Sara's final thoughts on the Cape Town she has come to know and love

My experience in Cape Town has been one of a kind and I wouldn’t take it back for anything in the world. Something I have noticed about Cape Town is that I experienced the happiest of emotions in the same day as the saddest of emotions. I felt on top of the world while standing on top Table Mountain, but then heartbroken the same night while seeing children beg on the streets.

In Cape Town, I was mugged. I witnessed my close friends in a street fight, I have witnessed hundreds of people begging around me and also to me, I have seen a woman passed out on the street with no one helping simply because she was black and homeless, I left a club minutes before a shooting, I have had clothes, food and my camera stolen. I have been grabbed and pulled in clubs by older men, gawked at countless times on the street.

BUT, I have bungee jumped off the world’s highest bungee jump bridge, gotten just feet away from wild giraffes, elephants, buffalo, monkeys, wart hogs, hyena, zebra, wilda beast, camels, penguins... I have protested against Trump half way across the world in a fight for love and world peace, I have seen how far two minutes of love to a single child can go…. I have partied in penthouses overlooking the city, in mansions and apartments overlooking the ocean, I have felt like the most loved person in the world because the children at the Boys and Girls Club make you feel so special and important. I have felt pure happiness when I saw rain clouds and from dancing in the hail. I felt pure bliss while watching the sunset from the top of Lion’s Head Mountain. I have been to the most amazing beaches, gone swimming in the Indian Ocean, swimming next to surfers and wild seals. I have had pool access to a roof overlooking the whole city. I have gotten attached to children in the foster care system, I have felt fortunate to go to such a beautiful university that was just a short walk from my house. I have provided children with pb&j sandwiches for the first time in their life and heard them say they would have dreams about them, I had free entry and bottle service on the 31st floor of a club, I have hiked Table Mountain and Lion’s Head at least 10 times, crawled through caves to end up on the other side of a mountain, gone to a weekend long music festival on the beach and also Ultra in the Cape Town stadium, I have seen the Lumineers, I have made friends from all over the world, I have had the privilege of working with a local soccer team called the Firefighters and helping them fundraise for their first ever tournament, I have visited the 2010 World Cup Final Stadium, visited Nelson Mandela’s prison cell and also seen the conditions of where Ghandi went to prison, went to National Parks and Gardens, learned to surf, visited multiple wineries, had the most fun and welcoming church experience of my life, seen street performers, live music, I have helped tutor young men for the SATs who are being recruited to the State to play soccer, spent hundreds supporting local communities without regretting a single penny(or a single Rand;)), and I have spent countless time trying to make people feel like they are important no matter what there background may be. I learned South Africa’s history and why all of the workers are black while customers are white for a majority of the time and why black people live in shacks across the highway from wealthy white people living in mansions that could house dozens of people. I have shared memories with people who I now consider my best friends. I have felt on top of the world, inspired so much that it felt like I can change the world, I have become a part of countless families and felt love that I didn’t know was possible. I have had my eyes opened to the fact that I have already done so much in my life that other people will never even get to see a fraction of what I have seen. I want everyone to feel the emotions and love I have felt in Cape Town because I am sure that our world would be a beautiful place if they did. I have become a part of a new city, which made me feel like the luckiest person in the entire world each and every day without fail.

Now when someone says that Cape Town is dangerous, you shouldn’t go there; does Cape Town seem like a bad place to you?

Yes, I understand I was involved in a few bad situations in Cape Town. No. they didn’t have nearly the same impact that all of the amazing things I have had the privilege of being a part of have. Next time someone says South Africa is dangerous, think about what you would do if you lived in a metal shack and had to take care of your siblings as young as the age of 5. If your community was heavily intoxicated with street and gang violence, would you steal a camera while trying to support your family and making a living as an Uber driver? Driving for two weeks to make an equivalent to $400 for a cut of $30? Would you stand up for your friend if someone was being racist against him/her? Would you beg for money if your parents forced you to at a young age and grow up thinking this was the only way to live?

To all of these questions, whether you do think you would or not, the real point is that the people of Cape Town need love… And don’t we all?

There were so many ups in Cape Town and I would not have experienced any of it without this amazing opportunity to study in Cape Town. I know I will return to Cape Town one day, whether it be next winter break or 5 years from now. Even though some of the things I experienced were scary, I wouldn’t be the person I am now without seeing or experiencing these things.

Cape Town holds a piece of my heart and I am looking forward to going back as soon as possible. I am so grateful I have learned so much about myself, others, and life itself in the most amazing city in the world. To start creating change we need to bring everyone together so they can realize how similar we all are no matter where we come from or what the color of our skin may be. I never thought I could feel so much love and inspiration in a time span of 4 months, but Cape Town proved me wrong.