So currently I am “practice packing”…which means I neatly
fold all my clothes and belongings and place them into my two giant suitcases,
only to realize they will never fit. FUN! No but seriously, it is going to be
such a challenge to get all this stuff home…and I have already donated nearly
half of the clothes that I brought here, but I’ve just accumulated so much and
I want to take so much home as souvenirs and memories! But obviously I’ll have
to part with a few more things.
So I know I’ve failed to be a great blogger the last few
months of my stay, but let me catch you up on the last few weeks.
Thursday (May 31) was my last day of service, so I made
cookies for my students, gave them each a copy of a picture of me with them,
and wrote a personal note to each on the back. I can’t believe I won’t be going back there again…I feel
like it was only a week or two ago that I first blogged and explained that I
would be teaching there…and now its been nearly a week since my last day!
Thursday was definitely sad, and as I tried to give my students some final
words of advice, I couldn’t help but cry. I wish I knew what would happen to
them when I go. I wish I could check up on them, make sure they stay on track,
don’t get into any trouble. I can only hope that a volunteer will be put in my
place next semester and can follow up, but who knows if it will be the same
students who get the chance to work with them, who knows what will happen. I
guess I just have to have some faith, but I’m really going to miss those kids.
On Friday (June 1) I had my last final exam for my Ethics
class and handed in my final Theology paper, and then I hopped on a plane to
Johannesburg. I had such a great weekend with the Wainwrights. Friday we went
out to a lovely Italian dinner, my favorite. Saturday Ashely and I met with her
friends and went to an Oyster and Wine Festival-SO much fun! Then we had even
more fun back at the house that evening. On Sunday we went to the Cradle of
HumanKind…which was amazing. For those who are not anthropologists, the cradle
is a World Heritage Site just outside of Johannesburg where a 2.3 million year
old fossilized skull of Australopithecus was found in the 1940s.
Australopithecus is an ancestor of humans, and this discovery is more evidence
towards the theory of evolution and to the theory that human life originated in
Africa and then spread to the rest of the world. Anyway, it is a really amazing
place to visit and the Maropeng museum was absolutely fascinating. It takes you
through the history of humanity and our planet and how everything came to be
the way we see it now, as well as what is going to happen to the planet and the
life on it in the future. It definitely makes you think about your impact on
the planet. One of my favorite quotes from the museum:
“If we don’t act now, the terrible irony is that our great
grandchildren will only know of ancient forests through pictures in books
printed on paper that contributed to their extinction.”-Graham Lester George
That was just one of many that made me stop and think. The
exhibits were so interesting, and covered so many different aspects of the
world and of human beings…including the nine different characteristics that all
humans share, literacy rates in every country, and a “live” estimate of the
world population, just under 7 billion, but changing every second. It was pretty daunting.
After the museum we ate lunch and headed to the Sterkfontein
Caves, where the fossil of Australopithecus (named “Mrs. Ples”) was found. I
had never been in a cave, but it was so beautiful. It was cold since we were
underground, and we were actually down there for a pretty long time. I actually
felt like I was either in Disney World or starring in Indiana Jones…I had to
keep reminding myself that they were not manmade and that this was a real cave!
Really cool and interesting though…so glad I got to visit the cradle-that was
definitely on my to do list in South Africa!
On Monday I flew back to Cape Town and stayed with the other
Wainwrights, the grandparents, Maureen and Ray. Maureen and I did some shopping
(during which time I bought shoes that will likely not fit in my suitcase) and
I had a great relaxing night at their house. Yesterday I came back to the
K-house and to roommates, both which I missed very much, and I’ve been hanging
out around here and in Obsz since then!
Today I am finishing up my visual diary, which is my only
work left to do. It is a final project in which we must visually represent our
semester and our experience. Most people are doing videos, scrapbooks or
collages, though some people have gotten very creative! I have been working on
a digital scrapbook, which I will make into a slideshow hopefully and upload to
this page so everyone can see it! I will also upload as many pictures as
possible to the Internet when I return home and include a link so they can be
shared with everyone! I know I have been holding out on everyone with my
pictures…sorry!
So…one week from today, at 11:35 pm, I will be leaving my
beautiful Cape Town and headed to Amsterdam, then to JFK where I will finally
during the afternoon the following day (hopefully!) I am excited and anxious to
be home and devastated and heartbroken that I have to leave. I’ve never been so
completely torn between two places. In the beginning I think I missed home more
than I do now…not that I don’t miss my family and all my loved ones, but now
this place feels like my home, too. These people have become my best friends
and my family, and this life feels like the norm. Now I love it more than
before because I don’t feel like a tourist. I’ve lived here for five months, I
have gotten used to it, and I even fit in a little! Someone started speaking
Afrikaans to be in the airport last Friday…proving to me that I no longer stand
out like a sore thumb as an American! Pretty cool to think that I came to
another country and got the hang of it, that I made it my home. It makes me
feel like there are endless possibilities for me throughout the rest of my
life..and I can’t wait to discover them. But for now, I will say goodbye to
Cape Town and to the amazing people that I hope will be life long friends, and
get back to my wonderful family and life in the states! It’s been an amazing
and wild and wonderful ride, and I wouldn’t trade a moment of this for the
world!
I’ll try to write once or twice more before I get back!
Peace & love!
No comments:
Post a Comment