First Week (July 15 - July 21)
Coleman Kelly and I arrived at the Nashville airport at about noon on Tuesday, July 15th and said our goodbyes and were off for the next month to Cape Town. The total travel time was Just under 27 hours, but we finally made it with the help of some airplane movies. We met our host families and moved into our dorm rooms on Campus. I stayed in Schoolhouse and Coleman stayed in Whitehouse. Exhausted from my travels, I went straight to bed after shaking a bunch of hands. The next morning, my host brother Jamian and his mom took me to the school shop to get me "kitted out" with the proper Bishops attire, consisting of black shoes, dark pants, a white button down shirt, school tie, and navy blazer during the chapel service. We got our class schedules for the week from the exchange coordinator there Mr. Court, and we attended art, physical science, South African history, algebra, and english classes every day. The schedule rotated as the days changed, but every day began with a ring of the bell at 6:50 am for breakfast, followed by chapel at 7:30, and classes beginning at 8:20. For our first three school days, we got used to our schedules and began to put names to faces around school. Also, people would always tell us to say different phrases in our American accents because it "sounded funny." Funny how that works. During that weekend, we spent friday night at the school, watching our first field hockey match. Saturday morning was the first big rugby match, which is the school's main sport and comparable to our football. However, while they paint up, the bishops students have to wear school dress at all the games. After the game, Coleman and I went to stay the rest of the weekend at his host family's house, as mine were unable to that weekend. It was fun to see what home life was like. We arrived home and played touch rugby with Coleman's host brother and his friend, and after a big dinner we were off to bed. Sunday, we slept in for a while, and actually got to play golf at a course down the street for a few hours. Coleman's host dad and one of his friends even challenged us to a round, which we unfortunately lost. After yet another feast back home, we went to bed with school awaiting the next morning.
Outside view of schoolhouse
My bed in the dorm
Our first rugby match
View from house, across the bay with table mountain in the background
Second Week (July 22 - July 28)
Left the Smit's beautiful home that Monday morning very early to get to school that day. Monday and tuesday were usual school days, going to all the classes and such. In English class we started watching the Shawshank Redemption for a movie study, which was pretty cool. At bishops the exchange students were recommended to participate in an athletic activity, so Coleman and I chose rugby because we didn't have it back home. Since rugby is such a common sport in South Africa, there were seven different teams in the high school, all at different levels. Even though Coleman and I had barely any knowledge of the game, we were able to do alright on one of the lower teams. Rugby was no disappointment, as its speed and intensity proved to be as vivid as advertised. The rest of the week, I attended my classes and played a lot of ping pong in pool during my breaks. By this point, I had already become great friends with my dorm mates, and I looked forward to hanging out with them every night during and after dinner. On that Thursday, Mr. Court, the exchange organizer, arranged for all the exchange students to take a bus tour of downtown Cape town. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't perfect, but nonetheless the city proved to be one of the most beautiful I had ever seen. That weekend, I stayed with my actual host family of Jamian and his mom, and even got to go to a Great Gatsby themed party on saturday night. After recuperating from a late night on sunday, we took a road trip over to Cape which was one of the most stunning views of the ocean I have ever seen. Cape point is an area where the tall cliffs of the coastline jut out into a very narrow peninsula in the ocean. After hiking around there for a few hours, and even seeing a wild baboon and ostrich for the first time, we drove back home and I went back into the dorm for the night.
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| View of Downtown Capetown |
Cape Town Stadium
Gatsby Party!
