Rachele realizing she has never been unhappy during her time here

This week in Cape Town I have realized there has never been a moment where I was unhappy. Some of my favorite moments have been taking the taxis and walking home after my internship just enjoying the Cape Town weather. In class we were talking about our fears of going home and one of the ones that stuck with me was the fear that we didn’t make the most of our experience here. This stuck with me because I have always felt a pressure to be doing as much as possible here. However, I also realized I am feeling this way because I am comparing my own experiences to other people's. My solution to this was to reflect on some special moments that I had by myself, some moments on this amazing trip that only I had experienced.

This week I went into the aquarium on my off days and did not regret it. I got to feed the two sea turtles Bob and Sandy and put in some good work. It is nice to see how much the aquarists trust me with now, I feel I have really come a long way from when I started. This week I got trusted with feeding two areas and for next week I got asked to take care of the ecosystem area up stairs with all of the frogs and the snakes! I am realizing now how much I love being at the aquarium and constantly keeping busy.

We also had to create goals for one of our assignments and one of mine that I want to pay extra attention to is getting in contact with my local representatives about banning plastic bags in Massachusetts. I have always been passionate about the environment but after this trip I am much more willing to act for causes I believe in. Plastic usage in particular is something that bothers me because most of the time it is unnecessary. Also at the aquarium I have seen first hand how damaging it can be to marine life.

In a crazy turn of events I realized I may be staying for less time than I expected and it was at this point I suddenly realized how not ready I am to leave just yet. The thought of being back at home eating Thai take out with my family is something that I can not wait to do, but I have also realized I know I will always go back to Massachusetts but I don’t know when I will come back to my new home of Cape Town. Something else that was brought up in class was how much we will miss seeing Table Mountain no matter where we are in the city. I cannot believe that this trip is drawing to an end.