyday who beg for money? There was something about him... maybe it was his approach. Like how he came up to us with a joke, he was humorous and not immediately begging. His approach made him human, made him laugh, like you and me, whereas so many beggers take an approach that makes them seem subhuman. They beg immediately which automatically creates this unfortunate perception of superiority and inferiority. But Bobby, he came at me like a human, laughing, smiling, joking, and how on earth could you ever let a human go hungry? For whatever reason, this time, I couldn't.

Needless to say, I was out of money after that but even then, I didn't feel broke. I didn't have money for the drinks or food I intended to spend that R100 on, but it's cool because now Bobby and his family have food to eat. Plus, as I walked into bar number two with tears rolling down my face and told my friends the story, they bought me all the drinks and food I needed or wanted in addition to my cab fare to get home, so I didn't go without, and tonight, nor did Bobby :-) Honestly, tonight was one of the best nights ever, but not because I partied with friends on Long Street, but because I met Bobby :-)

sappy, corny, whatever you call it, this story made my night!

Good night fam (at 3:50 am),
Love you all,
Love,
Me

10 days

2008-08-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So I leave for spring break (in Kruger, Zambia, and Victoria Falls) in 10 days! I'm super excited (besides the fact that i'll probably deplete half of my funds because I stupidly chose to vacation with rich people) because that means the semester is half way over! I know... what kind of semester has this been? It's only 12 weeks long, and next week is the sixth. The semester has been absurdly short, but then again, I'm not complaining at all!

This week and the next, the plan is to take it easy and only do free stuff, lol. This Friday, Ida/the program has planned a trip to the District Six Museum. District Six is an area here in South Africa that was populated by several different cultures and races of people. It was well-known for its various foods, cultures, religions, garb, etc. But, District Six was MOST well known for the way all its inhabitants coexisted so peacefully despite differences in race, religion, and culture. There were Indians, Asians, Malays, Africans, etc. However, during apartheid, 1966 to be exact, the government declared the area "whites only" and began to remove inhabitants in 1968. Thus, tens of thousands of people were forcefully removed from their homes. Part of District Six has now been declared a national museum, but other parts are supposed to be renovated and even redistributed. The forceful removal of the people is reminiscent to the issues faced by our Native Americans during the Trail of Tears. However, the difference is, those removed from their homes in District Six are still alive, and many even painfully drive or walk by their former homes everyday. It's pretty sad. (for more info, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_Six)

Anyhoo, Ida organized a trip there for us (transportation and admission paid woooohoooo) on Friday around 2. I'm pretty excited; I've been meaning to go there but I'm glad I didn't because now its free. (If they take us to Robben Island for free I'll be mad).

Anyway, this week I'll just be relaxing and finalizing work before my trip. I'll post more later!

Love you all,
Me

Try, try again

2008-08-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

Howzit guys? (South African form of what's up)

So, i just got back from church. This time we went to the night service at another church that's branched somehow with the student YMCA. It was cool. Again, not what I'm used to but church is church. I met lots of new people and they fed us chicken burgers afterward, which was great because I'm all about free food in the name of fellowship, lol. (Although I will be honest, what exactly is a chicken-burger? yeah, i know... sketchy). Lol, anyhoo, I've had a pretty productive weekend. I finished one of my books for class and was able to start on another. I did some grocery shopping today and was also able to catch up on some rest. Tomorrow, I'll resume my regimine at the gym, and Tuesday, I meet back with my trainer. These workouts would actually pay off if I ate right, but then again, welcome to the story of my life! I tried to buy smart today though. I bought yogurt, dried fruit, nuts, lean bacon, whole wheat seed bread, light butter, light mayonaise (which honestly, broke my heart), 2% milk (I don't trust their skim... it just don't look right) and other sounds-healthy stuff! I'm tryin... sheesh!

Anyhoo, I'm gonna go do some more reading and then I'll probably call it a night. I pray that all is well with you guys over in America.... miss you lots!

Love you all,
Love,
Me

ps. thanks Dad for the scriptures, I did in fact look them up... I appreciate it :-)

R&R

2008-08-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

So this week has been pretty uneventful for the most part. Thursday night, it was one of my friend's birthday's so we all went out to the waterfront for dinner. She's a member of a quadruplet so she was missing her sisters because it's her first time not being all together for their birthday. We had Thai food, it was pretty good!

Today, not much happened, I just went to class and the gym, came home, cooked (salmon patties with rice and corn) and now I'm probably gonna catch up on some much needed rest. Plus, I'm sorta behind on my reading after last week, so I'll probably just have a low key weekend and try to relax a bit. Plus, I'm trying to save as much money as possible. With no job or income, it's hard.

Anyhoo, just wanted to keep you guys updated. I hope things are well with all of you, and please enjoy the summer weather for me. It's still kind of chilly here :-(

Love you all,
love,
Me

2008-08-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I had SHAWCO today which was exciting. I teach 6th grade and they're so sweet. They were bad today, but that'll change next week. Today, being the first day and all, was super hectic. I didn't even find my kinds until 30 minutes into the session. Then, we had to share classrooms with another class because the other rooms were full or locked. So, next week we should have our own space.

Lyndon made it safely to Atlanta this morning after being stranded in Dakar for a day. However, the sweet little old ladies I told you guys about made good on their promise and took good care of him :-)

I'm super sleepy from class and SHAWCO so I won't be writing long, but I just wanted to let you guys know I'm alright and everything's okay. Anyhoo, I love you all and thank for being you. Your comments always make me smile!

Love you all,
Love,
Me

He's gone... back to work :-(

2008-08-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

So yeah, I just left the airport, and I am officially homesick! I never ever in a million years want to be this far away from home for this long ever again! When I get homesick, the longest distance I want to be away is a domestic flight, and luckily the longest flight in US is only a three hour flight, four with tough winds, however a short drive would be preferable. So, these are all things I will be sure to consider for law school because this is getting a little bit out of control :-(

Lyndon made it onto the flight (first class... again) but I'm still really concerned. I didn't know this until we got to the airport, but he's not coming straight to Atl, first he has a pitstop in NY at JFK. However, the flight from Dakar to JFK is oversold, so he may be stuck in Senegal for a night. When I was waiting for him to check his luggage, I met the two nicest little old white ladies, Ms.Becky and Ms.Debbie (they're sisters). They are also flying standby on Lyndon's flight and if he's stuck, they're stuck, so they promised to babysit him for me if they get stranded. If it weren't for them, I think I'd be a mess of worry!

