Rachele feeling at home with her host family and increasingly coming to understand why she loves Cape Town

This weekend I had an amazing time in Ocean View! My family was so inviting and welcoming. At a lot of points throughout the weekend I was reminded of things that my own family did that were very similar. We arrived on Thursday and that night we got to go to a ballroom dance class in a community center in Ocean View. It was so fun to learn some of the dancing and it was amazing to see the kids (some of them very young) be so good at dancing. My host family had a very nice home; just eating dinner in front of the TV reminded me of being back in the states with my family.

Friday we woke up nice and early to head to Little Rascals Daycare where we helped Melissa and Nicki care for some of the kids in Ocean View. A lot of these kids really just wanted attention and love. One little girl was stealing toys from the other children so I talked to her nicely, showed her some attention and she ended up giving me her toy she had been playing with. This reminded me of the summer camp I work at where often the most misbehaved kids are usually the ones that need a friend the most. Later that day we took some older kids ages 7-10 to the beach! It was more fun getting to interact with the older kids but the same applied where most of them just wanted some attention. Friday our host family had a birthday party and again I felt at home because of how lively the family was, reminding me of my own.

           

Saturday we got to sleep in and my host parents then took me to the farm down the road for lunch. Later that day we met up for a braai with another family hosting UConn students. We also took a nice drive to the beach that evening and got to see the sunset. Sunday we went to the Church of the People and it was amazing. This was the most modern church I have ever seen and the people were all so friendly, the music was lively, and it even had a women preaching that day. We then had lunch again with the other host family and it was amazing! The food reminded me of a thanksgiving meal and my favorite food there was a sweet potato pie that I will have to try at home.

           

At the aquarium this week I took an interest in the little octopus! We call him/ her Occy. Octopi are so interesting! Occy camouflages into the environment in the exhibit so well and is very smart. Today we used an enrichment toy to feed Occy and within minutes he/she figured it out. I’d love to look into more enrichment toys for the animals at the aquarium, not just Occy.

           

The most common question I get (usually from Uber drivers) is “what do you think of Cape Town?” I feel like I have started to figure out how to respond to this question. Before I usually commented on the weather and how warm it was here compared to home but now I have really noticed that I love how South Africans talk about their problems with each other and how issues are so out in the open here where I think in the States, it is easier for people to pretend the problems are not there so we ignore them. Also I love how friend people are here. Walking to the aquarium in the morning I get a lot of good morning from so many strangers. I do love Cape Town and I have for a while but now I am just starting to get the sense of why I love Cape Town and how to put it into words.