Today I take off for a road trip of epic proportions: The Garden Route. Yes, Easter Break has arrived. Most people do call it Easter Holiday, no political correctness problem, just as is. Big time Christianity here, overwhelming majority I would say. For example, I am not surprised by the question, “So, are you following Jesus?” (I really have only been asked a few times, but still…)
Anyhow, out of my microbiology lab at noon, and from there we take our rented Toyota Corolla on towards Coffee Bay, stop number one. Plan to stay there two nights. Then on to Jefferey’s Bay (2 nights), then Knysna (1 night —bungee jumping around here), Gansbaai (1 night ---shark diving=big deal=biggest deal IN THE WORLD), then Cape Town (3 nights—place some other exchange students actually live in while attending UCT), then Stellenbosch, around Easter Sunday (2 nights—Wine Tour!!), and fly back on a Tuesday.
So far we are super jazzed, why not?! My car has four, Andrew (Rutgers), Nolan (UCSC), Yvonne (UCB), and me. Then behind us is a car of three Jenni (Finland), Michelle (UCSC), Jon (Illinois). Probably no more updates on the blog until after we return.

A few side notes, if you were wondering:
They sell petrol here, same way as back home, Shell stations, with fast food restaurants inside, too. Petrol is about R7.21 a liter.
Water is totally drinkable here.
Papaya is called paw paw (sounds like “po po”)
“Pop”—fluffy corn meal porridge basically, add salt or differing levels of water make it hard/soft pop---is what a lot of South African’s eat as a staple food, like Italians eat their pasta.
There are condoms EVERYWHERE. Free “Choice” brand condoms in every dorm/school/restaurant/hospital/office bathroom, or outside the bathroom, or in shared mailboxs or cubbies. Everywhere. Yet according to some girls in my class, it is a bad sign if a guy pulls “Choice” out, means no fore thought, furthermore, he could have bought a better kind. Okay, point taken.
Traffic is terrible. Deadly. One of my friends from Michigan State watched somebody get hit by a car at quarter to 8 in the morning last week. The girl was crossing a heavily trafficked road here outside the gate and just got struck. My friend was in shock the whole day and then some, I could not believe the whole thing and the girl that got hit is in ICU. It was just surreal how different the situation was handled, how long it took for an ambulance to come, how long it took to load her in to the ambulance, and then who knows how the care was, because apparently the public hospitals are worthless, and unless the girl had medical aid, not so common among working class, she very possibly ended up there. We are all so thankful it was not one of us.
Really, aside from that, I have not felt unsafe at any time. Really we stick to groups, don’t go places we shouldn’t, listen to the (white and black) South Africans who tell us (and each demographic has it’s own safety precautions), when they tell us to stay away from this or that.
Almost all cell phone usage is on a prepaid basis. And almost all of it is “SMS” or like we call it, text messaging. It is about a tenth the price, and more reliable because calls cut out, depending on the time of day, too. Actually, cell phone usage is a big money spender, I easily buy and use a R30 receipt in 3 or 4 days. Adds up.

Well that is all for today. Hope my friends and family are up to something nice for the holiday, at least spending some quality time together. That is one part missing from this upcoming holiday, the Fam J Peace, Guys.