Don't get me wrong, I'm super duper appreciating this experience, but that's just what it is, an experience, and what do you do with experiences? Yup, learn from them. Thus, I've learned how far NOT TO BE from home :-) See? I'm trying to be optimistic so that I can finally stop crying (and no Dad... not in fetal position thank you very much!).

He really had a great time, except we didn't get to do one thing... shark diving, and we tried three separate times, I guess it just wasn't meant to be. He swears he's coming back just for that though, we'll see. Really though, I want all of you to come! Everyone should get a piece of this pie... and it's soooo possible! (order passports NOW!)

As much as I enjoyed his stay, it's back to work now! I'm kinda sorta inefficient when he's around, lol. So now, as my AKA grad advisor would say, I can "get back to the REAL serious matter... my AKAdemics" :-) Also, you all be sure to bombard Lyndon when he gets off the plane... he's got some surprises for you all ;-)

Anyhoo... I'm gonna go get in fetal position, pop some popcorn, watch one of the movies he brought me, and check my blog every 10 minutes for your comments... yay!

I love you all,
Love,
(homesick) Me

Brother, Sister...I Give GoOd Price Fa You

2008-08-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Granny, Mamma Bowles, “King Of The Ribs” Mr. Pierre Bowles, Kristina, Tiffany, Uncle Chavez, Mom, GOD and everybody else I forgot to mention.
This morning me and jasmine woke up pretty early to go shark diving, I was pretty excited about going but unfortunately they cancelled because of the high swells in ocean. Meaning they didn’t want the waves slamming people around the cage with sharks circling around waiting to take an arm or leg. Sounded fair to me, but I was pretty disappointed. Hopefully we can make it out tomorrow.
So we’re sitting around the room thinking, “What exactly could we do with our lives now?” It’s Saturday and I leave on Monday, so we’re trying to make the best with the time. I knew I was going to have to bring back a whole suitcase with just souvenirs for everybody, and I hadn’t bought anything even resembling a post card for anybody up to this point. So that daughter of yours came up with the idea of going to the African Flea Market, also known as Green Market Square. I couldn’t say no if I wanted, so we got dressed and called Al (Jasmine’s personal driver) to have him take us to this Green Square Place.
When Alfred (I mean…AL) dropped us off on long street, where the market is located. We went into the first shop we saw. Walking inside, you’re going to see African masks and statues from wall to wall. Along with drums, beads, paintings, springbok (a colorful gazelle like animal) coats and carpets and some more interesting things. One thing about the African Market that I noticed is that it’s definitely not short on customer service. They just be doing too damn much. Once you look at something for 2 seconds, or pick it up…It’s like somebody come out of nowhere with one of them crazy smiles like “Aww shark head, You like???? I give you good price. What you want to pay fo dis?” I’m looking at the guy like thank you but I’m just browsing. “No, No my brother…I give you GoOooOood price…How much money you have??? I do good price just Fa You” I’m trying to tell this man I don’t want the shark head in the nicest way I can, so you just don’t have a choice but to walk away.
That pretty much how the majority of the shopping experience turned out to be, but they were some really nice ones too. This lady sold me and Jasmine these handmade African Photo Albums for super cheap. She kept telling us how we were her first customers and we had to be happy for her to have good luck…Well 50 dollars for two big books and this African instrument thingy put smiles on our faces. Hopefully that brought her more paying customers. All in all was a pretty good day though, we’re probably going to go out later to grab something to eat and enjoy the nightlife. Besides my hands are starting to hurt.
Love yall,
Lyndon.

P.S....I put a picture up from the safari yesterday

Good times!

2008-08-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So Wednesday night, Lyndon's luggage arrived around midnight. It was a tedious ordeal, but he got it... which means I got my goodies. Thanks Mom and Granny.... I won't need soap for at least six years! lol... just kidding :-)

Then, yesterday (Thursday), we went to Robben Island which was a wonderful experience! We boarded a ferry from the waterfront and headed over, the ride was beautiful and took about 20-30 minutes. Upon arrival, we received a driving tour around the island (which is much bigger than I had thought all these years) and saw the hostipal, where the white guards lived, where the solitary confinement quarters were, the attack dog kennels, and the lime quarry where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were forced into hard labor. Then, we received a tour around the actual prison. Our tour guide through the prison was an ex-prisoner who told us all the painful stories his heart could muster. Meeting people like him makes you feel soooo silly anytime you harbor ill feelings or hold grudges against people who have "wronged" you; he holds no ill feelings toward the people who TORTURED him for years while imprisoned, which makes my petty grievances seem just that... PETTY! He was really good! In addition, both ex-guards and ex-prisoners give tours around the prison, and many of them are neighbors on the island and live side by side, despite previous years of conflict. After we returned to the dock, Lyndon and I stuck around for dinner on the waterfront (the best little pizza place EVER!) and then we came home.

Today, we went on our safari! The tour guide picked us up at 6:30 am. We were driven about an hour outside of Cape Town to a place called Fairy Glen Nature Reserve. We had a full breakfast, were driven around for a few hours, received a full lunch, and were driven back home. We saw 4 out of 5 of THE BIG FIVE!!! The only one we didn't see was the leopard, but we saw lions, buffalos, rhinos, elephants, girraffes, wildebeast, ostrich, gazelles, antelope, and like 5 other things that look like antelope but aren't, lol. Again, we got some AMAZING pictures from the past two days. COMING SOON... I PROMISE!!! Now that our safari is over, we've checked in to our bed and breakfast (free on behalf of a raffel held by Two-Way Travel, woop woop) and will probably catch a movie at the mall or go to Long Street.

Tomorrow is Lydnon's surprise. Many of you know what it is already but for those of you who do not, I can't say because after I post this, he'll probably log-in, read it, and comment. Thus, the surprise would be spoiled. But my point is, tomorrow will be another big day and we'll have to get up early again if all goes as planned.

We're having a ball, and I wish you guys were here! Also, I've made you all authors for the blog, so feel free to post your own blog messages, may they be questions, current events from the other side of the world etc. That way, I can post answers and responses to your stuff too!

Love you all,
Love,
Me (and Lyndon)

New pics posted!

2008-08-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/jasmine.bowles

I'll post the wine festival pics as soon as I can. I'm out of internet again, so I'll have to do the uploads at another time when I come to the internet cafe!

