Julia's already had a few break through moments

Julia & Jillian at Maiden's Cove

When I left my parents in the airport I began to feel the nerves set in. I finally realized just how long I would be away. Before I left, people would always ask how long I would be away and I answered as if three and a half months was nothing. When I got to the airport though, it really didn’t seem like nothing anymore. I never had a moment of regret, but the thought of three and a half months without seeing the people I love scared me. Fortunately, as soon as I stepped out of the Cape Town airport I felt completely different about my time away from home. The warm, fresh air and the greetings from Vernon, Marita, Jess, and Ben dissipated my fears. As we drove to the most beautiful house to live in for the next few months, we passed the townships and saw Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain, and Lion’s Head, all of which reminded me just why I wanted to come to Cape Town. Jill and I chose a room upstairs with the biggest closet, which we undoubtedly needed seeing as I packed so much. It also has so many windows making the room bright as early as 6 am even with the shades closed, which I actually love.

So far my favorite thing about orientation has been seeing the penguins at Boulders Beach. I didn’t expect that to be my favorite part, but the beach and the penguins were amazing. The beach was so gorgeous with the rocks and the clear water that I probably took 20 pictures of the same thing at different angles to capture all of it. I made sure to stay at the beach with the penguins as long as possible before returning to the van. I also enjoyed Manenberg’s Jazz Café. Alvin and his band along with Joe and Tony are so good, and entertaining. Even though we stayed late, I could’ve still listened to them without getting bored. I even branched out and tried the butter chicken that had curry. I am not that adventurous with food, so this was sort of a breakthrough for me and I loved it. 

After talking to Vernon about his participation in one of the protests for the Standing for the Truth Campaign, I am looking forward to learning about apartheid South Africa from the people who actually lived through it. When he told me he was in the protests and was actually arrested on his birthday I didn’t know what to say. It’s hard to react to something like that for me because in my head I’m thinking, “That’s so cool!” because he was a real freedom fighter. At the same time, I want to be respectful and not imply that apartheid was cool or something. I know this is a weird thing to dwell over, since I’m sure no one would really interpret it that way, but I wasn’t sure how to verbalize my reaction to his story. I was impressed by his bravery and awed by his participation in history. Learning from Vernon and Parks is going to be a great experience. I’m glad I decided to come here. What I am going to learn here will probably be of greater value than anything else I’ll ever learn in the States.

Penguins at Boulder's Beach