Maria looking forward to being reunited with study abroad "co-educators"

I cannot believe I am writing my last blog about my study abroad experience in South Africa. After extending my trip 10 days it doesn’t feel real to be back living in my own home since I have been away for about 4 months.  While it has been so nice seeing my family and friends I cannot stop thinking about Cape Town and just how free I felt and how at home I felt.

I was so fortunate to be able to extend my trip; attending Afrika Burn was really a once in a lifetime experience and it was totally worth it. It is a community-based festival almost in the middle of the desert that resembles how people believe life should be lived. Onna, Dani, and I and our 2 friends spent 4 days there meeting people and having great conversations. It didn’t feel like we were in the middle of the desert because people made us feel so at home. After arriving back from the burn we had a lot of time to relax and unwind before we headed home. Writing about my time in Cape Town is much easier to write about than my transition home. It was something that was always in the back of my mind since I was really nervous to tell my friends all that I had learned and seen. While they appreciated everything I had to say, no on can fully understand unless you experience it yourself. Being home has also made me even more eager to get back up to school so I can be with the friends I made abroad. This was not something I was expecting but I really did make some friends that will last a lifetime.

Overall my transition has been okay but it is definitely a work in progress and I think will be for a while. I am looking forward to taking our reentry class when I return to school in the fall so I can have the great conversations I was used to having while abroad. Here are a couple of pictures of Afrika Burn that I took!

Julia attempting to recapture the person she became while in Cape Town

Even after nearly a month of being home, I still can’t believe I’m not in Cape Town anymore. At the same time, I feel like I never even left my home. I guess four months compared to 19 years is nothing in comparison. But my time home so far has shown me a little bit of what I’ve gained from being in Cape Town. Ever since my brother died a few years ago I’ve been a more closed off person. I found it hard to connect with new people, laugh easily and often, and just feel free to be myself. Well, I don’t think I actually knew who I was after that huge change in my life. When something like a death of a close relative happens, it engulfs you and you somehow forget how to be the person you were before. I think being put in a house in Cape Town with 17 other students was the ultimate form of therapy I could have ever received. As an introvert, type A kind of person, being in a house with 17 other people was a nightmare at first. Always having to talk to people and deal with other ways of doing things is not easy for my “type,” but it was ultimately the best possible way of expanding comfort zones and finding out who you are, who everyone else is, and how to appreciate those differences. Although I initially lived through the new situation as I usually would by talking little and quietly existing among the group of personalities, I eventually loosened up and began to let myself go. I think I started to talk more to everyone, laugh more, go out and do things with different people instead of my usual group. My group superlative was most likely to come out of their shell, and there’s no better way to describe what happened to me by being in that house. I gained back who I was before Ian died and started to realize who I am becoming after being through it. My only wish is that it didn’t take so long for me to come out of that shell. My hope is that when I meet new people in the future that I want to have a friendship with is that I don’t take so long to get to the point where I feel free to be myself. I think with knowing myself a little more from this trip, I will be able to be myself easier and quicker.

Being back in the U.S. has also made me realize how easy it is to be ignorant of the world around you. In Cape Town, that was impossible. Everyone talked about everything. I knew about Nigeria’s elections and Al Shabaab. Now I know about what my friends are doing and that’s about it. I’m really disappointed with myself about losing touch with what’s going on. It was just so easy in South Africa to know because it was part of daily conversations and plastered on street posts. Here, though, it definitely takes more of an effort to keep informed because the culture here is to know more about the superficial than the substantial. I’m going to have to put in the effort with reading the newspapers, but also in finding people that I can talk to about what’s going on because my friends certainly aren’t interested. 

What I really miss most about Cape Town, though, is the spirit and values that people held. For most people it seemed that as long as they had family, a passion, and basic necessities like decent housing and food, there was no reason to be unhappy. I try to stick to those values in the U.S. but it’s hard when everyone is on their iPhone and it’s hard just because I have all these material things that distract me from living in a more meaningful way as I did in South Africa. I was definitely less preoccupied by my phone in Cape Town and lived more by the flow than a calendar. I’m learning that the distractions from the things you think make you happier (i.e. iPhones, Netflix) may actually make you unhappier. I want to live like I lived in Cape Town again- minimal distraction and lots of unexpected encounters/adventures.

Julia recalling the adventures and realizations of Cape Town

Emily ready to share the blessing of Ubuntu in all aspects of her life

Sun shining on life chnaging experiences

It’s crazy to think I’m writing my final blog post for the semester in Cape Town. The past four months have been nothing short of beautiful, sending me through a whirlwind of emotions and enabling me to find a deeper meaning to this blessed life. What I think I worried most about before departing Cape Town was transitioning back to life in the United States of America. I didn’t know how I was going to react to outings at restaurants with my family or in a circle of friends whom were much more invested in their social media sites. To be quite frank, not one part of me wanted to come home. Don’t get me wrong, I was extremely excited to be reunited with my loved ones, but I feel as though the sense of independence I gained during my time in Cape Town lessened any feelings of possible homesickness.