Love you all,
Love,
Me

ps. We didn't get to do SHAWCO, there are riots in Khayletsia today because of a worker's strike due to rising food costs. It was too dangerous... I was soooooo dissappointed! I've been looking forward to going for weeks! But, safety first :-(

First day with the Lyn-man!

2008-08-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Lyndon arrived safely yesterday and today we rode the cable car up to Table Mountain. It was absolutely breathtaking and we got some REALLY GOOD pictures! (I'll upload pictures when I go to a free wifi spot, otherwise, it'll use up all my megabites... coming soon though, promise!) Our day got started late because he slept the day away from the exhaustion of the plane. Then, to top it off, he's kinda sick, and the freezing cold on top of the mountain didn't help.

Anyhoo, after the mountain, we went to dinner on Main Rd. and walked home. I fixed him Thera-Flu, and now he's asleep again, probably for another umpteen hours!

Tomorrow we're going to class and then I have my first day of SHAWCO tutoring in the township. I'm very excited about that!!!

Well, I'll talk to you guys later!

Love you all,

Love,

ps. Mom and Granny, Delta lost Lyndon's checked baggage; it never even left Atlanta, so I haven't gotten to see all the goodies you packed me, but I'll definately let you know when I receive them! Thanks again!

Legally publically tipsy!

2008-08-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So today was the Stellenbosch Wine Festival which was so nice... even though I hate wine, lol. I mean, I won't say I hate it, I just haven't found the one for me yet. I do know though, that I like white more than red.

So we were driven to Stellenbosch by the same travel agency that is planning my spring break trip, and its a short 30-45 minute drive. After passing miles and miles of vineyards, we arrived at a vineyard with two biiiig tents set up. Inside, there are lots of different restaurants, vineyards, etc. with booths set up for you to try their wine. So, after you go from booth to booth to booth to booth, you start to feel it a litte bit. Mind you, it's like noon! lol... My favorite was this sparkling champagne rose' stuff! It was nice and was the only champagne people I saw there. I think I'll buy some tomorrow. O, that's another thing... all the wine is great quality but SUPER cheap and sold at all local grocery stores because its grown right here! So, the bottle I'm talking about is R50 or like 7 bucks! (I'm gonna miss the lower drinking age when I get back to America, but only for SIX MONTHS, then I'll be 21!!!)

Anyhoo, I've met "my girl" here. You know the person who's gonna be your person? Yeah, I found her, and guess what her name is... you guessed it, Jasmine, lol. She goes to Spelman is really cool. My roommates aren't quite the girls for me, some of the ppl in my program are cool, but still aren't the girls for me, but Jas is my girl :-) Yayyy I have a friend!

Well, I'll talk to you guys later, but know what? I can tell my Dad is out of town because the rest of you suck at commenting!!! (except you Granny... smwaaaah!!!) Dad comments EVERY time, preciate it pops! :-) If you guys don't comment, I feel like I'm writing to myself... and Granny, lol.

Whatever.... anyhoo, I love you no less!

Love,
Me

ps. Lyndon gets here tomorrow!!! Please pray for his safe departure and arrival! I'll keep you guys updated!

Super excited!

2008-07-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hey! How goes it for you guys? Things are things here. Nothing too unsusual going on for now.

Tonight, my friends and I met about spring break, and my friends found something really nice. I'll post details like exact cost and itenerary as soon as I have it. But for now, the gist of it is that we spend 4 days in Kruger National Park in treehouses. They're very pretty. Then we fly to Livingstone in Zambia and visit Victoria Falls for four days or so. So, no beaches of Mozambique, but still... I think it'll be great. We're on our own itenerary instead of going on that huge trip with the school of like 80 people. Plus, it's a lot cheaper than Mike's (the school) trip. After all travel, it'll be like $1,100 and with activities at Vic Falls (whitewater rafting down the Zambezi, etc.) I don't think we should spend any more than $1400-$1500. Mike's trip costs $1400 dollars and students still have to fund their own stuff when they get to Vic Falls. Former students have said that they've spent around $2000 total on that trip. So, looks like I've made the right decision. We're supposed to go book it tomorrow :-)

That's all the excitement for today. I was accepted to my SHAWCO program so training for that is Saturday morning, and then we're going to Stellenbosch for the wine festival on Sunday. Then, Lyndon will be here by Monday!!! Well, that's that!

ps. I hear Arch Biship Desmond Tutu is coming to UCT in October, and if that's the case, I'll be front row!

pss. Henli/Hanley/Hinley, our landlady, came home from Europe today. She's nice.

psss. enjoy the pics above of the treehouses in Kruger and the pics and map of Vic Falls.

pssss. donations welcome, lol

:-)

You know what I just noticed?

2008-07-29T12:25:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody!

I just noticed something today, there are no black men on my program! None... not a single one. Not good. I've seen one black (seemingly gay) guy here on study abroad but he's not even from my program. We GOTS to do better! (ps. Mom, PLEASE Tivo "Black in America" for me! I keep hearing about it but am unable to watch it... I really want to see it when I get home!)

Anyway, all is good here. The only thing that's been bugging me from the beginning and hasn't subsided since I've arrived is the crime issue here. I mean, just when I get a sense of security, it goes away.

Exhibit A- around the block from me, an American student house was robbed. the person broke two of the metal bars off the windows, climbed inside the house, stole $500 AMERICAN dollars, and was prepared to take all of the girl's electronics but the residents came home and he fled.

Exhibit B- an international student was walking on main road last week in the middle of the day... BROAD DAYLIGHT, and a mini bus of men picked her up (literally lifted her off the ground) and drove away with her. They joked around with her, asked her about class, took her cell phone but gave her back her SIM card, took like half of her money, and then dropped her off AT HOME.

Exhibit C- Deanna and I were walking home from dinner last night and our neighbor came outside and said "you girls be careful walking around here at night." Deanna goes, oh, it's okay, we're just walking up from Main road. The neighbor goes, "it doesn't matter, my brother was mugged right there (points to the corner two houses down) last week, and we've been living here for years."

Seriously, the crime here is terrible and i would love to go to Joburg to see my friend from Emory studying at university there, but i've heard absolutely NOTHING good about that place. For one, Johannesburg is on the international "do not go here because it's dangerous" list thing and is on the top ten list of places with the most violence. I'll hold off on going there for a while. She should come here to visit me!

Other than that, things are good. I'm just trying to get out of tourist mode and start fitting in. The weather seems to get warmer every day and the mountain gets easier everyday too. Granted, I don't walk to class, but even walking up from Main gets better. My knee hasn't been bothering me as much lately.

