Taylor understanding his brother's obsession with Cape Town

Taylor, Logan, Julian, Joe, Tom, Vernon

I have been hearing about South Africa for the past five or six years now from a Capetonian named Cuan and my Brother Jon. I heard so much of this city that every time my brother brought up the subject I rolled my eyes and tuned him out. Now, however, I am beginning to understand his obsession.

I spent the week before leaving for Cape Town in Colorado attempting to make my way back across the U.S. during a supposedly massive snowstorm on the East coast, shutting down many major airports. After rerouting my flight multiple times through multiple cities and spending the majority of my time on the phone with United Airlines trying to understand when they thought 12 AM was, I finally made it to Boston.  I then got on a plane for Cape Town and the morning after I arrived, glanced at the mountain in my back yard, and then jumped in a pool after waking up to 90-degree weather.

The first week was filled with a variety of fun and exciting things, much like a vacation, however we soon got to see the side of Cape Town that most tourists probably try to ignore. I have seen the pictures of the townships full of tin houses that appear to be all holding each other up despite the winds best effort to blow them over; however, seeing them in person and seeing the people living in these places is an experience like none other.

We are still getting used to our surroundings, but we will be getting into the swing of things soon, which for me includes teaching and going to work on a small bus with a man shouting out the window: “CAPE TOWN! You want to die, you come!” Needless to say, this is a very exciting experience.