if you feel it, it must be real

I'm falling in love.
I've never felt this much love in my life.
I love this place, I love these people, I love these experiences.
I love feeling this free.
I love feeling something so new and fresh.
I love myself.
I'm so incredibly lucky.


hey!
I'm currently sitting in a mall internet cafe in the lovely city of Durban, South Africa, and it's been a CRAZY couple of days. I'm not in a very 'deep' mood, mostly because it's flipping expensive here for internet and I don't have time for insight...only regurgitating facts on virtual paper. so...here it is.

last time I updated it was St.Patts and pretty early in the day.
well...that day I did some hiking and then went on a horseback ride through some beautiful Swazi mountains and plains. we got close enough to almost touch the wildlife and had an amazing time. I can't explain the beauty of that day. <3>. oh well.
the next day we headed into St.Lucia, South Africa, to stay for two days.
I upgraded from a tent to my own room and ended up letting my English friend, Robert, crash as long as he split the cost with me. saved me a little bit of money and still gave me a nice bed to sleep in. we all ate dinner and then went out to a club. we all drank a bit (too much...), I did some drunk dialing (hey guys!) and then went and crashed in my room.
the next day was mellow...Internet, walking around town, had some ME time, bought a cute dress and then we all went out to dinner.
left early the next day for Durban and everyone prepared to say goodbye. we had a nice diner, exchanged emails and eventually Andrew, his girlfriend, and a few of his friends came to the hostel to hang out. we all hung out and had a few drinks. it was SO great to see Andrew again and SO weird that everyone calls him Doug here. we hung out late, they all left and Marissa and I went to sleep in our dorm room.
next am (yesterday) was woken up at 5:30am by people hugging me goodbye (which was funny because I was on the top bunk and more than one person fell while trying to hug me...haha). I tried to fall back asleep but ended up laying there till 9am listening to music on my ipod. oh well.
Andrew and Cathy picked us up around 11, brought us to their flat to drop off our stuff and then brought us to get some breakfast because we were famished. we met up with Cat's family and Andrew/Doug's friend Tristan at breakfast and we all ate together. afterward Cathy went with her family and the four of us (Marissa, Andrew, Tristan and I) headed out to do some hiking/rock climbing.
we drove through what appeared to be a normal residential area for almost half an hour before finally turning into a parking lot and realizing we had been circling a mini Grand Canyon! It is BEAUTIFUL!!!! We all piled out of the car and began our hike down into the valley a bit, scrambled down some rocks, through the woods and eventually came into a narrow pass between two canyon walls that had some amazing climbing. Tristan led a top rope and we all started on a 14 (which is around a 5.7) Marissa and I shared Andrews harness with him and Marissa was using Tristan's shoes in turn as well. I was amped to try climbing barefoot for the first time so I was fine without shoes.
I went up next and LOVED not wearing shoes. I was hooked within the first 20 feet! I felt so connected to the rock. Even though it wasn't the hardest, I feel it was some of the best climbing I've ever done.
I felt graceful, connected and confident. I couldn't believe the grip I was getting on the tiniest holds. it felt amazing. I did, however, find that I lack some important toe strength, and that I don't get nearly as good of a grip (contact wise) with bare feet as I would with some nice climbing shoes. I kept trying to smear and ended up scraping up my foot pretty bad because of it.
the next climb I got to chose and it was a bit harder on a rating scale and MUCH harder barefoot. the holds were sharp and tiny...some so sharp that they cut right into my foot (most in-between my toes...ugh) and made it hard to put weight on while climbing. I pushed through it and eventually made my way to the top. what an amazing feeling.
Marissa and I also scrambled out onto a beautiful ledge overlooking the river and canyon and just relaxed there for a little while. I really can't believe that there are so many beautiful things hiding in this country. apparently this spot isn't too mainstream, which is madness. I'd come back to South Africa just to spend another week there.
That night a large group of us, maybe 13 or so, went out to dinner and bar hopping. we had some great Mexican food, went to a rock bar, a sports bar and eventually an alternative/hard rock club. it was fun walking all over the city and just having a good time. we stayed at 'BURN', the hard rock club, till after 3am just dancing and having fun.
I started getting tired around 1:30/2 from an early morning and went on the roof with Tristan and we just chatted, looked at the ocean, the stars, talked about life, had a few drinks and hung out.
eventually we all did make our way back to the apartment where 7 of us found places to sleep on the floor (naturally Andrew and Cat got their own bed).
Tristan and I decided to camp outside on the balcony and look at the stars since it was such a beautiful warm night and the house was a bit cramped. someone had decided that an inflatable boat would make a great bed, so he took up a large majority of the usable floor space. haha. I have pictures...don't worry. we stayed up talking until the sun was about to rise and eventually fell peacefully asleep outside.

I haven't slept this good in three weeks. I feel like a new person today.
we all woke up, listened to music, cleaned up and went out to breakfast. afterwards we all lounged on the beach for a few hours, hit a market and well...here we are. at the mall.

not sure whats on the plate for tonight but it's out last (probably) night in Durban and we will be hitting the road down to Cape Town by ourselves from here on out.
it should be a great adventure and I'm amped!

I have my cell phone...don't hesitate to call me and say HEY! =D
I'll update again as soon as possible. <3

"that's a bike. you see, a hippo has four wheels."
oh, what amazing memories.