View from Cape Point
Dare Devil
Cape Point itself
Third Week (July 29- August 2)
The third week of the trip was without a doubt the highlight of our month in South Africa. The exchange coordinator Mr. Court arranged a tour bus to take Coleman, Me, and Doug, another exchange student from Pennsylvania, on a five day trip up South Africa's "Garden Route," arguably the most beautiful part of the country. We left early monday morning and began our drive along the coast. We first stopped at this penguin preservation place, where we saw hundreds of penguins waltzing about in their little village. We then hopped on the bus again for a couple hours and arrived at a game lodge, where we were lucky enough to take a safari that night and the next morning. We got to see all of South Africa's animals, including cheetahs, kudu, lions, elephants, buffalo, rhinos, springbok, giraffes, and many more. We also had the opportunity to hold some poisonous snakes. After the morning safari, we left the lodge and stopped in the coastal town of Knysna for lunch, which was a beautiful harbor town that bordered the indian ocean. After that, it was time for my life's most exhilarating moment: the bungee jump. The buildup could not have been worse, as I had to wait two hours to drive there. We finally arrived to the Blourkans Bridge, which is the tallest natural bungee jump in the world at over 700 feet. After getting strapped up and walking across the half-mile long catwalk with a clear floor, I arrived to the potential last moment of my life. Out of the group of about 10, I was the second to go. As I approached the ledge, fear turned into excitement, as I took the plunge to the valley below. The slogan for the place was "fear is temporary, but regret is forever." I could not have agreed more. Coleman and Doug were also courageous enough to take the jump themselves. On that Wednesday, we went to Tsitsikamma National park, which was of course stunning as well, with a forest of pine trees bordering the rocky shores of the ocean. After hiking through there for a while, we took another road trip to Ando elephant national park, where, as advertised, we saw tons of elephants. One of the most unforgettable parts of the trip came where at least a hundred elephants came marching right by our car within arms reach. On Thursday, we traveled to an ostrich farm. where we got to pet, feed, and even ride the ostriches. Not one of the smartest animals in the world by a long shot. Later that day, we drove to another animal preservation area, where we had the opportunity to pet a cheetah. That night, we ate ostrich meat and kudu for dinner, and met some fellow travelers from Canada. Finally on Friday, we stopped for our last leg of the trip at the Cango Caves, where we took the "adventure tour" where we got to crawl through tight spaces in the cave. After another car ride, we were back at Bishops again that night.
Giraffe at Sunrise
Holding a snake
Too close for comfort
Feeding Frenzy
Bungee Jump
Coleman, Doug, and I petting the cheetah
Fourth Week (August 3 - August 10)
The final leg of the trip began on the Saturday morning after the Garden Route trip. Saturday was restful, but Jamian, his mother and I took a hike through some forrest right underneath table mountain. That night, my host mom cooked us Bobouti, a native South African Dish, for dinner. Sunday was mostly uneventful as well, and I was back at school that night. It was great to see all of my buddies after being away for the previous week. Monday was another ordinary day of school, but I finally was able to beat coleman in ping pong during one of our free periods. On Tuesday, Mr. Court arranged another trip for the exchanges to Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela served the majority of his prison sentence. It was fascinating to see all the prisoner's stories posted on the walls, as many wrote poems or even earned degrees during their time there. We took at ferry to get there, which was terrifying on the way back because the harbor was particularly rough that day, and the only way to navigate the tall waves was to drive straight into them. For this reason, the ride back was more of a roller coaster ride than a pleasant trip. Everybody kept screaming as if we were all about to die, but the boat crew was laughing so (hopefully) everything was under control. After getting back on the mainland, we had the opportunity to walk around the waterfront mall for a while. Back at the dorm, my roommates and I ordered some pizzas and had a pizza party just for the heck of it. On Wednesday, school was normal, but then I went shopping with Mike, Jarryd, and Garth (roommates) and I bought some cow tongue, which is like South Africa's beef jerky. I then had a fun, but sentimental last night in the dorm with my friends, where we listened to music, watched YouTube videos, and pranked each other one last time. Thursday Consisted of many goodbyes to my friends at bishops, which was extremely difficult on that last day. After saying goodbye to everyone, I then learned that I had to hang around the school until 9 that night before my host family picked me up. Luckily, I was able to hang out with one of my friends, Paolo, during that time. I went out with Jamian and another friend of mine Saseko that night to downtown capetown, and got back home at about 1am. The next day, I packed everything up, first said goodbye to Jamian, who had to work, and then said goodbye to my host mother and her boyfriend, who dropped me off at the airport. All of the goodbyes were hard to say the least, but I was looking forward to being home again. After another 27 hours of travel time up to Amsterdam, over to Detroit, and then finally back home, I had finally made it back.
Nelson Mandela's Jail Cell
Chapel service on my last day
Last time seeing Bishops Chapel
Coleman and I in school attire on our final day
Roommates Dean, Garth, Mike, and Jarryd.
Thank You!
I would like to thank the Warner family, Mr. Gioia, Montgomery Bell Academy, my host family, and everybody else involved for contributing to my experience abroad. It was the best gift I could have ever received, and I will take the relationships and memories I made with me for the rest of my life. Traveling abroad truly helped me gain a new perspective on the world and was without a doubt the best thing I have ever done. Once again, thank you all for your generosity.
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