It's hard to believe we've only been in Cape Town for ten days. Orientation has flown by, but I feel like I've been here for months. The city is absolutely amazing - Table Mountain provides the background to a hectic mix of people and minibus taxis that somehow still leave me with a sense of calm.
Not far from the beautiful sights of Cape Town, however, are constant reminders of the poverty and hardship so many of South Africa's people face. There are red ribbons everywhere, reminding passersby of the high rates of HIV and AIDS that seem to impact almost everyone. In the townships there are rows of informal housing, constructed from cheaply bought or discovered materials, lacking plumbing or electricity. The formal housing still leaves much to be desired. Sometimes it all seems to be too much to fix - even as we visit the sites of our internships, I can't help but think of the thousands who won't be known by any of them. Meanwhile, I'm concerned with the inconvenience of not being able to walk around freely after dark, or our lack of internet connection. Even being here and witnessing it all, I still feel somewhat sheltered within the bubble of our gated home in a relatively safe community. At the end of the day, I get to come home to a house with food, clean water, and a toilet I can safely use throughout the night.
Internships start Monday, and I'm sure my perspective will change even more when we leave the tour bus behind. Until then, I'll just have to figure out how to balance my experiences with the juxtapositions of beauty and hardship in Cape Town.
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