Wait, I go to SCHOOL??

Adventure week ended with a BANG... shark cage diving. For those of you who aren't shark enthusiasts and therefore most likely don't watch "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel or Planet Earth, you may not understand how incredible Cape Town's location is for hanging out with some sharks. We drove about 2 hours or so to Gansbaai, a region renowned for its spectacular whale watching and shark population. Gansbaai is a fishing village famous for its shark alley- the insanely huge population of Great White Sharks, making it one of the best, if not THE best, locations in the world for cage diving. The best area is a channel by Seal Island, since the seals attract their predators, the sharks. The sharks circle the island to attack their prey, which is referred to as the "Ring of Death." I have talked to friends who watch these TV shows and, without my mentioning it, they have asked, "Were you right by Seal Island?! By the Ring of Death?!" This just tells you how famous the area is! There were hundreds, probably even thousands of these Cape Fur Seals occupying this small mass of land. Seals are funny creatures; they waddle and wobble around, making ridiculous noises, and spend pretty much all their time lying around on this island. And not to mention the fact that they smell pretty funny, too!

Here are some of the seals on Seal Island.

A loner.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of the huge number of seals on the island!

Proof that I participated in and SURVIVED shark cage diving! And yes, they messed up my name for some reason.

We started out the adventure by sailing out to Seal Island, and then we anchored nearby the island, to the day's "hot spot" for shark viewing. While the boat was anchored, it was slowly bobbing up and down in the water. This constant bobbing made me, and many others, extremely seasick (Aunt Cindy, you would not have fared well!). I ate about half a bottle of Tums (not sure what damage that did to my stomach) and took some Dramamine, and still got sick and had to go to the bathroom to "lose my lunch." (I'm trying to be polite here.) Right after that fun activity, one of the men working on the boat grabbed me and asked if I was ready to dive. I, of course, said yes and changed into my wetsuit. I plunged into the water with 7 strangers to experience the biggest adrenalin rush I've ever had. The water was FREEZING to say the least, but after a couple minutes that was the last thing on our minds. February isn't even shark season, and we saw lots and lots of sharks. There was a seal decoy and, of course, the lovely smelling chum (the bait used, comprised of tuna and tuna blood- it definitely did not help the seasickness!). We did not have snorkels or anything, but would just pop our heads out of the water when we needed a breath. One of the men onboard would yell at us to look left, look right, look behind the boat, look straight ahead, etc. so that we would know exactly where the sharks were coming at us. They came so close to the cage that a tail even came inside! It was AWESOME! Since it was such a cool and exhilarating sight, there was no time to think about being scared. We were in the water for probably 15 or 20 minutes and then another group took the dive. I got progressively more seasick after diving, but I chose to dive a second time. This time was even better- the sharks were more aggressive when going after the bait and decoy. I could have gone a third time, but I was way too sick at that point, haha. Not to mention that the water feels COLDER each additional time you dive! (Mom, you would never have been able to handle the cold!) This is a must-do for anyone who visits South Africa. It doesn't matter if you're scared of sharks or water or if you get seasick- you need to experience this!  Sorry I don't have any pictures of sharks- I was too seasick to think of taking pictures, but I will definitely get some pictures from my friends and post them later.

Earlier that week, we went to Stellenbosch, South Africa's famous winelands. The train we were supposed to take from Cape Town actually got vandalized, so it was delayed and we got to Stellenbosch almost 3 hours later than anticipated. So this means that our bike tour had to be shortened, unfortunately. (Dad, you would have been proud of me- I was one of the better bikers in our group. Thanks for the "training.") We biked to the first winery and were told to "drink quickly" since we were running short on time. We tried 5 wines- 2 white wines, a rose, and 2 red wines.  Then we biked to a cheetah reserve where they were rehabbing cheetahs. We biked through a gorgeous vineyard, past zebras, horses, springbok, ostriches, and wildebeests. We stopped for lunch at another amazing vineyard with incredible views, more delicious wine, and great food. Our last stop of the day was at a brandy distillery. We tried 2 brandies- one 10 years old, one 12 years old. Ew does not describe it. The younger brandy was even more disgusting than the older one. They also gave us a brandy mixed with a couple juices which was alright. Obviously, my opinion is not very credible when it comes to tasting brandy!

Here's some zebras at Stellenbosch.

Here's a beautiful view from the vineyard where we ate lunch.

And here's another view.

Now I will get to the reason for the title of this blog entry. Since I've essentially been on a 3 week vacation, I forgot the study aspect of studying abroad. Our first day of class was Friday the 11th. This first Friday of class is mostly just to hand out syllabi and figure out class schedules/"shop around" for classes, etc. I was one of about seven people in my first and only class of the day. So the actual first day of class was Monday the 14th, how fitting. This first week of class is the time to change curriculum (a.k.a. to stand in more lines in the complicated process of class registration). Now I have my class schedule all set, and I'm pretty excited! I'm taking Philosophy of Art and Literature, African Instruments, and Gender, Sexuality, Politics: Debates in Contemporary African Contexts. I am one of two Americans in my philosophy class, which is more than a little intimidating, but also really cool. I'm glad that I am not with any of my friends or any other abroad students so that I can challenge myself and step outside my comfort zone! My Gender, Sexuality, and Politics professor's name is Jane Bennett (which immediately brought to mind one of my favorite books/movies, "Pride and Prejudice"). She is quirky, eccentric, interesting, and just plain awesome. But the coolest class I'm taking is definitely African Instruments. We get to learn how to play 4 different instruments, concentrating on each for 4 weeks at a time. The instruments will each be from different areas in Africa, and our teacher recommended that we purchase the instruments! So I can bring them home and they'll be a really cool souvenir! And I was told that they're pretty small so they shouldn't be too hard to carry on the plane.... hopefully! I'll be learning an African drum, a hand piano, a xylophone, and a string instrument (I don't know their names yet). But it will be awesome because not only will I learn them here but I get to take them home so I can definitely bring them in and show Mom's students, if all goes as planned. I'll also be learning the history behind the instruments, so it will be really fun to teach her students a little bit about African culture through music.

That's all for now, but I promise I have more things to tell you soon!