This weekend is the wine festival in Stellenbosch so a few of us are probably going there for wine tasting and food. I'm excited, it's along the garden route which is supposed to be beautiful! Some are staying overnight, but I don't think I'll be one of them. I've got SHAWCO training on Saturday morning and I'll probably go back to church on Sunday.

Also, last night, a few of us met to plan our spring break, which is August 30-September 7. We've found lots of stuff HALF the price of the school tour so we'll probably do two things. First half camping out in Kruger or Chobe national parks and the other half doing a REAL vacation with hotels and beaches in Mozambique! I'm very excited about that!

That's about it for today. I love and miss you all... I think the homesickness bug is trying to get its first bite at me, but I'll fight it off awhile longer.

smwaaaah!

Love,
Me

First week of procrastination!

2008-07-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

hey, I don't have much time because I didn't do an ounce of reading this entire weekend for class and now it's 11 o clock on Sunday, and I'm just getting started :-) So, a quick summary of the day's events will have to suffice.

-I woke up and went to church. It's called Allsong and it's a non-denominational Christian church that originated in Australia. They have a hall in the Cape Town Convention Center. It was fine because it was church, but it's one of those VERY modern, very young, very strobe lighty and rock band-ish, primarily white mega-churches where everyone shouts lyrics to the electric guitar-led songs and jumps up and down. Thus, it's not at all what I'm used to. But again, it was church, they're Christian, and to be honest, as far as a church in Cape Town goes, that means 95% of my requirements for a church are covered, lol. Seriously though, this Allsong church seems to be huge so if you google them, I'm sure something will pop up.

- Then I went to the Cape Town Historical Museum for only R5... that's like 75 cents!!! It was pretty cool and a very fitting way to spend a Sunday afternoon.... acting intelligent and slowly browsing through an international museum. I was upset I'd left my camera at home cuz there was some cool stuff in that place. But I went straight from church to the taxi to get to the museum so of course, I didn't bring my camera to church (I might next week though so I can show you guys).

-Then we went to dinner, and guess what? I think I've finally had my first authentic African cuisine! I had stuffed calamari (not so African) and a pap meat tower, which is boiled ground cornmeal and steak with corn and butternut squash. The steak was great, the pap... not so much, but the point is I TRIED SOMETHING NEW! I also tried tripe which is cow or lamb intestines. It tastes just like chitterlings, just from another animal. The girl who ordered it was grossed out.

-Every Sunday, they have jazz at this place on Main called Cafe Sofia's and I had been planning to go all week but was exhausted after my day, so I stayed in. But at least it's every Sunday, so I'll just go next week.

-Now I'm about to do some work, and go to sleep.

Til tomorrow (or the next day or the next day)
Good night!
Love you all,
Love,
Me

ps. I'm about to secure my settings on the blog now, so... yeah
pss. If anyone talks to or already knows Uncle Chavez, Tiffany, or Shelia's email addresses, please get them to me. They are the only ones who have posted a comment in the past but have not been sent an invite to the blog because their addresses weren't listed. I want to make sure they all still have access.

Just enjoying the weekend!

2008-07-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

Hey!

So yesterday I had one class, came home and knocked out for a few hours. Honestly, I still think I'm nocturnal. I like to blame it on the jetlag but my friends say that now that I've been here over two weeks, that excuse doesn't work anymore. I don't know, I just rest better during the day and can never really fall asleep well at night. Whatever... You know what else it probably is? During the week, I go to class and come home. I probably need to be more active, and then I wont be so lethargic all the time. There's a nice gym here on Main Rd. that's like 80 dollars for the semester. SOOO much cheaper than in the states. I have a few friends who've joined, and I may join too. We'll see. Last nigth a few of us went out to Obs (or Observatory), which is just another party-ish area of Cape Town. We went to this cute spot called "Roots." Very red,black, and green, tiki, Jamaica, feel to it. They played hip hop, reggae, and of course, their beloved "house music" which I'm still getting used to. It's an instrumental type of music but upbeat, but not techno. It's hard to describe.

This morning, we went to the Old Biscuit Mill which has an organic food market every Saturday. It sounds really lame, but it was cute. Lots of food to taste and buy, and it's all good for you too! I had the fallafel from Heaven!!! Tonight, we're going to go see Batman/ The Dark Night thing at the mall. It came out last week in the states and yesterday here. I'm excited, I haven't seen moving creatures on a screen in over two weeks. We don't have a tv at our place :-( It's a gift and a curse though. If I had a tv and my choice of channels, i'd waste my life away on A&E , Discovery, Discovery Health, and TLC. That's okay in the states, not here, lol.

That's all for now, more later!!!

Love you,
Love,
Me

ps. I've stopped telling ppl I'm from America. I'm doing Canada now, maybe next week, I'll try another place. Ppl associate Americans with money and you may notice a significant price increase if you tell them that's where you're from. You can barter almost anywhere here so you've gotta be careful because that means that you can be taken advantage of almost anywhere here. One guy pulled the race card on me once. I wanted a bag, and he told me the price but I was short like R100 (one-hundred rand). I was short FOR REAL! I wasn't trying to barter. He was like, "how can you do this to me? you are my sister from America!!! I am trying to make a living and you do me this way?!" He got really upset and my tour guide had to step in. But the thing was, i just didn't have the money! I hadn't converted any yet! I felt bad because I feel him. They look for tourists' support to feed their families and i guess he gets low bargaining toursits alot. I guess he got extra mad at me cuz I'm black and so is he. My point... I am now CANADIAN!!! they have black people there right? lol

My internet died...

2008-07-24T02:40:00.000-07:00

Hey! So I know it's been a couple of days, but my internet died. I have to pay for internet here and it goes by how many megabites you use. Which sounded like a great thing at first... You can surf the web all day for free but when you use mb, it deducts however much you use from your total. The system sounded great until you post a few blogs, upload a few pictures, and attempt to download season 4 of Grey's Anatomy from itunes, lol. So now I'm at Cocoa Wah-Wahs enjoying their free wifi, but they only allow 40 mb or 2 hours of usage which is nothing so it seems i'll have to download my Grey's in intervals :-( I refuse to buy more credits already. I've only been here a little under two weeks. That'll get really expensive.

