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

Erica sending thank yous to Cape Town and all the wonderful people she met while there

I am currently on a plane heading back to the United States, and we have about an hour before we land. It still hasn’t fully hit me that I’m going to be home in a few short hours, as opposed to being in South Africa. As I’ve discussed in previous blog posts, I have very mixed emotions about going home. In this present moment, I’m extremely excited to see my family, boyfriend, and dog; however, I know that in a few days it’ll finally hit me that I left Cape Town, and I’ll start missing South Africa very much.

Going abroad to Cape Town has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I’m incredibly grateful for the experiences I’ve had over the past four months. From working in Khayelitsha and forming a strong relationship with Mums, to building friendships with my fellow co-educators, my time in South Africa was everything I could have hoped for.

After I get settled in at home, I’m planning on spending a lot of time reflecting and thinking about all the lessons I’ve learned this semester, so I don’t forget them. After that I’m planning on writing a more comprehensive set of goals for myself this summer, including becoming a vegetarian and exploring more in my own town.

All that I can think about right now is how lucky I feel to have been able to live in a foreign country for fourth months, especially South Africa out of all places. Thank you, Cape Town, and thanks to all the wonderful people I’ve built relationships with during my time here.

Erica & Anna

Erica & Kat

Rav & Erica

Shona & Erica

Erica nervous that once home her Cape Town memories will fade

Two weeks from today, I will be back home in Connecticut, probably very jet-lagged from the 15-hour plane ride from Johannesburg to New York. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that we have so little time left here. I have very mixed emotions about leaving. On one hand, I’m very excited to be home again, see family and friends, and so on. At the same time, I know I’ll be very sad to leave Cape Town and I can only imagine how much I’ll miss it once I’m back home. I think the one thing I’m nervous about in regard to leaving South Africa is that I don’t want to forget all the wonderful things I’ve learned on this trip or the way that I feel here in Cape Town. That might sound a little sad or pessimistic, but I’m primarily nervous of my Cape Town memories fading. I know that there are lots of things I can to do prevent and/or remedy this, such as keeping a journal, staying in touch with friends, etc. I plan to do all of these things, and recently I’ve been thinking about making a list of all of the lessons I’ve learned from this trip so I don’t forget them.  I think the most important thing for me to do as this trip comes to an end is enjoy the moment as much as I can, and so some serious journaling.

Anyways, this week has been pretty busy for everyone. Since the semester is coming to a close, there are tests to take, essays to write, and of course many of us are trying to check off all of our Cape Town “bucket list” items in the meantime. Yesterday my fellow co-educators and I went to Bloubergstrand beach to watch the sunset. This is a pretty famous spot in Cape Town since there’s a gorgeous view of Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain, and Lion’s head right from the beach.

In other news, Kat and I have been trying to wrap up our work at Prevention in Action since we’re leaving soon; however, there’s still so much work to be done. Our goals for the end of the semester are setting up a bank account for PIA, registering the organization as an official non-profit, and creating a presentation that Mums can use to promote PIA in the future. I think the most important thing for us is to leave Prevention in Action in a spot where Mums is able to pick up where we left off, and to give her tools that can she can use to promote the organization in the hopes of obtaining funding. I’m not completely sure if we’ll be able to accomplish all of this within the five days left we have at our internships, but we’ll certainly try!

Erica had an educational and rewarding trip to Jo'burg & Kruger but very happy to be back in Cape Town

I am currently writing this blog post coming off of a great week in Johannesburg. We got to see so much in just one short week, from numerous museums visits and tours, to spotting lions and giraffes in Kruger National Park. It was exciting to see another part of South Africa, and I feel like I learned a lot from the various activities we did. The beginning of the week consisted of many museum tours, including the Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill, and the Hector Petersen Museum, to name a few. 

The Hector Pieterson Museum left a lasting impression on me. Prior to visiting to the museum, I was curious about who Hector Pieterson was, and why the Museum was dedicated to him. I learned that Hector Pieterson was a young boy who was shot by the police during the Soweto uprisings, and his death became a symbol for the many grave injustices that occurred during the apartheid era. Although this museum took a bit of an emotional toll on me, I’m glad that we visited it because I learned a lot. 

On Tuesday we had the night free, and some of my fellow co-educators and I went to see the movie “Get Out”. This film was unique and socially relevant; it was a horror film, however, there was a lot of social commentary about race woven into the movie. One thing I really enjoyed about this film is that it critiques white liberal racism. This reminded me of some of the readings we’ve had for class, because while it’s easy to point out overt racism, many people hold unconscious biases that can be just as dangerous. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who hasn’t seen it. 

Another highlight of the excursion was all of the different restaurants we went to throughout the week. One of my favorite places was Wandi’s in Soweto, where we got to eat traditional African food while listening to live music. This restaurant was very eclectic and I highly enjoyed the atmosphere.  

On Friday morning we made the long journey to Kruger National Park, and we stayed there for a total of two days. I went on three game drives in total and I got to see a wide variety of animals; including zebras, lions, giraffes, elephants, hyenas, and lots of impalas. I had a great time going on the game drives, not only to spot animals, but also for the amazing views of the sunrise and sunset in the African bush. Sunday was mainly a traveling day, and we arrived back in Cape Town at about 9pm. I had a great time exploring Johannesburg, but I’m also very happy to be back in Cape Town, which now feels like my second home.