First experience

It was only once I was on the long distance flight from London to Joburg, while sitting between a lady from Bloemfontein and a man from Pretoria, that it hit me. I'm going to South Africa! As they spontaneously started speaking to me, I found out that the lady had spent 2 weeks in London as an official for the Paralympics. The man had been there as a radio host documenting the same event. Both were excited to go home. Port Elizabeth is nicknamed "The Friendly City" , they added.

After a long flight, I arrived in Johannesburg only to be greeted by a huge mass of South Africans dancing, drumming away and blowing horns. This was apparently a welcoming party for the Paralympic heroes who would also be returning home. The team eventually arrived a few hours later and it is then that I heard the national anthem for the first time with so much spirit. Then it was time to go to Port Elizabeth.

Once there, I was warmly welcomed by Nuette who will be assisting in my research and Tim my new Dutch roommate. Tim showed me around my new living area and as it was such a beautiful day, we went for a long walk along the coastline and had an ice-cream. He showed me where to find the typical orange and purple sea-urchins from the area. We went grocery shopping in the spar (yess they have them here everywhere, open till 9pm !!) Not too bad for a first day in the SA setting :)