Safe Arrival in Cape Town

Hey everyone... I've arrived safely in Cape Town and everything is going great! My host counselor is a wonderful man and his family is very kind and welcoming. Earlier today, he picked me up from the flat where I'm staying and took me to get a cell phone sim card (local number), to the bank to get a local account, to the university to pre-register (required for international students), and to a quaint restaurant on table mountain for lunch. i'm at his house now waiting for supper. I just wanted to quickly update everyone.

new favorites:
appletiser (sparkling apple juice drink... delicious)
south african wine (offered freely on the plane... also delicious)
south african accents (beautiful)
south african hospitality (very kind, warm, and wonderful!)

dislikes:
impatient americans also in line at the international student office
verrrry windy in cape town today (chicago ain't go nothin on this - haha)


that's all for now... much more to come later~!

Colors of the Wind

You may be wondering why I titled my blog "Colors of the Wind". The answer has a fond memory attached to it. The first time I went abroad (with an amazing program called Semester at Sea), we had a meeting prior to our first port and they played the song "Colors of the Wind" from the Disney movie, Pocahontas. I thought then and believe now that the words of this song should be taken to heart by any person who intends to travel. Please read the lyrics below and take note of the advice. By calling my blog Colors of the Wind, I acknowledge that my lifestyle and way of life are not the only ways to exist, I will seek to see the beauty in the small things in life, I am vowing to appreciate cultural differences and not dismiss or judge others because they are different from me, and finally that I will strive to learn all I can from the people I meet and experiences I have so that I may paint with all the colors of the wind. As a final note, I think this title is especially appropriate for the stories I will share from my experience in the Rainbow Nation. (Rainbow Nation was a name coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa as a place where people of multicultural and multiethnic backgrounds could come together to bridge gaps and achieve peace)

You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places I guess it must be so
But still I can not see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high does the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind