Hey guys!
Update number 2 from the beautiful city of Pretoria, South-Africa.
I've been here for a little over two months now and still every day manages to amaze me. During the weekends I get to go on the most amazing trips, during the week I get to work with the most incredible children and in the evenings I get to hang out with the best housemates ever.
My time here is running out and every outing and every day is becoming more and more valuable. Slowly I start to realise that I'm here for a set time only and the last day is running towards me with a terrifying speed. The idea of going home is not appealing at all, so let's not go there yet. Only the past and near future matter now.
This weekend I'll set for Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe with three Spanish friends, which will be absolutely incredible. But let's take a look back first. A throwback to some amazing events and lovely memories.
Since my last blogpost in September I've said goodbye to my previous Spanish friends and welcomed a lot of new friends from various countries. I've been having a lot of fun with this new group and we've made some incredible memories already. To start with the chill evenings in the kitchen that are spend together. Then there was the night-drive through Pretoria our landlord hosted. We all went in the back of a pickup-truck and a lot of laughter, snacks and alcohol were involved. Driving through my current home city in such good company and in such a crazy atmosphere made me feel very blissful. A nice sense of peacefulness overcame me and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Then there are the weekends or days away. Shopping, going out for ice-cream, visiting the food-market. Some more small but fun activities I've done during the weekends (with my housemates). But let's not forget the bigger activities like a weekend in Kruger with two nursing friends from Cape Town. The road-trip to Nelspruit was already crazy funny and the weekend continued on that note. The safari's we had were amazing, we saw basically all of the big five! Let me add that we did have to use some imagination to spot the leopard. The night-safari was quite a unique experience as it leaves a lot of animal spotting to the imagination.We ended that weekend with a day-trip to the Blyde Canyon, which happens to have some really interesting history. Sadly the weather blocked most of our views but it made it more of a unique experience.
Let's end on last weekend. Hiking in Magaliesberg, swimming in natural pools, having a make shift Braai/ BBQ during a thunderstorm, and playing some awkward drinking games.
All of these weekends made a massive impression on me, they all gave me this silent moment during which I felt so thankful for having the opportunity to be here on a university and a medical note. I am so thankful for the people who helped me get here, helped me arrange all that was necessary, no matter how many tears were shed I would not ever take them back if it meant not having this experience now. The kids on my internship only adding to this experience through the endless amount of happiness and energy they share with me.
Yes you could say I love it here, because I absolutely do and I cannot wait to see what more South-Africa has in store for me!
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
Ps. If you would like some video material from my trips here in South-Africa here is the link to my latest vlog on the Kruger weekend: VLOG (beware it's in Dutch)
Hey guys!
So I've been pretty absent again. Mind the again. But I'm back for now. It's just that I really love having a space to write down all my thoughts and adventures but the space I created is not how I want or like it anymore. For now it'll have to do but I'm thinking of redesigning my blog, the idea of my blog and what I want to do with it. So keep an eye out for that in the future.
*snaps fingers* Back to the present.
As the title subtly gives away I have been in South-Africa for a month now. Renée why are you in South-Africa?! Well let me explain, for the entirety of my last school year I have been busy getting into and preparing myself for an internship abroad. This has always been a dream of mine and the opportunity to go on one was actually one of the reasons for me to choose the university I'm currently in. So when the chances finally presented themselves I jumped upon them. It took a lot of sweat and tears to get in but look where I am!
Right now I am living and doing my internship in Pretoria, and I am in love with this city. It's definitely on the list of favourite cities I've visited so far! The internship I'm on is with TLF (Tshwane Leadership Foundation), TLF has different projects and the ones I'm working on are Inkululeko and Potter's House. Inkululeko being a preschool where I support the teachers and give my own lessons. Potter's House being a shelter for vulnerable women who left their home situations for different reasons. Both really interesting and challenging as a nurse as the things I can do there as a nurse are much less obvious than my fellow students having their internship with disabled people or in hospitals. But I love the challenges I'm faced with and the creative thinking that I have to do to succeed here. It's absolutely brilliant!
Than there is the city itself. Even though I have been here for a month already I've not seen too much of Pretoria yet, and still I'm already in love with the city. There's so much to do and explore in Pretoria but also Johannesburg and the surroundings. What I have been doing is a safari, visiting South-Africa's biggest theme park, and hanging out at a local foodmarket 20 minutes from my accommodation. The easy going South-African atmosphere has got me hooked, and an unsafe feeling isn't something I've come to experience here yet, thankfully. The accommodation I'm staying at is called F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Yes it is written like the TV show, but the name honours itself. It's an accommodation aimed at foreign students and it has a lot of options to hang out by yourself or together. As we also have a social manager here who organises hikes or dinners you get to know your housemates quite easily and during this month I have grown rather fond of them. I love this accommodation and the people I'm staying here with. I have definitely made friends here already.
One month down, 2.5 more to go and I can not wait to see what they will bring! If you have the option to go abroad on an internship or travel abroad for a long time I can't do anything else than recommend it to you! It has been a great experience so far and it will only get better! Besides just going abroad I would also like to recommend South-Africa and especially Pretoria to you. Some might say Cape Town is the place to be here but I disagree, Pretoria has so much to offer and there are so many incredible things to do and see nearby. Swaziland and Kruger are only a three hour drive, the nature here is amazing, a lot of national park and safari options are nearby, plus it's South-Africa's political centre and it holds a lot of history. What more to say than visit Pretoria if you get the chance!
For my time here I decided to vlog so I will put the links to my vlogs down here for you to watch: (mind you, the spoken ones are in Dutch but please feel welcome to add subtitles to them to make them more accessible for non-Dutch speakers as well)
Catch up with you soon!
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
Since my last blogpost in September I've said goodbye to my previous Spanish friends and welcomed a lot of new friends from various countries. I've been having a lot of fun with this new group and we've made some incredible memories already. To start with the chill evenings in the kitchen that are spend together. Then there was the night-drive through Pretoria our landlord hosted. We all went in the back of a pickup-truck and a lot of laughter, snacks and alcohol were involved. Driving through my current home city in such good company and in such a crazy atmosphere made me feel very blissful. A nice sense of peacefulness overcame me and I enjoyed every minute of it. 
