As the last few days approach I am beginning to realize just how much I am going to miss Cape Town. Yes it is a beautiful city with breathtaking landscape and a long list of fun activities to do, but the real reason I do not want to leave is the people who made this the best experience in my life. For some I will continue to see in the fall, others I may never see again, but every person that I interacted with while in Cape Town really made this trip special and unforgettable. So I wanted to use this blog entry to say thank you to those people.
After talking to other study abroad students who are in Cape Town, I realized how lucky I am to be on this program. I would think people come to South Africa for a different study abroad than the typical go to Europe for a semester, yet I feel like that is the exact kind of semester they are having instead of a unique one. I think a lot of the reason we are so fortunate is because of our professors. While I have not talked about class that much in blogs (not usually the most interesting topic to write about) it has been a very important part of our trip. But our relationship with our professors has been more than just that in the classroom. The fact that we call them by their first name and take an active role in our trip here with orientation and excursion has made them more like mentors and friends than a professor student relationship.
I also want to thank the people who work at my internship. Contrary to my belief before I left for this trip I was not that much of a help to Black Sash. In fact I probably used up resources and time of the paid employees. But because of them I was able to take away a lot from this trip. First of all it gave me interaction with Capetonians. Second of all I really enjoyed the relationships I developed. Similar to with the professors it was a very informal relationship with less focus on hierarchies and more focus on teamwork and accomplishments. It was an experience unlike anything I have done before when completing goals.
The friends I made from South Africa might be something I miss the most since I won’t be seeing them in the fall. Most of the people I met were on the human rights weekend or were introduced to them through other UConn students. These friends were some of the biggest inspirations and really helped me gain a different perspective on life. They welcomed me as family while I visited their wonderful country. They showed me around areas I would have never been able to see. Most importantly I was inspired by their hope and love in the face of adversity.
Finally I want to recognize my friends that were on this program. This includes our RAs because by now I consider them my friends as well. I am so fortunate to be able to share this experience with all of you. We all were going through changes and I don’t think I would have made it if I didn’t have you guys there for my support. Some of you challenged me and my behavior the entire semester and I am sure this was not easy so I thank you. Others of you I was able to share things that I have not told people that I knew for years. Every single one of you made me happy and a better person. I cannot explain in words how much you guys helped me the past three months. I am so glad that I will continue to be able to see you guys in the fall and be able to relate and connect with someone on campus. I love all of you.
Like I said earlier, Cape Town in itself is something I am going to miss. But the people that have been a part of my life the past 3 months is the real reason I am dreading this plane flight.
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