Beard-8 Days

pictures

World Cup Stadium in Jo'burg

Waterfall on our campus.  The clearing at the top has a volleyball net

The chalet I'm staying in

Our soccer field and dining hall

Morning Jog Trail

The Sun is out, and so are the Monkeys!

Today is the first rainless day since we've been here, and the monkeys are everywhere.

One girl who was sleeping with her window open last night woke up to a monkey perched on her nightstand!

At breakfast, a monkey walked into the dining hall, jumped onto a table, and took a mouthful of peanut butter.  I got up from my table all the way across the room and chased it away while flapping my arms.  Once outside, it jumped up on a roof and turned to look at me; peanut butter was all over its face and it kept licking its mouth the same way dogs do when they have peanut butter.... idiot.

Best Dream Ever

This doesn't really have anything to do with being in Africa, but I can't not share it:

I had 2 or 3 dreams last night that combined Lord of the Rings, Call of Duty:Nazi Zombies, X-men, Harry Potter, Halo, the Hunger Games, and Pokemon.

First, I was in the Nazi Zombie level, but I was killing orcs instead of zombies, and I was wolverine.  I kept punching Uruk-hai in the throat and my claws would shoot through their neck.  Then I had the phoenix feather wand and the elder wand in one hand and was throwing death eaters all over the place.  Then I was in a one man space ship with a Battle Rifle that shot grenades.  Below me, Spartans were fighting with Machamps and mutated wolf-dogs were jumping extremely high at my ship as I shot at them.

Classes

Classes have now been going on for three days and I have had all my classes at least once.  We have class so much, and I'm already starting to get tired of it.  However, all this class will be well worth it when we're done in 6 weeks and have 7 more weeks of much less academic awesomeness.

Intercultural Communications- Somewhat interesting, but I'm predicting the 5 hour class on Wednesdays will be dreadful.

Art- Awesome. Professor is such a sweet lady.

Zulu- Awesome

History and Culture of South Africa- Awesome

Life and Teachings of Jesus- Amazing.  I've already learned a bunch.  My professor is brilliant, his accent sounds a little like Michael Caine, and when he walks by you get a good whiff of old book smell.

In South Africa, stop lights are called robots.

6am Run

This morning 8 of the 11 guys went for a run on the reserve.  It was raining, but we didn't wear shirts anyway. We saw a few Impalas and got within 10 feet of 6 zebra; some of the zebra even ran alongside us.  

Finally Here

After 29 hours of traveling and moving forward 10 time zones, we finally made it to Johannesburg.  We spent two nights there, and we spent our full day touring around Soweto.  Today we flew from Jo'burg to Durban, and then drove to Pietermaritzburg.  For the next 10 weeks, we will be staying at the African Enterprise (AE) conference center.  Where we are staying is so beautiful, it's ridiculous.  All the buildings are on green hills and we are surrounded by waterfalls, mountains, a game reserve, jungle, and dozens and dozens of monkeys.

I am so glad to be unpacked and finally settled in somewhere.  Our first night in Jo'burg was the first time I've slept on a bed in two weeks.  Even though we're at AE, being here still feels very much like summer camp.  I feel like I'm only here for a week so it will be crazy when it really sinks in that I'm here for months.

I'm loving everything so far, and I'm so stoked!

I just shaved!  And we are leaving in 3 hours!  My face will not look like this again for several months.

A Beard Named Nelson

I'm not going to shave this semester.

A couple guys and I are going to try to take a picture of our beards' progression every day for the whole 4 months.  In this blog, I will write about my adventures and experiences in Africa, and once a week or so I will post a picture of my beard.

I am going to name my South Africa beard Nelson, after Nelson Mandela.  Except, instead of fighting for the end of apartheid and the end of segregation between black and white, this Nelson will be fighting for the reconciliation between me and true manhood potential.

intshebe ukukhula means beard growth in Zulu.

Soon!

I'm back at Azusa, sleeping on my friends' couch.  I'll be here for a short 9 days before flying to Africa.  It's crazy that it's coming up so soon.  Me going to Africa has been a for sure thing for 5 months, and i can't believe it's only a few days away.