american farewells

A little while ago my program had its farewell dinner at a restaurant serving African cuisine right outside of Cape Town. It was so great to see all of us together to celebrate these last four months before the heat of exams.

 We unexpectedly had some time to kill before we left for dinner, so we made the most of it having a good little photo shoot with everyone.

And then the real photo shoot began:

Who knew I'd meet people as strange as me! These girls are too great.

The drive out of Cape Town was a little bit too perfect as the sun was just beginning to set. We sang songs as we welcomed in the sun. I'm always a bit wary in posting pictures of sunsets because they never capture the glory in its entirety (especially in Colorado!), but this one deserved a shot. The restaurant was just outside of the water so walking down to the shore wasn't any bit of a chore.

The ship in the distance takes the cake.

We finally calmed down from our awe of that sunset to join everyone inside for dinner. I can't say that the meal part of dinner was extraordinary (especially with the extra precautions I've had to take due to my little allergy scare) but the people around me made the dinner such a memorable occasion. The venue was pretty awesome too.

Didn't sit here, quite honestly I wouldn't even trust my feet to keep it together.

Someone came around to paint our faces as well. I'm a work in progress with unwanted items on my skin so this was a biggy hah.

Vula! One of the most chill program mentors one could hope for!

Lwando the Legend is our other mentor--always expect a good story from this one.

And I have to point out one of the most beautiful, and certainly memorable, moments from the night came from this guy right here. He walked around and sang cultural tunes throughout the restaurant but one song started that changed the atmosphere completely.

I had yet to hear it until that night, but from what Ouma (our program leader, I had the privilege of getting to sit with her that night!) shared with me it  is simply referred to as the Mandela song. I don't think mere words can encapsulate the emotion held in the room, but the table you see next to the performer (and other voices in the room) joined together to sing. I didn't understand the words, but the song rang of freedom, joy, and love and you could feel the truth in each voice that rang out.

This right there was almost symbolic as it really brought together this entire experience. Ah, I will never forget, such a good night with friends, food, and Cape Town.