Pietermaritzburg

The morning after our long day in Johannesburg, we went back to the airport for one last flight. We flew for a short hour from Johannesburg to Durban. As soon as we got off the plane, we were struck by a wall of heat and humidity. We could definitely tell that it was summer here in South Africa!

We then drove for an hour from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, marveling at the lush green countryside the entire way. We were thrilled to see signs welcoming us to African Enterprise (the name of the campus that we're staying at while in Pietermaritzburg), because after such a long weekend of traveling, we were finally "home"!

The campus is absolutely gorgeous with pretty white buildings on green hills, all surrounded by tall trees, a waterfall, and a stream. There's also plenty of wildlife, from the four cats that are pets of the permanent staff, to the dozens of wild monkeys that have become a huge nuisance on campus. (I'll write a whole separate post about the monkeys soon.) The campus is also located right next to a game reserve where we can go running or hiking whenever we want. We often see a family of zebras there!

There are 5 buildings that house the students from APU, and each building is split into 2 chalets (top floor and bottom floor). My chalet is called Festo (named after Festo Kivengere, but I have no idea who he is). My roommate is Brianna, who is also a nursing major. We get along really well, and I'm very glad that we're roommates!

The weather in Pietermaritzburg is wonderful. It's usually sunny and warm with blue skies and white fluffy clouds. A couple days a week, though, a summer storm suddenly blows through. The rain doesn't usually last longer than a few hours, so it's not too bad. Right now, though, there's a heat wave going through because it hasn't rained in several days. It's been in the 90s since about Friday.

All of our meals are cooked for us by the wonderful staff here at AE. They've been really good so far. The best, though, is tea time! We get a tea break twice a day- in the morning and in the afternoon. There's always Rooibos and Ceylon tea, coffee, and hot chocolate to choose from, along with a delicious snack of either muffins, gingerbread, cookies, donuts, or cinnamon rolls. Most of them are homemade! I never liked tea before coming on this trip, but now I look forward to tea time every single day! It's so wonderful to have a break during our classes when we can just sit and talk with friends and enjoy something scrumptious!

Alright, I think that's enough about the campus for now. Here's a few pictures so you get an idea of the paradise that I'm living in for the next few months!

The dining hall

My chalet (the bottom floor)

The view from my bedroom window! (That's a waterfall in the left corner!!)

The waterfall outside my chalet

The prettiest building on campus, the Prayer Chapel

This campus has already become home to me. I absolutely love it here!!!


Word of the day: "Cha" means no. The pronunciation is really tricky though, because a c in Zulu is a click! (There's 3 clicks total, all with different sounds.) For the c click, put your tongue behind your teeth and suction it backwards. It makes a "tah" sound. "Cha" basically sounds like "tah-a"