Good Bye South Africa, For Now

What should I think on my last day in South Africa? I’m very excited to see family and friends but I honestly feel that after my first week home I’m going to want to get on a plane back to Cape Town. I don’t really understand how I’ve become so attached to South Africa in the three short weeks that I’ve lived here. For the last few days I’ve been coming up with excuses to come back here for an even longer amount of time. Maybe grad school, internship, job, travel? I truly fee like Cape Town is home to me now. I don’t know how I made this connection in such a short period of time, especially since we acted like tourists for over a week. I highly encourage everyone to come to South Africa at least once! And don’t just explore the tourist areas but reach a little into the townships and learn about how people really live.

I have a much greater appreciation for life after this trip and I hope that my knowledge of South Africa doesn’t end after this week. My passion of advocating for those who are unable to has been greatly heightened through this experience as well. I’ve met many people that may not even be aware of the impact they’ve had on my life and I will never forget them for that reason. I feel like there are people that I need to say good bye to but I don’t want to. I don’t want this to be the last time I see or speak to the people I’ve met here.

Alan, the supervisor of Arcadia programs in South Africa, and Jane, the project manager, have had a tremendous impact on my experience here. They were the people emailing us before our arrival in South Africa and I assumed we would meet them once or twice but I was wrong. We saw them almost daily while we were in Observatory and they made everything possible for us while we were here. They made sure we were happy and comfortable. The thing that made me the happiest was their ability to be so personal with us. I know many things about them that I would have never imagined having the privilege of knowing. I can’t thank them enough for everything they did and I hope they know they will forever be appreciated.

Although this is my last day in South Africa, I know I will be processing and reflecting on the things I’ve experienced here for a very long time. I don’t know when everything will start making sense or when I’ll understand how to incorporate these things into my life. I’ve slowly been making sense of things for the past week or two and I’m sure I will continue to do so for the next few months at least!

Thanks for blogging,

Brittany