           

During the first few weeks at “home,” I was in the strangest limbo of emotions. One day, I would wake up feeling like Cape Town was just a wonderful dream and it didn’t really happen. Other days, I’d wake up angry at everything I saw happening around me. The feelings of anger were most prominent in public settings when I would observe people just being wasteful, especially at restaurants. I can’t help but focus in on the countless plates being taken back from tables, half full of perfectly good food. It’s hard to witness mostly because I know exactly where all of those leftovers could and should be going. Since my boyfriend lives in the heart of Boston, I find myself walking around that city with a heavy heart. The disparity that I saw in Cape Town is still prevalent here, when I see wealthy businessmen stroll by homeless people on the street.

           

Towards the end of the third week being back, I started to fully come to terms with all of my life changing experiences in South Africa. I’ve finally been able to start talking about my experiences in depth with the people closest to me. For some reason, I didn’t want to talk much about my time at all initially. I’ve found that talking about it helps me to feel less homesick from Cape Town, and even closer to it. This semester was the greatest blessing I’ve been given so far, and I can’t wait to spread the beautiful idea of “Ubuntu” in all aspects of my life moving forward.

Molly now making conscious decisions

Molly's farewell to Sister Castle

Re-entry into the United States hasn't been hard just different. I feel different about every decision I make and I finally feel like I have thought behind my decisions and I am able to really make conscious decisions. I no longer care about the little things that stressed me out as much before. I have been sharing my experience only with close friends because I don't want to just talk about the surface things and rather the deep emotional things I learned while away. I loved my experience and although happy to be home I am so thankful of my trip.

Taylor P has no doubt Cape Town was the best place for her study abroad

Three and a half months in Cape Town isn’t nearly enough time to explore the amazing city. Looking back on my trip it went by so quickly that I can’t even believe it. Being home has been nice because I missed all my friends and family but I find myself thinking about Cape Town probably at least three or four times a day. It truly was the trip of a lifetime in terms of beauty and experience. The past few weeks every time I see someone new they are like “I know a bunch of people probably asked you already, but how was Cape Town?” and I reply with “don’t worry, I really love talking about it.” I think the hardest part of reminiscing with people is when they ask me what my favorite part was. The thing is that there definitely isn’t just one thing that stands out from the rest

Overall, there were few, if any, things that I didn’t love about South Africa. I loved the hospital I worked at and all of the little babies that I fell in love with. I loved the classes that we took and the deep conversations and experiences we were all able to share with each other. I loved all the extra projects we did with the youth group in Ocean View and human rights weekend and our homestay weekend. And of course I loved all the tourist-y things like the garden route and skydiving and bungee jumping. But most of all I loved all the different people that I encountered everyday that were so open and willing to share their experiences and passions with me.

            

While abroad, I learned a lot about South Africa’s history and government and its people, but I also learned about myself. Vincent, Vernon and Marita all did an amazing job of teaching me more about South Africa than I’ve ever known about America. They changed my thinking in way more than a few ways by opening my eyes to harsh realities while also guiding me in the direction of different ways to help and be an ally. In terms of myself, I think I finally learned what it means to be passionate about something.

Before my semester abroad I thought I had my whole life figured out; graduate, straight to PA school and then on to be a physician assistant, case closed. However, after meeting so many people who have a career that directly correlates to their passion and being exposed to so many different opportunities, I finally realized what I really want to do with my life. I believe that I am on the right track in terms of the medical field. But now I have narrowed it down to wanting to work in pediatrics because I loved being just a small part of the kid’s healing process at Sarah Fox Children’s Hospital and I believe that kids are impressionable at their young age and I am willing to help in any way possible. I have recently discovered my passion for wanting to work with HIV/AIDS patients after my time in South Africa. The exposure and infection rates are insanely high in several countries and I think that getting involved in an organization or something related to prevention or what not would be amazing.

It is a month later and I am still decompressing about my trip to South Africa and I believe I will be for a very long time. I learned so much from the people and experiences that I had while abroad I really couldn’t have asked for anything better. Before committing to South Africa I was undecided between London and Cape Town for study abroad. I am 100% positive that I made the right decision for myself because I truly fell in love with this country and I know that I wouldn’t have felt so at home in London. By the end of our trip I felt like a local because I was so involved with so many communities and it really felt like home. I can’t wait to return to South Africa someday!