Erica keeping busy in order to keep the post Cape Town sadness at bay

It’s hard to believe that almost a month ago, my fellow co-educators and I departed Cape Town to return back to our homes in the United States. The past month has been a bit of a whirlwind for me- between adjusting to life back home, searching for summer internships, and reconnecting with friends, I feel like I haven’t had much time to sit down. The adjustment to life back in the states has been going significantly better than I expected, and I think this is because I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy. Before leaving Cape Town, I could already tell how much I’d miss it once I got home, and so I made a plan to try and stay busy during the summer to lift my spirits and prevent myself from getting down in the dumps about leaving South Africa. I think I’ve kept a good balance between reflecting on the memories I made in Cape Town, and going about my daily schedule. I undoubtedly feel sad about leaving South Africa, and I especially miss spending so much time with my co-educators, however; I feel completely satisfied with my time in Cape Town, and I really couldn’t have asked for a better experience. My feeling towards leaving South Africa and readjusting to live back in Connecticut fluctuate, and I definitely have my days when I feel sad about leaving, but lately I’ve just been feeling very grateful for getting the opportunity to live in such an incredible place for three and a half months.

In other news, I just found out that I got a summer internship at the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence (woohoo!), which I’m ecstatic about! Although the internship is unpaid and I also have to work a part-time job, I’m incredibly excited to gain experience in the non-profit sector, and learn more about public policy (which is the focus of my internship). Also, in about a week I’ll be participating in “Feminist Camp” which is a weeklong program in New York City, where I’ll be attending meetings at various feminist organizations, networking with young activists, and learning more about feminist career paths. I’ve never gotten to stay over in NYC for an extended period of time, so I’m super excited for this opportunity!

That pretty much sums it up for me- throughout the rest of the summer I’m going to continue to keep busy in order to keep the post-Cape Town sadness (mostly) at bay, follow through with the goals I set for myself while we were still in Cape Town, and stay in close touch with everyone else from the program! J