Its amazing how bipolar this country can be. There are so many amazing things to do here, like climb Table Mountain, see the penguins at Boulder Beach or see the amazing views and baboons from Cape Point. But then on the other side of things I've witnessed the extreme poverty that lingers and flourishes in this country due to the aftermath of apartheid. Watching two children viciously fight over a broken plastic crate, taken from a pile of garbage to play with nearly broke my heart. Seeing the shacks in the townships that people are forced to call their homes made from bits and pieces of tin makes me feel pretty guilty as we ride around on our big tour bus with our air conditioning and huge house with pool waiting at home for us. Doing all the fun touristy activities here is a blast but seeing the poverty is also good for us. It inspires me to do more for my organization that I'm interning at and to think of an activist project that will help those that really need the help. Seeing how poor most of the population is here really encourages me to appreciate everything I have and everything I get to do here as well as to appreciate my education that is so hard to come by here. I can already tell this country is changing me as a person, whether it's talking to the women at my internship, sitting in Vincent's class listening to the history of South Africa and Apartheid which he lived through as a black man, talking to the youth out at the bars and how their lives have changed over the years with the abolishment of Apartheid or seeing all the amazing culture, sights and experiences South Africa has to offer.
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