go see the world

Hermanus Bay, the most memorable view while in South Africa.

In the past two weeks I've been working on a fun little personal project. I decided to turn iPhonography into a bit of iPh(ilm)ography to properly document my 4+ months in Cape Town. I started going around filming little spinets of my daily life and all the people I encountered when I wanted to find a way to take it all home with me and relive it again. Of course, none of this footage can replace the actual experiences and memories I hold, but this is a little treasure in itself. This blog, too, will help to remember and reflect on every part of my journey in South Africa. Nevertheless, below you'll find the culmination of people-watching and living out incredible stories while studying abroad.

One of my favorite singer/songwriters, Brooke Fraser, has written "Now that I have seen, I am responsible." I have come to the conclusion that I don't think responsibility requires bearing the burdens of others. I also don't think it merely involves telling a story; rather, responsible individuals find ways to respond to what they've seen.

I have been graciously blessed by this experience and I couldn't be more grateful for all of these memories. While getting to see some of the most beautiful views in the world I've also been able to engage with new perspectives, to witness the action of genuine hearts, to use my abilities to support others, and to expand myself in ways I wouldn't have imagined. It is in all of these things that I find my responsibility; to bring back the love and humility I've encountered while not forsaking the realities of the hardships I have seen. 

I encourage you all to go and see the world with the same lens--if even for vacation, study/research, missions, etc.--engage with a world bigger than your own keeping all of your senses keen to learn, understand, grow, and experience.

Though leaving Cape Town was certainly bittersweet, I'm hoping for greater things to come in the future. I'll finish this last post with what I mentioned in the very first: Here's to those days to come--to the expected and the unexpected.

Cheers to you Cape Town.

lifting laterns

I left South Africa on the 8th of November and just returned home to Denver this past weekend after spending a week with family in London. It was all too great to meet so many other relatives and get to know some of my cousins better. A great time to reflect and re-assimilate myself before I returned home.

Before I left, however, the final night was spent in such an incredible way. One of the girls on my program, Kate, thought it'd be sweet to light lanterns on the beach during sunset, so she made it all possible. Easily one of the most memorable moments over these last several months. We each got a giant lantern to light and release once it filled up with gas and I still can hear everyone yelling, "let it go!" when it looked about ready. Kate got a bit of symbolism correct right there... we 'let go' of Cape Town in the most beautiful way possible. So perfect.

photo cred: Zoe Meyer

we are one

Those who have been keeping up with this blog will know I've mentioned the Y numerous times before, but it's about time there was a post dedicated to this incredible group of people.

I knew coming to Cape Town I wanted to find a campus ministry to join, and the Student Y quickly became that home.

I actually first encountered them during the second week while sitting on the Jammie steps getting some classic people watching in and wondered what was going on with the crowd of people around a make-shift bedroom set. I even mentioned it in this older post. From what I remember the set up lasted for two days but oddly enough I remember walking past it a couple of times without even seeing what all the commotion was about.

I finally stopped by the post on the second day on my way to my final lecture and took a moment to see what it was all about. When I read the sign "Why did you get out of bed this morning?" I had an inkling that this was some sort of campus ministry and I decided that I liked them already because of their creativity. Though it was a way to introduce people to the Y for the semester, but even more, the display really encouraged people to start an honest discussion. And I loved that focus from the start.

Again, take some time to read these responses, some are so funny.

So I spoke to a girl about how the Y functioned and whatnot, and she gave me details for their Friday meetings at the Y Hall. I remember her saying to get there you walk down the main Jammie steps (of Upper campus) and through the tunnel to arrive in Middle campus. 

The second you reach the end of the tunnel you are sure to see "a building with feet on top of it, you can't miss it." It's funny because that's exactly how it was described and though I had walked the path several times before, I never noticed any feet of any sort. Welp, "you can't miss it" is really a bit of an understatement. It's incredible that I never saw it emerging from the tunnel before, which really goes to show that you miss the big picture when you walk with tunnel vision (quite literally).

The Y itself is not just a building, however. It's more of a small community of offices and houses just outside of campus and a quick 5 minute walk down into town. The building with the feet seen above is the Y office, a place where you can pop in at any point during the day and between your classes for some tea, coffee, and welcoming faces. Behind it are some more staff offices, the Y Hall, and even a backyard with a tire swing, large fire pit, tree house (I'd never dare to even try), and a trampoline.

But even with all this, my most favorite place the kitchen connected to the main Hall. At least for me, it was the place where you really become part of what the community truly embodied, demonstrating love while serving one another. After Hub meetings on Friday night you'd find students volunteering to clean up following the evening supper or during the weekdays you'd find someone in here washing up the mugs to refill the trays for the main office. If there was a need anyone was willing to give their time to meet it without a second thought, and I loved seeing that in each and every person. You didn't need to be a leader to serve, service was just an unspoken action. I also got to spend some time with some awesome people while taking part, so many great laughs and friendships were built at this very spot. So simple, but such a great impact.

On my very first visit to Hub that evening a bunch of us ended up heading over to Cocoa Wah Wah for a late night bite to eat. I invited the rooms to come soon after and it was so great to have someone to experience all of this with me! We have gotten to meet some incredible people and every now and then I tried to document all of our good times. Here are a few that have or have not already been seen on the blog.

