Life moves too fast when you least
want it to. Yes, here I am talking about time once again. I need to stop
denying the fact that I will be leaving Loch Road on Thursday morning.
I am thrilled that I have the opportunity to extend my trip for 10 days but I
can’t help but think that it isn’t enough time.
To put it lightly, I’ve fallen in
love with this place. Cape Town has exposed me to new worlds of opportunity. It
has reconfirmed my hope in humanity. I have learned that the love you can give
and take is limitless. I have learned that action speaks volumes over words. I
have learned to look within myself and celebrate the fact that I make mistakes
and still have so much to learn. I have learned to think twice about judging
another as they might have problems that we can’t even wrap our mind around.
My last week here has been relaxing
but enjoyable. On Sunday night Emily L, Julia & I attended a
production called Artsemble. Andrea, the social worker at Elonwabeni that we
have grown quite close to was one of the MCs for the night and introduced the
many different acts; a choir, comedian, dancers, bands, poets and rappers. Each
performance was absolutely incredible and reminded me of the incredible
capacity of humans. I thought it was impossible, but I have grown to appreciate
the world of art even more since coming here.
Last night we grabbed dinner with
Andrea one last time. She asked us what the highlight of our trip was… trying
to narrow every single experience into one was overwhelming and it made me
think about how I am going to emulate this experience to my loved ones when I
return. I want them to hear the street music, feel the love of complete
strangers, see the light beams above Table Mountain as the sun saluted to us
every evening, taste the spice of the curries. I want everyone to feel what I
have felt because I have never felt so thankful to be alive.
I’m worried that people won’t
understand this transformational experience or the things that I have come to
believe in. Andrea understood our concerns about going back and told us that we
must keep ourselves busy when we return home for the summer. She told us that
it is going to be easy to get lost in the memories of being here. It’ll be easy
to sulk and become unmotivated when comparing South Africa to the United
States. A place can never be compared to another. She advised that we keep
ourselves busy this summer and let the memories continue. She also suggested
that when we do long for those memories, that we surround ourselves with people
that we shared these memories with. My level of discomfort decreased after she
said those words and I remembered that I would have the pleasure of meeting
with these 17 incredible individuals that contributed to making this experience
the best 4 months of my life.
These thoughts bring me back to a
sign outside of one of the food trucks at the music festival that we attended
in March. It read: ‘I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different
person then.’ We all have the capacity to fill our minds, hearts and souls with
new experiences everyday. The adventure doesn’t stop here.
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