So I arrived in South Africa thursday evening and stayed the night in johannesburg after meeting Bombiti at the airport. Bombiti is the head of research at ZZ2. ZZ2 works quite differently than farms in the US. The company owns about 5 farms in the limpopo region, where I am based and more farms all over south africa. Each farm has its own manager but everything is funded by ZZ2 and ZZ2 ships directly to market. Their main product is tomatos, but they also grow avocados, onions, and a few other crops. What I am going to be working on here is helping them to develop an extension program and office so that they can help stabilize local farmers and the region. This week I am going to be learning more just about ZZ2 and natuurboedery, which means “nature farming” and then next week I am going to meet with local farmers and figure out some of the issues they face and need help with. It should be pretty exciting ! The area I am in is beautiful as well. I am surrounded by mountains and a mix of farmlands and natural area. The place I am staying is a small lodge owned by ZZ2 and I have my own hut (but nice one with a kitchen/bath/bedroom). I haven’t gotten a chance to take many good pictures yet but later posts should include some! South Africa is a bit of a mix of african/european/american cultures and there are always quite a few languages going on. Usually, Afrikaans, the language of the dutch descendants here, english, which seems to be the language everyone uses to communicate between races and different native backgrounds, and then native african languages. Outside of the farm where people know me, I have people addressing me a lot in Afrikaans because I look a lot like an afrikaaner. But usually once they see the confused face on me they start speaking english haha. Anyways it is time to start planning so I have to go. Till next time!