Anyway, the past two days have been pretty chill. I've just been going to class and hanging around. O, and I'm signed up to go great white shark cage diving on Sunday. I hope I still have the courage to go when it's time. While I'm here, I want to do everything, even things black people normally don't do, lol. But like I said, this is all talk. I don't even know if I'll still have the guts when it's time to load the buses to go, but we'll see. O, and by request of my Dad, I'm not changing my settings until this weekend (probably Sunday) so please as you read, post your name and email address.

That's about it guys, I'll ttyl!

Love you,
Love,
Me

ps. I've been trying to learn more about skype so slowly but surely I'm hooking it up. For example, now you guys can call me on a local phone number (local as in American, it may still be long distance for some of you)and the calls will come directly to my computer!!! cool right? but I'll only get the calls if I'm online and I think I have voicemail, so you can always leave a message (I think). Also, I have the subscription where I have unlimited phone calls to American landlines. Anyhoo, my American skype phone number is 678-701-2222. CALL ME!!!

My first day of school in the motherland!

2008-07-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of classes, and for the most part, everything went well. I'll give a brief synopisis because I've got some reading to do for class and don't have much time.

Observations:
- most of my classmates are international students, lol
- I'm the only black girl in my religous studies class
- I've got two African professors and one white South African professor; I think that's kind of cool
- my classes are NOT diverse, mostly white. however, the school is extremely diverse. i guess the orientation ppl were right, Africans don't take African themed courses. o well, I'll just have to meet Africans at the clubs and bars instead, hahaha... just kidding (kind of)

Cool Stuff:
- they've got like 10 millions places to eat on campus. and the vendors seem to be outside of UCT so it's real food. yup, curry, curry, and more curry, lol
- Me and the Jammie Shuttle will become best friends. I've learned how to catch it in the mornings and I love it! So please family, stop worrying, I will in fact return home with two knees!!! yay!
- HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY... drumroll please... ALL COURSE READINGS ARE PROVIDED!!! you know that $2oo-$300 dollars per semester (sometimes more) for books? yup, it's all provided here in these handy little readers each department puts together for each class! I do have to buy like 3 books for my English class, but as an English Major, that doesn't bother me. I expect to buy books each semester and actually enjoy increasing my home library. But as for journal articles, excerpts from novels and history books, etc. it's all provided!

ps. as the semester ensues, please don't hate me if you don't get a blog everyday. even more like 3-5 per week :-) But as you know, I will do my best!

Love you!
Love,
Me

electronic hair appliances hate me!

2008-07-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

So... tomorrow classes begin :-( I'm kind of excited but kind of not.

This morning, me and my roomates went to breakfast at our favorite spot near here, Ocoaoao's or something like that. (pronounced o-co-wa-wahs... or something like that, lol). Then we went grocery shopping again. We bought quick fake food last time, this time we bought real food. After that, we went to a braai (pronounced bry) which is what they call a Bar-be-q here. It was at one of the orientation leader's houses. It was cute but too many people, not enough food, etc. So we socialized, smiled, and left. Then I made curry chicken for me me and my meat eating roomate, Gabby is a vegetarian. Curry is HUGE here. Everything is curry. We had curry chicken and rice, it was pretty good actually.

O, at the braai, we found out about this hip hop club called Zula on Long Street and were invited to a South African hip hop fest thing on Friday. All they play here is American music which is kind of cool, but not. I left America to experience other stuff. It's also kind of sad that their own music isn't blasting through the radio waves as much as US stuff. You can hop in a mini bus at any given time and hear anything from Wayne to R.Kelly. So, we're going to go to Zula on Friday to experience some SA hip hop!

But as for now, I'm about to get some rest for class tomorrow. My first one is at 10 but I'm going to go up to campus about an hour early because I have no idea where any of my classes are. I need to get my life together, lol.

ps. I was super excited alllllll day long about finally being able to straighten my hair because I have a new SA blow dryer that works with the outlets here. I get home, plug it in and vwa-la... power and heat! GREAT NEWS! Then, I go get Deanna's (my other roommate) voltage converter thing for my flat iron and I plug it in... nothing. I try another outlet... nothing. Other rooms... nothing. And the thing is, it's not my iron, it's her converter. I can't win. They hate me!

Anyhooo, ttyl!
Smwaaah!

Love,
Me

I hope you understand :-)

2008-07-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day for many of my international peers because they all bought tickets to this huge soccer game between, well, I don't know, it's just big. I didn't buy the tickets because they were like $30 and that's too much money to spend on something I don't even care for :-) So, I went shopping instead!

Three of my friends and I went to Long Street (where we partied last night) and visited a few of the shops there, and then we went to the mall. They bought lots of stuff and spent lots of money. I bought a hair dryer because I blew up the last one, lol. That's about it.

I'll probably spend tomorrow preparing for classes on Monday :-( I'm so not ready for school to begin. Looks like I'll be taking three courses. An English, Political Science, and a Religion course... details on the course topics later. My schedule is intense though. They don't do Tues/Thurs or Mon/Wed/Fri courses here. Two of my classes meet everyday and one meets three times per week. Yikes! Although I'm not ready, I'm kind of excited. I hope my classes have more Africans in them than international students. They say that if you take a class with the word "African" in it, chances are, Africans wont be in it. I'm probably out of luck then because I'm in stuff like "African Poetry, "Religion in South Africa," and "South African Politcal Thought and Traditions." They say Africans don't take that stuff because they live it. It makes since I guess, but I would take an African American Studies course, I have actually. Either way, day one will be interesting.

But this is the most important thing:

I've given out this link to a few people and my parents, family, and friends have too. However, I only know who's reading based on who's commenting, and I'm going to be honest, that's a little creepy because I know not everyone comments. I don't like not knowing who knows about what's going on in my life everyday. I hope you all can understand that. Therefore, I am going to make this blog private, and only the people I invite can read it and comment. I still want everyone to read it, I just want to know who those "everyone's" are. It's just a safety thing. Therefore, I currently have the settings where anyone can read and anyone can comment. That's because even if you don't have a google account, you can comment and leave me your email address so that I can invite you.

I WILL LEAVE MY SETTINGS LIKE THAT FOR THREE DAYS!!!

During that time, please leave your name and email address as a comment, along with whatever else you're moved to say :-) After three days, I'll send out the invitation email, change my settings to make the blog private and only those people will be able to access and comment on the blog. I'll still be more than happy to add anyone else after that!!!

Sorry for the trouble, but you must admit, it's kind of creepy having people know everything about your days and not controlling who those people are... until now. Thanks for understanding!

