Claire has found herself moving from a tourist to a local as she grows as a person

As our halfway mark in Cape Town has approached, I am realizing that so far this trip has been divided into 2 phases. I’m going to call these two phases the tourist phase and the Capetonian phase. The tourist phase was the first month when I was in absolute shock that I was in Africa- I would take pictures of absolutely everything while we were cramming all activities into the first two weeks. I was in constant awe of this beautiful city, not that I’m still not, but I just found it so hard to believe that I was in South Africa- almost that I needed constant convincing. After about a month, it felt like I was going to be returning home soon. Now with the third month approaching, I have entered into a phase where I feel like I am now part of Cape Town’s locals. When we are out and about, I don’t find myself taking pictures or even having my phone with me, I know my way around and I finally feel like I fit in and that I don’t stick out like a sore thumb that we used to in the first few weeks. I have a daily routine and I am now used to the slower pace of life here. I have to say, I really could get used to this whole concept of African time. I look forward to becoming more of a “local” and meeting more people here who will teach me more and more about Cape Town.

Claire, Ravneet, Maddy, Chantel & her parent

This past weekend, I went on my homestay weekend in Ocean View. At first, I was a little hesitant about going on this weekend just because my family is here and I wanted to spend all my time with them, but it ended up being one of the most amazing weekends that I have had so far. Rav, Maddy and I stayed with Chantel in her home and with no surprise- her parents were absolutely wonderful people. As we were told before we came, all these host families have so much love to give and that they will go out of their way to give you nothing but their best. Nonetheless, Chantel and her parents did exactly that- they welcomed us with open hearts and they provided us amazing food, comfortable beds and most importantly, love. The conversations that we had with Chantel’s parents made me realize how hard their lives were not so long ago during apartheid- but more to come on that in my reflection paper. This weekend was the perfect weekend because it gave me a sense of home and the much-needed relaxation before a crazy week with my family.

"Uncle" Louie, "Auntie" Sylvia, Claire, Chantel, Rav, & Maddie
at home in Ocean View

Almost a year later, my family is finally back in Cape Town since our last visit and it is crazy that this time, I am the one (sort of) showing them around (my dad’s got that mostly covered J). I never thought a year ago today that I would be here and I can’t wait to show them how much I have grown as a person over the last 7 weeks.