Maria's not leaving quite yet

It’s pretty hectic, as many South Africans would say that our time here in Cape Town, for now is coming to a close. I have been extremely busy these past couple of weeks trying to fit every possible thing in that I wanted to do throughout the semester. A few days ago I was in a gift shop and picked up what was labeled a South African passport. As I read through it I realized I had been to or experienced all but 2 pages that was listed as top things to do in Cape Town, which was a pretty cool feeling. I am such an avid hiker back home so being able to bring that love here and finding awesome hiking trails to enjoy with friends has been one of my favorite parts. Here is a picture of Jess, Caitlin, Bernie, Christina, and I at the top of Table Mountain after hiking it. For some of us it wasn’t our first time up but for others it was their first time so it was a good mix. The hike was extremely hard, probably one of the most mentally draining hikes I have ever done.

           

Jess, Caitlin, Bernie, Christina, and Maria on Table Mountain

The weather temperature dropped pretty quickly here just as most people said it would but I refused to believe them until now. I have no reason to complain though because by cooling down I mean it is now in the low 70s. The beauty of this place ceases to amaze me. When John, Dani and I were walking to work one hazy morning a rainbow happened to be hovering over Table Mountain, which was a sight to see. The past week one of our assignments for class was to watch a few videos and one of them was called “Look Up” which was about putting down your cell phone and enjoy the world around you. Before watching this video I started to notice myself and how I was becoming unattached to my phone in a way; meaning I wasn’t dependent on having wifi in a restaurant or running straight up to the common room every time I got home to connect to the wifi. This is a habit I most definitely want to bring home with me. 

I am so happy I am fortunate enough to be able to extend my time here in South Africa. Dani is staying until the end of May but Onna and I are staying until May 12^th. We are all attending AfrikaBurn and if you don’t know what that is I suggest you Google it because it is such a unique event that takes place here. They adopted the concept of Burning Man, which is held in Nevada back in the states.

           

It’s going to be really sad to see my fellow peers leave for the semester but I know that I will see some of them this summer and definitely all of them once we return back to school in the fall!