Love,
Me

Happy Birthday Mr.Mandela!!!

2008-07-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today was Nelson Mandela's birthday, and as you can imagine, the country has been crazy with celebration! Today was the last day of registration and now, I am officially a University of Cape Town student and I have the ID to prove it :-) After registration, I came home to sleep because since my last name is at the beginning of the alphabet, we had to go super early. After my nap, it was time to shower and meet up with the rest of the group for dinner at the waterfront for Mandela's birthday. The waterfront is absolutely beautiful, however, I've been a little frustrated. I can't figure out which body of water the waterfront fronts and no one seems to know, lol! Anyway, after that, we took a cab to long street which is our Peachtree Street, Bourbon Street, Beale Street equivalent. That was actually pretty fun and my first outing for the week; I'm a homebody. That's all for today, nothing much. Classes begin Monday so I kind of am but kind of am not looking forward to that.

I'll write more tomorrow.
Love you,
Me

ps. my knee is soooo swollen :-(

I didn't want to forget.

2008-07-17T04:23:00.000-07:00

This post comes a little earlier in the day than usual, but that's because I didn't want to forget anything. Orientation is already over for me today, I just went for the morning announcements and the SHAWCO (township volunteer organization) presentation. The info was very informative so I'm glad that I didn't sleep in today. However, the SHAWCO presentation was all that I expected and more. They actually took us out into the townships. So it's needless today, I cried my first tears in South Africa today.

It was absolutely my most overwhelming experience yet. We split up into groups and boarded big coach buses for the 15-20 minute ride. Each bus went in pairs to about three different townships so that SHAWCO could show us where they do their work and give us a tour of the community. The township that I went to is called Khayelitsha (pronounced Ky-leet-chay) and the few moments I spent there are absolutely indescribable.

The program does all its services in the afternoon because the night is too dangerous. Khayelitsha is home to over one million residents in shacks and makeshift homes made of scrap metal, plastic, and any other available usuable materials. So you can imagine the drugs, rapes, murders, lack of literacy, HIV/AIDS, and unemployment, among other social issues. Khayelitsha is a black township, which means the residents are African. There are also colored townships, whose residents are of mixed decent. The best analogy I've heard to help describe the race classes here is that blacks are the "pure" Africans, coloreds are mixed with African and the Dutch and European settlers, comparable to Louisiana's Creoles, and of course the whites are Afrikaaners. So, Khayelitsha is pretty much as bad as it gets. Here in South Africa, blacks are the lowest on the totem pole, then coloreds, then whites.

My camera isn't working because my charger isn't charging my batteries but to be honest, I'm glad I didn't have it. It would have distracted me from appreciating what I was seeing. I was able to be 100% in the moment, or "present," as Alice Walker would say. But there were so many people there with me who were not "present." As we walked by the school, the children, the shacks, people were talking about what they wanted to buy at the mall, how cold it was outside, or how they were upset they'd forgotten their sunglasses. It was very frustrating to hear them not "being present."

The SHAWCO speaker was talking about how school costs R100 per year, and so many cannot afford it. That's $13 US dollars. After he said that, I couldn't help but think of how I spent over R500 yesterday at the grocery store. That's five years of school for a student, or one year of school for five students! Then, I was thinking about how cold I've been or how my knee has been hurting. But imagine how cold THEY are, or how many ailments they have that no doctor will ever hear of let alone perform surgery on. How many need glasses and can't see? Or have broken a bone? Or may have cancer and not even know it? It was really overwhelming.

But the kids we saw were so happy running along side us, imitating us, waving. One of them even pulled their eyelids back and started jabbering what sounds to them like an Asian language when they saw my Korean roommate, Gabby. (They don't know any better, but it sort of hurt her feelings.) We also saw the SHAWCO sponsored library where the kids can come after school to read books because they do not own even a SINGLE ONE!!! But then, the SHAWCO rep, Jonathan, explained that although they are grateful for their donated books, much of which come from America, that hardly any of them have black faces in them, which makes it difficult for the kids to identify with characters or believe that they can acheive like the people they read about. I want to organize a black book drive or something, maybe through AKA. Those kids need to know how successful Black people, African people, mixed people, Asian people, and minorities in general, really are.

Many of the townships began during, and of course as a result of, apartheid. Blacks nor coloreds were legally allowed to settle in Cape Town so many didnt. The only exception was for the migrant workers hired by the big white companies to work in the diamond and gold mines. Those migrant workers were put in something like barracks or dorms on the outskirts of town. The towns grew, workers began to bring their families, and the townships were born. Of course, along with the laws surrounding race and residency were laws preventing education, transportation, health care, and on and on. Hence, the poverty has multiplied and one inequity has led to another. The lack of education during apartheid has created millions of illiterate parents, who do not own a book to give their kids, who hate going to school because the drugs and sex look so much more fun, which brings up the HIV/AIDS rate, which spreads because they dont get testing, which creates HIV positive children and the cycle continues. Apartheid ended in the books in 1994, but it is still SO MUCH a part of these people's lives. It's amazing to get a glimpse of the things I've been reading about in books for so long.

There's so much more to say, and more that I can't even wrap my brain around yet, but I just wanted to share what I could as soon as possible, I didn't want to forget a single detail. More will come later, but it goes without saying, I will be volunteering with SHAWCO once a week, maybe more in the education sector. I can't wait. But that's one thing the SHAWCO people also warn us against. They say foreign volunteers, especially Americans, come over wanting to change the world, but that the volunteer experience, although fulfilling, can be very frustrating. We'll want to see results fast, but that's not how this works. And, we'll want to see academic results, but more often than not, the results are intrinsic and our time with them teaches them more than any of our lessons or workbooks can. Still, I'm excited about doing my share. Sign up is next week.

That's all for now.
Love always,
Me

ps. http://www.shawco.org/ check it out

Got my rest!

2008-07-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hey!

So today was pretty uninteresting. I slept in and missed all the boring university orientation talk... (peer pressure, I honestly did want to go, it's my suite mates' faults). We got up around noon (I needed that rest in the worst way... finally I feel like my jet lag is wearing off) and went to campus just in time for pre-registration. They basically just had to make sure that our fees were paid and that we could actually register on Friday for classes.

