Rachel's First Blog Post

Rachel on Robben Island with Table Mountain in background

And the story begins:

Wow, South Africa! I feel like since I have been here I have seen more things than I have in my lifetime.  There are so many people, feelings, and places that I could never forget and will be a part of me forever.  One of my first days working at the Red Cross Hospital, the doctor that was the head of the burn unit was talking to us about treating the patients.  He told us that “Burns are lifelong physical and emotional scars.”  I thought to myself, burns, by his definition is then Cape Town to me. Everything I have done, all the people I have met, and the places that I have been will be with me forever.  I will never forget. I will never forget how I feel every moment of being in such an exceptionally beautiful place. 

The things I love here I will never have at home:

Cape Point

Vernon, Parks, Ben, and Abongile

Walking across Rondebosch commons

Table Mountain

Minibus taxis

Waking up, walking outside only to be kissed by the South African sun, tasting the South African breeze, and feeling a smile rolling onto my face because this is the best damn place I have ever been. 

One person I want to mention is Vernon. I cannot believe it was only weeks ago, that I nervously and quite frankly uncomfortably shook his hand in an interview. Now when I see Vernon, it’s a big smile and a comforting hug. Because of Vernon I feel more at home here than in my own house back in cold, snowy, Connecticut.  He has so much knowledge, so many words of encouragement, and most importantly he makes us feel so cared about. He listens to every word that rolls off our tongues and does whatever is needed to feel as though nothing we want to learn or do is out of reach. 

Another person that I think is a mentionable person, is Parks, Vernon’s colleague and has had the pleasure of driving our group around for orientation week. This man has taught me about the passion that most South Africans have. He has taught me how much he appreciates, and how he cares about things.  I was once talking to him, I told him to teach me to say something in Xhosa.  He responded, say: “Iee! Segundibamba!” I replied:”Aye! Seygumbibana!” pronouncing it slightly off. He responded with a deep laugh saying: “very good Iee segundibamba!” I asked him what it meant. And he replied “NO! Don’t touch me!”  I laughed but at the same time, I saw that he really wants us to feel safe.

I cannot name all the people here that have touched me because there are so many but one other person that I would like to talk about is Abongile, a South African college student from Khayelitsha.  He has also shown me how much passion he has.  In his spare time he coaches younger kids soccer.  As I sat out to lunch with him, he told me that one day he wishes and is going to try his hardest to be able to take his whole soccer team out to his favorite restaurant that he eats at only on special occasions.  We hardly knew him, and he was skyping with my mother telling her that he was there to look out for us and show us the “real South African way of doing things!”

I can tell that my life is already completely changed from being here.  As I was walking up Cape Point during orientation week, I had already unpacked my thoughts of Connecticut and could not believe that such a refreshing place existed.  To be honest, I wish I could come up with a less cliché word than beautiful. It was only something that I could have dreamed of before I knew it was here.  There is no place in all of Cape Town where you can’t either see the mountains, the ocean, or both.

I can tell you another thing, after looking around at all the scenery, and all of the fun activities, I entered the real world of South Africa.  I realized there was so much more beneath the surface of its mouth-watering looks. I soon realized I am in for some serious life lessons.  I started to see the struggles of the people, the land, the politics, and my self-adjustment.  I am in for the journey of my life, and I can only hope that my words will be able to describe to you the way that I feel every moment of being here.