During the week before we left for our
excursion to Johannesburg, I was feeling a bit homesick because my birthday was
on the 29th. While I was so happy to spend it in Cape Town with all my friends
here, a part of me wished I could be celebrating with my friends and family
back home as well. But when I woke up on
my birthday, surrounded by balloons and streamers that Sarah had decorated the
room with while I was sleeping, I felt nothing but excitement for the day and
the upcoming excursion! I had so much fun on my birthday and everyone here made
it so special, from the delicious cake Marita made for us, to going out to a
fancy restaurant that we could only afford to get appetizers and drinks at.
While I was still missing my friends after seeing every birthday message and
picture posted, I was so genuinely happy to get to spend my 20th exploring Cape
Town and enjoying the day with my co-educators.
I realized for the first time that we will be home in less than a month
and I can see all my friends and family then, but I will only experience having
my birthday in South Africa once, so I wanted to make the most of it! I feel so
grateful to have friends here who care about me and made my day so much fun.
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| People's Dispensary for Sick Animals |
The rest of the week was spent preparing
for our excursion and spending one more day at my activist project before our
break. Friday morning was rainy and
cold, and even though all I wanted to do was sleep in, Karen, Rachele and I
went to the animal hospital and had so much fun! I spent most of the time with
the animals in the ICU, making sure they were healing comfortably and given
food and water. One in particular was my favorite, a huge, fluffy, gray cat
named Nikita. We also met a new animal, at tiny kitten we found all by itself
in one of the kennels. While we were unfolding tons of newspaper to put down on
the bottom of the crates, the kitten helped us by climbing all over the papers
and running around playing with scraps.
Near the end of the day, I noticed a flea on her head, so the vet let me
give her a bath!! We wrapped her up in a bunch of blankets and I held her until
she fell asleep, which needless to say was my favorite hour of the day. It ended up being such a fun day and I’m
really glad we got to go before our excursion.
At this point I think it is really sinking
in that when we get back from spring break, we will only have three weeks left
in Cape Town. I am so excited to see
everyone back home, but it is a strange feeling that I will have to leave all
this behind. I am enjoying Johannesburg
so much already, and I can’t wait to take full advantage of our last few weeks
in South Africa. There is so much I still want to do and so many places I still
need to see—there is no doubt the end of April will go by before I know it.
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