Emily's unforgettable experiences

I don’t want to write this blog. I really don’t. Writing this blog means its over. It means we are all going home. It means 10 Loch Road is no longer my home and I no longer live with all the wonderful people I’ve spent the last 3 and a half months of my life with. It means we no longer walk to 7/11 for candy runs or take a minibus blasting techno to a beautiful beach or get lost climbing a beautiful mountain and run out of water. I don’t want to write this blog because it means my time in South Africa is over and our time as a group abroad is over. My favorite part of this trip is how close I have become with this wonderful group of people and the fact that we have done this, together.

We aren’t going back to school right away so I probably won’t see some of these people until next semester and that makes me sad. Really sad. I don’t know what it will feel like to wake up to a quiet house in Vermont instead of a bustling one in Cape Town. Will I be able to fall asleep at night without the background noise of shouting, clanking dishes, bickering, slamming doors and above all laughing? I have grown so close to my fellow UConn students on this trip, closer than I ever could have imagined. They are my family and my friends. Of course I miss home but I don’t quite know how I will adjust to losing this family. Although we may return to South Africa at some point in our lives we will never be in this space again, all of us together at Loch road debating who’s better, Kemba or Maya or arguing over whether or not an Eminem song is oppressive or empowering and endlessly, endlessly trying to figure out how we can make the world a better place.

 I know I am going to cherish this last week and a half. I don’t know where the past three months have gone but they have been wonderful ones. I’m going to sound like a cornball now but frankly I don’t care, I have grown as a person on this trip and changed. I have learned so much from my internship, our classes, my professors, this community and my peers. And best of all I have watched others grow, learn and change around me. I know that I will never forget this experience here in this amazing country with these awesome people. The other day when I climbed Lions Head again and for the final time, I sat at the top and looked out across the water and I thought about the first time we had climbed this mountain so long ago. It is amazing how quickly time can pass you by when you are enjoying life to the fullest.

When I jumped off a bridge the other day (oh yes!) I had such a moment of clarity. It was so silent as I fell through the air at 70mph with nothing but a cord to catch me and when I bounced back up I let out a shriek of excitement and felt so proud of myself. Jumping (or in my case, being pushed) off of the bridge amid cheers from my housemates was an amazing feeling. I could feel the support of everyone and knew they were genuinely happy for me. Being only the second jumper to go I was absolutely terrified for what lay ahead, but my housemates gave me the courage to just do it. When I came on this trip I said I would never bungee jump and certainly not shark cage dive. And I have done one and will soon do the other next week. I am proud of myself for facing my fears and pushing to experience life, it was definitely worth it. I was so proud of everyone that day for jumping; it was almost as exciting to watch everyone else jump, as it was to jump myself. When Katherine jumped, as the first jumper, our group let out a roar as if we had won the National Championship again and I almost cried with happiness at the love our group shares for one another.

I am proud of our entire group for all that we have done and accomplished on our study abroad adventure and I am so incredibly sad to see it coming to a close. But to end on a positive, I’m sure groups always say this and don’t follow through, but I know ours will. I can’t wait to see everyone this summer and reunite next semester. I know that I have made some lifelong friends on this trip, doing the things we have done and seeing the things that we have seen there is no way to ignore the unbreakable bond that has formed between us all. Whether it was jumping off of a bridge, squashing into a minibus with techno blasting, singing along to Vanessa Carlton in the kitchen, dancing from one club to the next in a conga line, leaping into the pool the first day, learning about Xenophobia and Black Consciousness, attending a church service in the township or watching the men win the National Championship at 530 in the morning, the things I have done with these people will never be forgotten.