.: Orientation, Milwaukee and a new start...

Orientation was 4 days of rules, regulations, videos, lectures and a lot of info. Things like *don’t shake the baby* and other useful tips like that. On the first day most of the girls received gifts from their families (flowers, cookies, sweets etc) I received - nothing! Until the second say when I arrived in my room and there was a lovely bouquet of what I thought was flowers, then upon closer inspection I realized the whole arrangement was made out of fruit...it was so pretty and healthy!

Fruit basket from my family

I think the hardest thing to deal with in the first few days was - the traffic! Everyone warned me that Americans drive on the other (wrong) side of the road but, they all failed to mention that means when you are a crossing the road you should look the other way too! So us Safa girls would start walking across the road (thinking it was clear only to suddenly realize we had to run, go back or get squashed - so we ran! I'm happy to report I am getting used to looking every direction when I across now!

Getting lost in Stamford, CT

On our last day of orientation we got told how we were getting to our families, I had to fly (about two hours) but since my flight was delayed (yes, even in America they have delays) I only arrived at the Milwaukee airport at 11pm...Shoo...I was tired! My host dad came to fetch me and took me to the house; it is a very pretty house. It’s a 2 story house plus basement; I’m on the main floor while the rest of the family is on the upper floor. That will make for noisy Saturday morning, hmmm.

My new home

My first few days in Milwaukee were pretty cool (the weather and the vibe)When I showed my host family my warmest "jacket" (a hoodie I had stolen from my brother at the airport *thanks Rayson*) they laughed and asked, do you realize it gets pretty cold here? Once I told them that this probably was the warmest thing in Margate and that I planned to buy stuff in Wisconsin, they realized I did know what I was getting myself into. I have since brought one warm jacket but am thinking I may need another one (or two!) The family couldn't believe that I thought it was chilly here (60 F/15.5C is chilly to me; I do come from sunny South Africa after all!)