People[s]

I have so many new people in my life that consume my time, days, and thoughts-so strange that it happens so quickly isn't it? I have found that I have quite the family here-one that is eccentric and fun and one that I love very much.

Here are the newest additions to my life.

Maggie: Is my wonderful roommate that I love so much. She and I were on staff together as RAs last year at CSB and now we are sharing this lovely two bedroom flat with each other. She is hilarious and cute and quirky and we are doing quite well as roomies so far (at least I think so). She's considerate and fun and a great listener and I'm lucky to be living with her and to be sharing this amazing experience with her.

Haley: Another fellow CSB-er. She was one of my best friends back home and is here with me in South Africa, living in flat 12 with a wonderful Dutch student here for 4 years named Lim. She's a bit of a chill presence here which has been really great. She brings a different perspective which is refreshing and fun. She loves life and the sparkle in her eyes definitely gets rid of any doubt about it. :)

Hega and Stina: Our next-door neighbors. They are both from Norway. Hega is brunette and really smart and sweet in a way that you wouldn't expect considering the tribal symbol tattooed on her bicep. She's really helpful and has a go-getter attitude and great to go out with and laugh with. Stina is a short and blonde and looks like the toughest girl on the planet-a stern face and hard eyes. She's laid back and a bit quieter and plays the cool angle well. But she is so much fun and also not what you would expect. She's sweet and funny and sarcastic and has great one-liners.

Alex and Jake: Both are extremely tall boys from Iowa who love nothing more than to chill out and drink beer and to get "hella faded" as we coined the term. They're sweethearts though and are a lot of fun to hang with.

Megan: Also from Iowa and our third roommate. She's a bombshell redhead with gorgeous eyes and a laugh that could kill Satan. She's hilarious and is someone that can make me laugh like I haven't in a long time. She's a lot of fun and a great listener and I love being in the kitchen cooking with her. Although she's a bit awkward when she meets people (ahemapplejuiceahem) she's a great friend that I"m sure will last beyond South Africa.

Katie: The funniest little German girl. She is blonde and small and very very quiet-you can forget about her sometimes because she won't make a peep! And when she does speak, she's so softspoken and sweet and considerate that you have to melt when you see her. But then she does things like have a contra-man and you're just shocked and laughing because it's coming from the last person you thought it would. She's amazing and also Megan's roommate.

Jonny and Jane: Both are from Northern Ireland. They have the best accents and are so much fun and so interesting to talk to. Jonny has also been to Kenya twice so that's been fun to talk to him about and when I first met him, he was reading Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Way cool guy and a lot of fun to hang out with. He sure did sweep me off my feet at South African jazz the other night! And Jane is funny. She's a short, curly-haired, pseudo-dark red head-almost a wine color hair. She smokes and looks super cute in skirts and long necklaces all the time and is a hoot to talk to. She's so much fun and gushes about gossip and boys and I love her to death already.

Patrick and the swedish boys: All from Sweden, they are impressed with the low prices of alcohol here and thus take full advantage all the time since apparently alcohol is so expensive in Sweden. Last night Patrick came home in a cab when I was outside with some other people in front of our place and we had to carry him inside.... He's also very sweet though and quite a deep person when he's not intoxicated or thinking about becoming intoxicated. The other Swedish guys are similar but not so bad and are easy on the eyes as well :)

Marco: He is a sweetheart blunt guy from Germany that is here to learn English so naturally, some of our conversations have been quite funny and memorable. I spend quite a lot of time with him talking about life, learning English and about Germany and walking arm in arm and laughing. He's very blunt and calls it like he sees it with no qualms or embarrassment. He makes me laugh extremely hard and some of his 'isms' have caught on around here and are now part of my normal vocabulary. Marco!

The California girls: Kelleigh, Jen, Beam, Loretta, Alena, Ashley... All from different places around CA and stick together pretty well but are great about branching out and getting to know other people. They are all gorgeous girls and super sweet and lots of fun to talk to and hang out with. Not to mention they are quite fit and do yoga and exercises in the courtyard of the Bantry. Ladies night with them is sure to be a good time!

Daniel: Also from California, we have San Francisco in common which was cool to find out upon talking to him. He's also an eccentric character. He has shoulder length, straight black hair with a long braid running down his chest. His 'style' is different and he plays life off like he doesn't care and that he's just cooler than everyone else. He does his own thing and calls his own shots for sure. He was very intimidating the first time I met him but now he's taken on a bit of a brother role as he pops in and out and eats my food. He's really fun to get to know and talk to and also, constantly surprises me.

Sebastian: Another Swede. He's a bit different from the beer-guzzling other Swedes that occupy the other side of the hallway. His accent is adorable and his English is great but since Swedish is spoken at the front of the mouth (or so I hear) he has a bit of a lisp that's really cute. He's got a hilarious personality and can always make the room burst out laughing. He is of the opinion that the Swedish are better than everyone else (which seems to be a theme of many countries represented here haha) and calls everything I do "so American" while I refer to his manurisms as "so Swedish." He's great and I love hanging out with him.

Henning: Also from Germany and speaks better English than Marco. He's gorgeous and a complete sweetheart. He's up for anything all the time and is really laid back unless it comes to doing something or waiting for something to happen-then he's a bit more on the ball. He's really considerate though and has a great memory. He's the kind of person that opens the car door for a girl and then shuts it after her and makes sure she's always ahead and safe. It's nice to have someone like that to hang out with. Him and Sebastian make great roommates and are so funny together-a bit like the odd couple... :)

Simon: Yet another German. He's gorgeous and he knows it completely. He's a ladies man and isn't shy about letting people know exactly that. He's taken to the constantly drunk Iowa boys quite a bit and they can easily be spotted as a threesome out on the town most nights. He's also sweet although he comes off sometimes as if he hasn't got a clue and he's just a sweetheart.

There are so many more people that live in the Bantry and also some that don't live in the Bantry that I could go on and on about. However, that's enough for now-just a taste of the fun I'm having and the new people in my life that I already love so much :)