still loving it

FREE DAY!
this computer... agh
that is all there is to say. forgive typos and grammar errors... like not capitalizinbg antyhing... i am at the end of my rope with this.
basically... here are some observations, from my journal and mind:

6/19: Traffic here is, at best, thrilling, and at worst, downright terrifying. There is a mutual disrespect between pedestrians and drivers. Walking, in general, is safest in packs, but while crossing streets, especially so. Even while in a herd of 18, however, our entire group was almost hit by an enormous truck today.

The unemployment rate here in South Africa is a whopping 43%.

HIV/AIDS is everywhere. i don't mean literally, i mean that at the airport, the cathedral, the hostel... all over the place there are signs of it. literal signs. "this church is hiv/aids friendly" and things like that. the airport clinic offers hiv/aids treatments.

As far as culture shock goes, i haven't really experienced much. the biggest culture shock i have felt is from within my group. everyone is awesome, but... well... journal excerpt to illustrate:
6/20: I had my furst dose of culture SHOCK and discomfort today-from a very unexpected place-within my group. I'm not religious really in any way, but it seems that most to all of our group is very religious. I didn't know that or hadn't seen it before, I guess, but today it kept coming up and surprising me. Comments about "sharing God's love"; one group member is in an acting troupe at SPU whose last performance for a high school was about premarital sex. I guess growing up in a secular household and attending a very (religiously) open and liberal school has kind of removed me from all/most exposure to this kind of thing...... I just think I've grown used to God being spoken about in a questioning or ponderous tone, not in a sure way or as reason for doing something.
6/20: More culture shock from within the group. WE SAID GRACE. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, probably, to you (whoever you are) but believe me, when you are removed from everything familiar, little disruptions... can be very unsettling. I guess part of it is that I'm expected to believe the same thing--that is very challenging. I come from places where nothing about religion is assumed.

so that's what i'm feeling. some other excerpts...
6/20: Yet again, I realize the importance of FEELING EQUAL. As far as feeling equal goes in South Africa in a broader sense, I don't know how OVER apartheid really is. I guess it's kind of early to be making a call, but I haven't seen ANY white people in a blue-collar job situation. Oh wait. ONE. I've seen a lot of blue-collar type jobs... and all (but that one parking attendant) have been black or coloured. (There is a difference here. Don't call blacks coloureds or coloureds blacks. Oh, and Asians have their own category, in case that's not confusing enough. Confusing and STUPID.) With that going on, I don't think you can feel truly EQUAL, and if you don't feel equal to the people you are with (by citizenship or coincidence) you can't truly build a community with them...

some more points:

• have you ever had smog in your hair? yuckyuckyuck.
• took a taxi with kirsten, tona, and peter today. peter needs to work on his bargaining skills or let kirsten do it. that girl is fearless in every sense of the word.
• i am just loving our group
• kicked butt yesterday at hiking cape point! but didn't hike table mountain today... haha. rode the cable car. don't call me a wimp, i was exhausted. do i regret it? not really. i had a really relaxing morning at the top.
• cape point was BEAUTIFUL. seriously. can't wait to show everyone pictures... i was planning on uploading some today but can't because of this STUPID COMPUTER. agkjasdfaslkd. the end. remind me not to use computer 9 at m@in again.
• is 5:40 too early to call my parents? i think so haha. but i called the house this morning... forgot about their trip to california... even though it was midnight PST, a fathers day call from the top of table mountain would have been awesome! or maybe just for me since it was 9 am. hahahahaha.
• i don't know what to say... i always think of things and then forget them once i get here. dang it.
• i miss alex a whole bunch. we saw penguins yesterday afternoon. they reminded me of him.
• toilet paper is a different texture here. i'm bringing some home hahaha
• hot/cold water faucets are switched as well. haha.
• i can't explain how much i adore the group and how excited i am that i feel friendly with them and it's only my 3RD FULL DAY IN SA! so so crazy
• things are gooooooooooood.

okay this is getting repetitive and dumb, i'm sorry. just thought i'd update while i was online.