A lot in ONE entry

hey Everyone,
I know I have not written in a super long time but. Things have been so busy here. I have my first test in about 3 days and my pile has really been loading up at work. I have a new assignment to work on the website of my work place which is really incomplete. I will post it later but the firm is called Cape Compass Immigation. The job is such a trip since everyone is so open and expressive in the workplace. It has really been a cultural experience in a very laid back work environment that I am not used to in the states. Additionally, there has been a security strike here, which I believe is actually over now, but the company which was supplying our buses got burned TO THE GROUND about 4 days ago. But everyone is very calm and non-chalant about the whole ordeal. Its very ironic. I have a bunch of activities coming up but I really can't get going places until our 5 day break which begins on July 13th. A bunch of people are going to Jo'burg, BUT I am not too excited about that since there is a mass of political unrest there right now. I just figure if Cape Town people are saying its dangerous, i just might want to heed their warning. BUT I am going to a Kanye West concert for about 43 american dollars, I am sitting in a FRONT ROW SEAT. How cool is that? It's in an arena though so I am not sure exactly how good the seat will be but it can't be that bad in the front. OK I am in the middle of classes, so I must run. But I send my love to everyone. MUAH!!!

The First Day of Work

Things are going good here. The job was very interesting. I actually work for this woman who owns her own firm. She is probably about 40 yrs old and has a immigration law firm that deals with business from other countries who want to invest in South Africa. She is sooo much fun. She loves to party and we have a beach retreat that we are attending with all of her staff. But on our first day they welcomed us with wine and a toast. It will be a lot of work though since I have the 3 classes and the internship where she gave me a project to complete by July 16th. I have to write a proposal for how to deal with a medical malpractice case in a Cape Town Hospital. I have to find relevant case law and statutes and she wants us to relate it to the SA constitution. I think it will be interesting and fairly simple. Ok well I need to run, I am heading to my next class of the day.

THE INTERNSHIP!

Hey Everyone,
Ok so I almost had a traumatic experience. Well not really, but for a second, I thought that I didn't get this internship that I had been waiting for. BUT once I calmed myself, humbled myself and looked at it with the best light, I realized that it was God's will and that's when it happened. I GOT THE INTERNSHIP the next day! WOW .... I tell you, you never can predict GOD. So I will be working at the immigration legal sector, and it also includes a 3 day retreat at a beach house off the coast. I am so excited, it is with 3 otehr students and I will start on Monday. OK gotta run, 75 cent a minut eonline, which is super cheap in rand world, but still.. I gotta budget. Later!

My First Week

Ok, so this is a group email, but time is limited. I LOVE SOUTH AFRICA!!! Things are going really well and I have already had some amazing experiences with people here on the trip and with some natives. I have particularly been enjoying the company of other black law students as well. There are about 60 students in the entire program and about 50 of them are black. Most from Howard but about 50% from other schools around the country. The location where we are staying is very BOSSY. The apartments look like they came straight out of IKEA the African version. It's truly amazing. I have 3 other suite-mates and they are pretty cool I will say. One is 29, from Jamaica, has 1 child and a husband and treats us all like children, which is actually getting on my nerves but I take it with a grain of salt, because I know she means well. Her roommate keeps to herself but I feel that she is the "if you don't start nothing won't be nothing" type of person, so I don't say much to her. My roommate, April is soooooo nice. Her and I are getting along really well and we have already spent hours chatting like school girls so I am pretty happy with that, cause there is nothing worse than not liking your roommate. So we have a kitchen and everyone is buying groceries .. hmmm, I am not too ready for that just yet so I bought some yogurt and cereal for starters. But I have been buying dinner at a ridiculous exchange rate lately from wonderful restaurants on the waterfront. My roommate and I have a running joke about the currency here:

So there is about R6.40 to every ONE American dollar, so that means:

R100.00 can buy one of the following ... rent for an apartment in a township, food for a family for a month, a nice steak dinner, a cab ride, 5 pairs of jeans, a nice cocktail dress, 5 extra value meals at McDonald's OR a handmade keychain from a street vendor

SO with said, the exchange concept here makes absolutely NO SENSE!!!! BUT we are just rolling with it, trying to get the biggest bang for our buck.

Hmmm... there is so much to tell though, because even though I get to live in the best part of South Africa, the waterfront, we had a chance to experience the realness of South Africa in the townships yesterday, which is otherwise known as the ghettos, where 80% of South Africans live. These areas are very low poverty areas where rent can be as low as R20.00 or about $3.00 american dollars and there can be about 45 people sharing one 3 bedroom apartment with no indoor plumbing or landline telephones. It was difficult to tour the area and still smile at the MANY children who ran through the streets of the township barefoot begging for food and money. This was tough. At that point I wanted to be Oprah and give every child a promise but all I could do was smile and be friendly, cause really that's all I have to offer right now. Hmm ... there is so much more I want to say about this but it's hard through email. But I will chat with you all more personally later.

Tours: So I have many more tours planned so I will update everyone as they come up.

WOW -- How could I forget this part!?!?! A part of my baggage got lost in LONDON.. Wait ... actually it never made it to London. It did not leave the DC airport. Basically, the short of the long of the story is that the attendant did not tag one of my bags before the guy in the back put it on the conveyor, so that's what happens when people don't pay attention I suppose. So when I arrived in London, my bag did not follow and I had to submit a claim. SO it has been 48 hours and I still don't have my luggage. BUT I have faith that it will show up. God has truly blessed me to have packed things in a way that permits me to live off of the bag that did not get lost. The only thing I REALLY needed was a pair of shoes, since all I had was some flip flops and my boots got torn so I threw them away. BUT my super nice roommate April let me borrow her tennis shoes and I'm once again good to go, so the blessings are really flowing in.

I would like everyone to keep praying for me. Please keep me in your prayers. I love you all and thanks for your support again.

Leesha
http://aliciainafrica.blogspot.com/

For Kicks

http://mykolij.com/image001.gif

Thanks for Your Support

So it seems that everything is going along pretty well. I thank God for the support from my family and church family and friends. They are truly a blessing as I know can actually afford to go to Africa. Faith is an amazing thing that fuels seemingly impossible missions all around the world. God is GOOD! We managed to sell 36 dinners and that was certainly a great effort from my entire family. I still haven't packed but I will start that effort very soon, since take-off is in ONE WEEK! Continue to pray for me. I send my love to everyone who has suported me. Thanks again sincerely...