As I look back on the last 10 weeks, I'll try to put into words some of the many, many lessons I've learned this summer:
1. Keeping a blog is HARD...
Itt really takes a lot of discipline and creativity to think of interesting ways to present your thoughts. My goal originally was to write one post a week. Clearly, that didn't really work.
2. ...But it's so worth it.
If keeping a blog wasn't a requirement for my school, I probably wouldn't have kept one. But I would've been missing out. I know I'm not the best writer, but it was nice to have an outlet where I could express my thoughts and share my experiences with friends and family. It made my experiences more rewarding because writing a blog forced me to organize my thoughts and feelings into coherent sentences instead of remaining as vague concepts. Instead of just telling people all the things that I did in South Africa, I can now easily tell them what I learned in the process as well.
3. Say hi to people on the street.
One of the first things I noticed when I arrived in South Africa was that people are really friendly here. Part of that was probably due to the fact that I was obviously a tourist and they were curious about where I was from, but that question would more often than not be combined by a huge, almost goofy, welcoming smile. It was as if they were personally welcoming me into their country. As it's said, a little bit of hospitality goes a long way.
4. It's a cliche, but always try new things.
Especially new foods. The best food I had was warthog steak in Zimbabwe. I was a little weirded out by it at first, because I kept thinking that I was eating Pumbaa from the Lion King, but it was honestly the best steak I have ever had in my life. Also in that same day, I ate a worm. I even got a certificate to prove it.
Don't worry - it was toasted, so it wasn't slimy or anything.
5. It's okay to not plan ahead sometimes.
A lot of our weekend activities were planned the night before, or even the morning of. As a very Type-A person, this was frustrating at times. But in the end, everything worked out, and no disasters happened. In fact, I feel like more things went wrong when I did plan. I booked tickets to go to Robben Island one day, planning all these other activities around it, and it ended up being canceled because the weather was too bad. I wanted to hike the India Venster Trail on Table Mountain the day after my mom got to Cape Town, but we ended up not being able to because Air France lost my mom's luggage, which had her sneakers in it.
6. Take lots of pictures.Time goes by so fast, and the experiences that I've had are truly once in a lifetime experiences. Never again will I be with the same people, in the same moment, with the same thoughts or conversations. While even the greatest of memories fade, pictures never do (at least not the ones you put on your computer). If you're anything like me, you'll find yourself looking through all the pictures on Facebook week after week, smiling and laughing at all the great memories you now have.
If you'd like to take a look at some of the pictures I've taken, feel free to go on my Facebook photos or use this link to look at all my pictures on OneDrive.
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I will be forever grateful for this summer. Living in Cape Town has been a dream. I've always wanted to study abroad, but decided that I loved UMich's campus so much (yes, even during the winter!), and with only 4 years to enjoy it, I didn't want to spend an entire semester abroad. Instead, I chose to do an internship abroad, where I could get the chance to live in a different country for a couple months all while gaining professional career experience. I feel so lucky to have found Volunteer Adventure Corps and be presented with this amazing opportunity. Thank you for all the support - I could not have done this without you!
6. Take lots of pictures.Time goes by so fast, and the experiences that I've had are truly once in a lifetime experiences. Never again will I be with the same people, in the same moment, with the same thoughts or conversations. While even the greatest of memories fade, pictures never do (at least not the ones you put on your computer). If you're anything like me, you'll find yourself looking through all the pictures on Facebook week after week, smiling and laughing at all the great memories you now have.
If you'd like to take a look at some of the pictures I've taken, feel free to go on my Facebook photos or use this link to look at all my pictures on OneDrive.
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I will be forever grateful for this summer. Living in Cape Town has been a dream. I've always wanted to study abroad, but decided that I loved UMich's campus so much (yes, even during the winter!), and with only 4 years to enjoy it, I didn't want to spend an entire semester abroad. Instead, I chose to do an internship abroad, where I could get the chance to live in a different country for a couple months all while gaining professional career experience. I feel so lucky to have found Volunteer Adventure Corps and be presented with this amazing opportunity. Thank you for all the support - I could not have done this without you!
And finally, I want to thank you, the readers. I sincerely enjoyed sharing my Cape Town adventures with you, and I hope you enjoyed reading them too. I hope that if you haven't yet, you get a chance to visit South Africa. If you do, feel free to reach out to me for recommendations on where to go, what to eat, where to stay, etc. I would be more than happy to help!
Now, onto the next adventure, whatever that may be.
Cheers!
