Kimmi will miss Cape Town

Cold rain + Tea + Movies = Made Me Realize How Much I Will Miss Cape Town

Ryan, Rebecca, Kelsey & Kimmi

It was a Thursday night and we were all back from class making dinner. We were not in any way shape or form ready for this rain and cold. We have been in Cape Town now for almost three months. We came in their summer so we are used to the warm weather and sunshine. Now the seasons are starting to change and it officially autumn. This was one of our first rainy days. We all decided to make some tea, grab some blankets and stay in and watch Pirates of the Caribbean. This is one of the best nights that I’ve had in Cape Town. It was nice everyone from the pool house was in and we were all cuddling together to stay warm. We have gone from being complete strangers to acquaintances to wanting to kill each other and now finally to good friends. I have come to love not only everyone in the pool house but everyone on this trip. Sometimes people have annoyed me with dishes piling up in the sink and screaming and singing but in the end everyone here is truly an amazing person. I am happy to say that I truly love and care about every single person on this trip and can't wait to share more experiences this last month that I am here. Just staying in and watching this movie has made me realize how lucky I am to find such amazing people and be here with them. I am really going to miss living with sixteen other people. Sure it can be a pain at first running out of toilet paper, maggots crawling all over our floor, trying to cram food into a small refrigerator for eight, sixteen people trying to cook dinner before our 6pm class and many more challenges. But I’m going to miss nights like these where we are all together watching a movie with some tea and chocolate. I’m going to miss dancing to songs like Call Me Maybe and just acting goofy. Those times when went back to middle school and tried on high heels and dresses and walked around the house like we were models. Times like these I will never forget how much fun and entertaining it is to live in a house with sixteen people! You never get bored.

I have not only shared fun and exciting memories like this with these people but they have been with me and experienced the poverty and robbery that occurs here. Being in South Africa and working in Cape Town and with the people we work with we all get our own experiences and we all react differently. But being able to talk to our experiences and them knowing what we’ve been through is really helpful. I know that I have changed a lot.  I was never into current events and did not know a lot about my basic human rights.  But being here I have become more aware of issues that many different countries are facing around the world. I have learned more about the U.S and its history that no textbook or class has ever covered.  Now I am not so ignorant and have also learned to be open to multiple views and opinions. In this world we are living in it can be portrayed as very black and white and right and wrong. I have learned to assume good intent and that there may be some gray areas. We do not always have to be right all of the time. We have to realize that sometimes we are wrong. We have to learn to listen and to stand up for each other especially if our rights are being violated. We need to learn that we cannot be silent about issues such as racism and gender inequalities. How will we get there if we do not speak? How will we get there if we do not make a stand? Many people are suffering today from discrimination. We need to learn from the past and become more accepting of others. We need to celebrate and embrace differences! I know that everyone on this trip is going to go home changed. All of us have grown at least a little bit on this trip and we have all grown together. We have all been there for each other. We all share this special bond and I consider all of them my family away from home. I am going to miss them when I go home but hope to stay in touch.

I am having a lot of mixed feelings about going home. At the beginning of this trip and throughout this entire trip I have been feeling very homesick. I have been missing my family, friends and boyfriend a lot. But at the end of the day I’m in South Africa! I am seeing and meeting things and people that I would have never if I did not take this great opportunity. I love my internship, classes and the country itself. It has become in a way my home away from home. With only one short month left I know that the time is going to fly by. It already has. I have decided to take it one step at a time. Even though at times I do miss the security and safety of being back in the states. I need to put that aside and really keep on embracing myself into the culture and learning as much as I can until I have to go. Saying goodbye is going to be the hardest part of this trip but I know that someday I will be back. Whether it is only for a week or two I know that I have to come back and visit. This country and the history and everything that is happening now is too good to not come back and share it with others. So going home definitely has its ups and its down but either way it is going to happen. So I will not get sad about leaving until I am on that long plane ride. Until then I am going to live it up and make more memories to take home and share!