Greetings from South Africa!

Hi Everyone!

May 29,2009 11:58 (South Africa time)

We finally made it to Africa! As expected, it was a about a 32-hour trip! Extremely exausting, but we made it through. We were welcomed at the airport by a nice lady, named Nula (I think), and shuttled over to our housing which is called the Beacon Lodge. My flat (appartment) is located on the third floor and has an amazing view of the beach! The beach is beautiful. Our housing is very similar (in location) to the hotel in Huntington, so you can only imagine how close it is. We had the chance to check out the beach last night but it was cold so we were only there for short time.

Today, we visited Nelson Mandella Metropolitan University (NMMU) for the first time. This is the school we're going to be studying at. I'm actually sitting in the computer lab right now. It is currently their "finals week," so I can feel the high level of stress. It's really cool seeing the exact same college lifestyle in a completely different part of the world.

After lunch today, we're headed out to an animal resverve not too far from here. I think, today, we're going to see some cheetahs, lions, monkeys, and smaller animals. Our program leaders said this reserve will be the smallest one we'll be visiting. We are also going to make our way down to the main downtown center here in Port Elizabeth.

I'm extremely excited for what this program has in stored for us. Rugby games, weekend trips, whale watching, sky diving, shark diving, bungee jumping and other various activies, are yet to come! Don't worry, I'll be sharing all these experiences with you.

Also, don't freak out! I'll be posting pictures once I get the chance to. We're still settling in and haven't established internet connection in our lodge, but once we do, pictures will be up!

Until next time,
Alvin

Leaving Tomorrow!

After months of planning, applying for scholarships, and getting parental approval, my South Africa trip is finally here! It just turned 11:15pm and I can honestly say I'm ready to go!

I needed to practice uploading pictures using this whole blog thing, so I thought showing you what I'm bringing would be a good start.

I tried packing "light" since it's about a 26-hour trip to Port Elizabeth. My carry on is the brown bag and the other two are my check-ins. Doesn't look too bad for a 7-week trip right?

For those of you interested, my flight itinerary is as follows:

Tuesday 5.26-- 4:30 Los Angeles to New York (5h 23m)

Wednesday 5.27-- 11:35: New York to Johannesburg (14h 10m)

Thursday 5.28-- 13:10: Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth (1hr 30m)

There's really no way to describe how excited I am! Woo hoo!

Until next time, Adios!

- Alvin

Alvin, Blogging?

So, a few of my friends told me I should start a blog before I leave to Africa. I took their advice and started one today. I figured, since internet might be kind of hard to come across, this would be a good way to keep everyone somewhat "updated" on my status out there. Hopefully, I have the time to write an entry every now and then, and maybe post some pictures!

I'm extremely excited about this trip and busted my ass to make it possible!

Here we go, the start of my voyage!