The First Couple of Days

So I have almost been here for forty-eight hours and a lot has happened so here is an update.
My House
The house where I am staying is very nice. It is surrounded by a wall and you enter by a gate. It is described in South Africa as being a commune. This means there are about 7 other international young people living in it and we all do things together including people living from the other two communal houses nearby. This includes meals, fieldtrips and sitting in the front yard of the house. While I do like my privacy sometimes I really appreciate having all of the people around as it has certainly staved off homesickness and culture shock at the bottom of the World. All of the other students living here are from Europe, except for one South African young person named Mzi who works here and is very sweet.

First Day
So as soon as I arrived to my house there were things to do almost immediately. The land lords took me and an Italian girl who had already just arrived out for lunch and gave us a brief tour of the surrounding area. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking in the front yard and napping. At dinner a South African dish was prepared again by the landlords. We then sat in the front yard and played card games while most of the guests went to see District 9 which of course I have already seen and didn't like. Went to bed early to get over the jet lag.

Second Day
For my second day here I enjoyed communal breakfast and lunch, doing some school work in the morning as my laptop battery had died and I needed to buy a new power cord. In the afternoon myself, Mzi, and 4 girls went to a mall where I picked up a power cord and a sim card for my cellphone so I am now more connected. I also got some flipflops and a couple of the other girls picked up clothes and groceries.
In the evening I had a double invitation out for dinner, one with the people I live with and one from the ISS. I decided to go out with the ISS to acquaint myself with some of the people who I would be working with. We had a really good time starting with drinks at a place called TriBeCa and then dinner at a pizza place (pizza seems to be a popular dish here) The young people who I was out with from the ISS were all very nice, many of them talking to me about South Africa and Canada although I did get a good legal conversation with a guy from Kenya. At the end of the evening most everyone there gave me a hug which was a bit of a surprise but I think was a good sign.
On the way out of the restaurant something kind of funny happened. As we passed the wait staff one of the waiters made a phone to his ear and said "Call me". The people standing close by to me burst out laughing as apparently this is a commonly used pick up line. Very funny, I of course dont have his phone number and don't know him so that won't be happening.
I was driven home by one of the girls from the ISS Dom and I experienced my first scary moments. We got a bit turned around on the way home and we ended up having to do a U-turn in front of my house. There was a car directly in front of us which had stopped and followed us in our U-turn so Dom pulled the car over so he could pass but he didnt. Eventually he inched by at which point Dom said she was getting a bit freaked out and I agreed (didnt mention I was a lot freaked out) eventually the guy got far enough down the street that we turned into my driveway and Dom stood with me while I went inside, Unfortunately no one else was home when I got here except for one of the landlords dogs who was freaking out. This added to me a level of anxiety and after being inside for a while I decided to return to the yard where I found somebody standing at the gate, At this point I really freaked out although the guy said he was looking for Mzi. I told him he wasnt there. I then went and locked myself in my room and called the landlord to find out when they were going to return. Luckily they were there within 10 minutes so my anxiety didnt last and then everything was fine. I think Im going to try to avoid being home alone from now on.

But except for that one half hour everything has been great! The weather is a bit cold and I havent taken any pictures yet but that should change today as today is a holiday and we are going to Cradle of Humanity and to play with baby lions.

Cheers!