Afterward, me and one of my roommates, Gabby, went grocery shopping and I spent like 515 rand!!! That's only like 60 or so US dollars, but still :-( It's never fun spending (your own) money, lol. (I know Mom and Dad will get a kick out of that one). But please, remember even grocery shopping isn't normal. I live on a freakin mountain, and what goes down MUST come up, even with four huge heavy grocery bags. It sucks... but only a little. Me and Table Mountain have a love hate relationship. But at least now, I'm set for food for a while. Tomorrow night, we're going to a play at Baxter Theater. I'm excited about that. We'll probably go out for dinner and drinks afterward.

Gabby's trying to get me to go late again to orientation tomorrow but tomorrow's sessions are about SHAWCO which is the huge volunteer organization on campus and that's what I've been waiting to hear about. I've been researching them for months and I can't wait to go to the townships to volunteer with them! So, no, I'm not sleeping in tomorrow.

After shopping, we came home and watched a movie on itunes. I ate peanut butter and jelly with milk for dinner, and now, I'm about to go to sleep!

Thanks for reading and writing back, this is my therapy everyday! I love yall!

smwaaah!

Nothing much...

2008-07-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

Today was the first official day of orientation. We just listened to boring university people. The only cool thing was after all that was over, an African drum troupe came and we all played drums for like 45 minutes.

That's all, lol!

ps. my camera batteries wont charge :-(

Packed day!

2008-07-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

I can't write too long tonight, but it works out because honestly, the things I did today are better described through my pictures, words don't do it justice.

This morning, all of the international students, not just Ida's group, met at campus for the first day of orientation. That means German, Swedish, Jamaican, Australian, and Norwegian students in addition to all of the Americans. From there, we loaded like 9 big buses and headed to Camps Bay to see the South African Penguins. After that, we headed over to the Cape Point Nature Reserve to go to Cape Point and The Cape of Good Hope. Cape Point is a lighthouse waaaaay up on a mountain where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet. The Cape of Good Hope is the southern most point of South Africa. It's quite a hike but me and my screwy knee made it... with lots of breaks of course. (yes, it's swollen and no, I was not wearing my knee brace like I should have been). After that, we went to a community named Oceanview and visited their local school. They fed us curry chicken and rice and the kids performed a talent show for us. Unfortunately, my camera died after the Cape of Good Hope so I didn't get to take pics at Ocenview. We finished our day around 5:30 and I went straight home to rest my knee. Others went out on the town for dinner and drinks. I was content with my corn flake cereal with banannas.

Sorry so short, but be sure to check out the pics. http://picasaweb.google.com/jasmine.bowles

ps. i set up my skype account today and it's like .02 cents to call the US... if you set up a skype account at www.skype.com then we can talk for absolutely free!!! All you need is a mic which is built in to many computers. Either way, keep reading, commenting, calling, skyping, etc.

I miss and love you all and I enjoy reading all your comments.

ps. next time I'll try to answer some of the questions you're asking. I'm not ignoring you guys, I promise.

LOVE YOU ALL and thanks for your support... it means a lot!!!

I went to the most beautiful place today... "where's that?" Oh, just my school!!!

2008-07-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hello family!

I'm glad you all are enjoying this, I'm actually enjoying writing to you all everyday and reading your posts the next morning!

Today was our free day until dinner at Ida's (the program director) at 5:30. Two of my roommates and I met up with another house's girls and the 7 of us decided to go check out campus. So the seven of us treked toward UCT! (which of course seemed like a good idea at the time.) BUT... walking to campus is not as easy as it sounds, it's like a darn HIKE!!! You basically have to climb the mountain and the roads are super steep. So yeah, I struggled! Me and my knee had a tough time, but we made it and it's the most beautiful place ever! I thought Emory was beautiful, but going to school in such an amazing place is going to be a distraction! Every few feet as we walked, we'd just turn around and look out over the city, and it's breathtaking. UCT literally sits at the nape of Table Mountain... no kidding. It's a climb to get there. I'll have to see about this bus system because with the cold, my knee, and the apparent forthcoming rainy season, there HAS GOT to be another way.

After that, we did some grocery shopping and went back home to get ready for Ida's dinner. During that time, I almost burned down our flat/house/apartment thing and pulled a Michael Jackson by almost burning off my hair. Turns out, you don't just need an outlet converter for the different outlets, but you also need a voltage converter... go figure! Luckily, I got shocked while unplugging it and did NOT burn down anything or anyone else! :-)

She threw DOWN and the food was delicious. We had lentil and beans, some kinda soupy chicken stuff (best stuff there), butternut squash patties, some kinda salad stuff with what looked like broken up ramen noodles, lettuce, purple lettuce stuff, and almonds (second best stuff there), and bread followed by bread pudding (not better than yours Granny) and rum brownie things. It was great. But I'm still not sure if any of that was "South African food." From what the student advisors tell me, there is no such thing as South African food, just our same food from home prepared differently. There were also a couple of speakers there. One guy named Jonathan who works with Ida and basically scared us straight. He told us that we'll probably fail at least one class and if we buy drugs from locals then we'll be sent to jail for 24 hours and be sodomized by our other inmates in the holding cell. Neither of which are options for me! The other guy was our tour director from yesterday, Mike, who advertised his $1400 (American dollars) spring break 10 day trip to Botswana and Victoria Falls. However, that's a lot of money, so I think I'll shop around a bit more before signing up for anything.

We took the minibus home (which I fell out of) and now, here I am! Orientation starts bright and early tomorrow so it'll be a long week!

O, but most importantly, I got a phone today!!!

So call me, I get free incoming calls and Kristina was right, you guys calling me is waaaay cheaper than my calling you. There are so many good deals out there on your end.

My number,
082-383-6741
CALL ME!!!

ps. you guys can comment on the pics buy scrolling down to the bottom of the page and typing in the text box.

pss. another black girl came today and guess what her name is... yeah, Jasmin (without the e) cute girl, and nice too

psss. check out the pics from today here http://picasaweb.google.com/jasmine.bowles

I love you!

READ PREVIOS BLOG FIRST!!!

2008-07-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

I figured out pics...

http://picasaweb.google.com/jasmine.bowles

I hope you guys feel like you're here with me... I WISH YOU WERE!!!

I love you!!!

Moving Day

2008-07-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy you all figured out how to work this thing... honestly, I was worried. Also, that whole "outta sight outta mind" thing is soooo true. Don't be hurt, but I honestly hadn't been missing you all that much until I read your sweet posts and looked through a few of my pictures on my computer. :-( I haven't even cried once... I know, weird for me right?! But now... I may get homesick :-( I'm trying to be a big girl about this!