Did I mention Janelle is super creative, a master poet, and has a blog too!? Loved our tea times and she always hosted great dinner/movie/game nights! 

Bunch of the guys live in this house and throw some awesome braais. Simunye means "we are one," and it's a perfect representation of what I've experienced here. 

At our farwell celebration!

This awesome woman did me the honor of dropping me off on my last day. Couldn't have been better.

To say that I am so thankful for these people is a bit of an understatement. They are easily what made it so difficult to have to leave, but I had to remind myself that it was better to love and leave than to not have experienced any of their love.

The day I came across the sign asking "Why did you get up this morning?" I actually never wrote on the post because I only wanted to answer with honesty. I wanted to respond truthfully about why I had gotten up that specific day, but defined words could not come to mind. I sat in Hub many nights thereafter while the large sign sat in the corner of the Hall while we went about our business still thinking about my answer on each particular day. Though I never wrote a response on the board, I am glad I've had the time to think and respond in the best way possible. I can honestly say that I wake up each morning with an intent to encounter love here on this Earth and see it manifest through people. I have been so blessed to have encountered this in action being a member of the Y family and I hope to bring back some of this with me back home. Love you guys and until we meet again!

final lessons - the 'you ought to know' session

First photo taken in Cape Town. I've drank at least one cup of tea everyday I've been here and I've no regrets.

I don't think there's anything as great as looking back on where you've been and where you are now, but I'll be sure to post my reflective thoughts when I say goodbye to South Africa at the end of this week. For now, I'd like to take a moment for some 'final lessons' which I wish someone told me coming to Cape Town. Most of these, however, are things people actually did tell me, but I highly underestimated its truth! I'll make this post a bit more unique than the other weekly 'lessons' by organizing it as countdown and ranked by vitality. Here we go, what I wish they told me coming to South Africa:

7. "Cape Town is cold." And just because you're from Colorado you think you know cold. There is also no central heating, so oftentimes the outside is much more warmer than the inside temperature. Thus, make sure to bring a jacket and more than three pairs of socks. Might as well bring a robe while you're at it.

6. "The University of Cape Town is difficult." I suppose many student abroad students get by with ease by taking all first-year courses but if you aim to satisfy relevant requirements with coursework back home UCT is real. When you hear that it is the number one university in all of Africa do not think that the standard is automatically lower. These students are highly intellectual, motivated, and work their tails off for education.

5. "Don't be so smiley." I often enjoy people too much and sometimes I can't help but show it. Clearly kindness should never leave you, but I've quickly learned that you must be able to recognize the environment around you and respond to it appropriately (if anything, various things you will see cannot merit a smile).

4. "It goes by too fast, before you know it it's all over." I can probably say the same thing about college seeing as I am more than halfway finished, but this experience has flown by. I have looked back at some of the larger events/get-togethers I had to miss out on while here but I still remember not having time to do much more else.

3. "Life continues without you back home." Knew it was true but it didn't/doesn't really sink in sometimes--though relationships really ought to be developed and grown back home. It's almost a perspective that can be argued on both sides; many of us are living out incredible adventures abroad so others assume we are busy. In the same way, you wonder if your communities back home have given you much thought this past school year. It's always a two-way stream and I have now experienced both sides, so it's interesting to see how true it is. I also hear that upon return most people really don't care to listen to you rave about abroad experiences, so I'll definitely be cognizant about that one.

2. "You will encounter racism." I knew this was inevitable and that I could handle it, and I still can. South Africa is very much still in a dynamic and transformative period in their history, so much of society and its troubles are still rooted in 'color.' The worst part is when you realize you are no better; we racially profile people on the streets to a degree that it almost becomes 'normal.' It is a shame but nonetheless real.

1. "Be careful because you will fall in love with this place." Heard this several times before and it's not that I did not believe it, but I didn't have any context to grasp how true it would become for me. And I'll leave it at that.

Enjoy the start to your week my friends, a few more posts will be coming out this week before I say cheers to this beautiful country.

muizenberg

As I mentioned in an earlier post about a week ago Sonora, Nichelle and I decided to take a study break and spend some time on the beach. We hopped on the train and planned to beach hop, but ended up running into some friends from our program at our first stop in Muizenberg. This beach is actually the most popular surfing beach in all of South Africa, but it also has the most incidents of shark attacks. Human nature is so funny sometimes.

A friend from our program, Laura, at her first surfing lesson. She killed it!

Right behind the shore are these colorful dressing rooms that really characterise Muizenberg, so naturally we made sure to get some classic-not-ashamed-to-be-a-tourist photos with them. There was also a playground next to it so we made sure to be the awkward big kids in the corner.

The awesome lady in the middle is from our program as well, Ron Teau!

Whomever was taking the photos happened to snapshot all of this greatness.

There are also some beautiful pillars and architecture right by the shore so we made sure to get further engage with some more photo-ops.

This scene was too much for words in person!

Realising that this might easily have been our last beach day here because I only have a pretty full week left! If so it was perfectly appropriate and a good break from studies!