2015 Co-educators

2015 Co-educators
2015 UConn Co-educators Begin Their Cape Town Adventures

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG

As anyone who has participated in UConn's Education Abroad in Cape Town will tell you, there are no words to adequately explain the depth of the experiences, no illustrations to sufficiently describe the hospitality of the people, and no pictures to begin to capture the exquisite scenery. Therefore this blog is only intended to provide an unfolding story of the those co-educators who are traveling together as companions on this amazing journey.

As Resident Director of this program since 2008 it is once again my privilege and honor to accompany another group of students to this place I have come to know and love.

In peace, with hope,
Marita McComiskey, PhD
(marita4peace@gmail.com)

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Christina missing South Africa

It’s been exactly two weeks since I’ve been home now and my computer is still running on South African time. I wish I was still running on South African time. It’s been a weird transition to say the least. On one hand I thought I was ready to leave. I thought that missing my friends and family were enough to make this move easier, but in reality, sorry mom and dad, but I think I miss South Africa more.

The first week was definitely the hardest. I went straight to UConn because many of my friends were graduating and I wanted to see them before they ventured off. I figured if I went straight to campus where things were going on and I would be kept busy and entertained by seeing all my friends, it would be enough to distract me from the reality of what actually happened. But of course as I saw everyone for the first time in months, their first question was, “how was South Africa?!” How do you even answer that question? It was impossible. For some people a, “it was great!“ was just enough. But for my best friends, the people I wanted to tell it all to, I had no idea where to begin. I told them highlights and even at that I know I forgot some stuff but I settled on, “it will all come out later.” I know that random things here will trigger the memories of stories and events that have happened to me abroad. But to lay myself out there, all 3 ½ months of adventures, emotions, activities, it was just impossible for me to do.

I’ve also found myself weirdly more emotional than before I left for South Africa. These overwhelming feelings of nostalgia and pure homesickness take over my body to the point where I don’t know what to do but cry. And I don’t know why I’m specifically crying except for the fact that I miss my life in South Africa. There I felt such a purpose to my being. I got up each morning and no matter what it was, even running errands to main rd. or down town, I had something to do. And now I’m almost faced with the exact opposite, I’m jobless, for the time being hopefully, and I’m back in my uneventful hometown and I sort of feel lost.

Right now I’m stuck in between. I’m in the States and this is my life again. But I don’t want to let go completely of what I was in South Africa. I don’t want everything that happened to me there fade away and just become a story, because it was all so much more than that. Cape Town, South Africa is apart of me and I’m trying to hold onto it for as long as I can, for forever hopefully, I’m just having a hard time balancing everything and keeping South Africa alive

In the distance: Devil's Peak, Table Mountain, Lion's Head

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