Anyhoo, this morning we met at Baxter Theater which is the theater on campus for our walking tour of Cape Town. There I spoke to Ida about my housing concern and she seemed to take heed. We loaded up in mini buses (which we would call something like a mini- van and are public taxis that seat lots of people) and headed off to the metro station (or subway). Once we got there, we traveled on the metro from Rondebaush (which is where I live and I probably spelled it wrong, so if you plan to google that, good luck) on toward town (which we would call "downtown" in Capetown). Once we got there, we started walking. We saw the market square with loads of "African" shopping, dancers, musicians, restaurants, shops, and begging children. The children will break your heart but we're told not to give to them because their parents send them out on holiday (which we would call "summer break/vacation"; out of school) to beg as a job! We're told that we should definately give back while we're here but not that way. But seriously, telling a kid no is tough. We walked through Parliament, saw the oldest building in the city which is where the slaves were held when the Dutch passed through in the 1600's, St.George's Cathedral which is Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu's home church, and the local five star hotel, Mount Nelson Hotel. Not to mention, I have not been to any place yet where you CANNOT see Table Mountain from. There is not a bad view ANYWHERE! The mountains are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

After the tour, we went to our respective homes, which for me was 22 Lover's Walk in Rondebaush. Once inside, I showered, and decided to give Ida a call to re-tell her about my housing ordeal, because I assumed with all the students around, she'd forgotten. However, I was pleasantly surprised when she told me to be ready in an hour because she was moving me. I didn't even have to remind her about who I was or what I was calling about, she remembered and apparently had been on top of this ever since the morning when I told her at Baxter. So in exactly an hour, she was there helping load my stuff (well, more like watching me... she's really old and can't lift a thing... but still...). So we loaded up and headed to Grotto Rd. which is like two blocks from Lover's Walk. Oh my gosh, Lover's Walk was beautiful but this place is GORGEOUS! The owner must have money.

Upon arrival, a woman named Monica opened this huge gate and welcomed me and helped me carry my enormous bags up tons of beautiful stone stairs that surround the building. Once inside, she told me that she was the housekeeper and that her boss was on holiday for a while (you guys should know what that means now) and that she, Monica, would be helping us around. Monica then showed me to my room and gave me a tour of the house. The house has five girls including myself. Two are from Princeton, two are from Cali somewhere, and then there's me. I live upstairs in a single next door to the Princeton girls who share a double and a study area. Upstairs, there is a kitchen and bathroom. Monica has her own flat downstairs and the two Cali girls have singles downstairs as well. The owner has an entire house adjacent and somehow connected to everything else. This place is huge but like the Lover's Walk place, is uniquely built. You must go outside to get to everything. Then she showed me the courtyard and would you believe it? WE HAVE A POOL!!! Monica said that she'll be cleaning our kitchen, bathrooms, and doing our laundry once a month! Pretty cool huh? Although that's cool, being the African Studies minor I am, I couldn't help but consider her circumstances. She's clearly a minority (I can't tell what though, perhaps Indian or of mixed-race) but a South African native and I'm sure that the owner is white... interesting right? Anyway, the house is amazing and I'm happy to live with locals because I hear that looters target American student homes. I feel so much safer here and with my Princeton roommates, I'm sure that'll force me to adopt some awesome study habits!

After moving into Grotto Rd. we all met up with our orientation leaders again at Baxter to go out for dinner and drinks. That was fun! I had a chicken wrap with chilli salsa and avocado and fries and another glass of wine... I'm not a wine buff but South African wine is nice. (I plan to take a trip to the vineyards in Stellenbaush (<----misspelled) eventually!) Then, after being rejected from three clubs for having too large of a group, we ended up at a bar and pool hall. I'm still the only black girl so that's not my scene but I think places like that will be for the next 5-6 months because I'm not going anywhere without my white and Asian-white acting folks... So, I played pool and was bought drinks by my new rich friends. But, my friend Robin (from Emory, saw her on the plane) and I met some locals thanks to one of our orientation leaders. They were really nice, and honestly, that's what I'm here for. I don't want to leave America to only hang out with Americans, so that was nice chatting with them. They're students at UCT also.

To get home after the bar, which we left at like 11:30 pm and our local friends made fun of us for leaving so early, we took the mini bus again back to Grotto. So, here I am!

I'm still trying to figure out a way to post pics so bear with me, but trust, they're coming soon! I'll post details here later for how to view them!

I love yall so much and thanks for your quick responses; I'm more inclined to write now that I know I have such an active audience!!! kisses for all... including Domino!

Smwaaaaaah!!!

I'm here, I'm safe, I'm COLD!!!

2008-07-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Here's the blog I told you all about! It's still in the works but at least it's here. You'll need to create a google account if you don't have one already in order to access it. (that's the "gmail" folks). I'll try to send more explicit directions in your personal inboxes.

I can't write too long, I'm exhausted, but the flights were lovely (first class the whooooole way... thanks Lyndon) and very comfortable. Dakar was interesting but I did make it through there and to my connecting Capetown flight safely, thank goodness the JFK plane was running behind! After the airport, they took us to our respective homes and then out to a sidewalk cafe for drinks. I don't know who's idea the little outside thing was because it was FREEZING. Well, the people from New York and Chicago said the weather feels great but as a southern girl, I'm COLD! Not to mention our homes don't have central heating so I'll be sleeping in like tons of layers. Everyone's nice, but so far, I'm the only black girl and from what I can tell, I'm here with a lot of white, rich, alcoholics and weed heads. The legal drinking age is like 18 so they were taking shots left and right and asking our UCT student leaders about how to find "the locals" for weed purchase. And, the ones doing that happen to be my roommates (a guy from San Francisco and a Jewish girl from Manhattan). I had a mojito (which was gross, the ones in America are better) and a cheese pizza. There are people here from Duke, UCLA, Berkely, and other schools. My favorite person is my friend Robin from Emory who sat behind me on my Dakar-Capetown flight. She's a sweetie and seems to be pretty normal.

My house is soooo nice! It's huge but uniquely built! The only thing is, I'm on the first floor in a single room right by the front door... so, it's kind of creepy. Plus, I'm the only girl on this floor, don't know how that happened, so I want to move into the single upstairs where the other girls are. The girl who it belongs to hasn't arrived yet so I'll ask the program coordinator (Ida) about that tomorrow. In the morning, they've got a walking tour for us through Capetown.

I'll do my best to write everyday and to post pictures. Create your account, write back, ask questions, etc. I love you all!