Well it is official I can now say that I have jumped off the world’s tallest bridge! It was incredible and I loved every second. Well about a week ago we left African Enterprise for good old Cape Town. It was a weird thing to say goodbye to my “home” for the last three months but at the same time I knew that we were moving on the better places. As we waved goodbye to all the people that have been in my life I could not help but think about how much I have learned here in South Africa. Also how I have been living in another country on my own for three months. It blows my mind that I have been doing this on my own. That South Africa has become familiar and a place that is comfortable. A place that is constantly challenging. I have learned a great deal. As I left Pietermaritzburg I knew that I would be living with a lifetime of knowledge. I was able to serve along side the wonderful and hardworking people. Who living in the present and our thankful for each day they are given. I was able to be immersed in a city that is not obsessed with materialistic things and to focus on just me. I have learned so much and will miss it greatly.
So we had an amazing travel week down the cape. Where we saw the most beautiful places of South Africa. I mean I literally forgot where we were. Going from the jungle to the ocean was a huge change. Even the price of home went up drastically. Mansion after mansion we past. I realized right then how much Pietermaritzburg had an effect on me and just how hard it will be to come back to the states. Seeing all I have seen has made me realize just how lucky I am but at the same time just how ignorant people are of what is happening in the world. I am still trying to process over all I have seen and learned and just what I will do when I get home.
So we took the scenic garden route all the way to Cape Town. What we got to do was of course bungee jump. AAHHHH it was so great. I was not nervous what so ever, I just was so pumped to do it. A lot of people were freaking out and it was such a fun experience. I still continue to think about the initial view of what it looked like when I first jumped off. The feeling I felt when experiencing six seconds of free fall. The scariest part for me was dangling there waiting for the guy to come and bring me back up. I was just waiting there thinking about how these straps are holding me from falling. I was like oh my God please protect me. I just cannot wait to show the video to my family. My mom still thinks I am out of my mind. The next day we went caving through some of the oldest caves in South Africa. I did the adventure course which entailed going through some of the smallest spaces ever and army crawling on my stomach. So much fun though. In the afternoon we visited a wildlife reserve and saw cheetahs, lions, and crocodiles. Some people even went and got to pet the baby cheetahs. Travel week was a blast, so much driving but worth it.
We are now here at Cape Town and met our History and Culture teacher and have been sight seeing. We got to do a walking tour of the whole city and see where Nelson Mandela gave his first speech when getting out of jail, the slave lodge, castle of good hope and so on. What I am liking so far is that we finally have good food. I had my first taste of Hummus in three months and it was AMAZING! I never realized how much I missed it. We start our week of homestays tomorrow and I am a little nervous. Not sure what to expect but I am excited to meet them. I know that I will learn so much from them and cannot wait to have this experience.
Tonight our president of our school came out and spoke to us tonight and had some great words of wisdom. He told us that we need to realize that we have changed that our lives have been changed. We need to go home and be the new us. We need to leave our old lives and move into the new. That made me realize just how much I have changed here and how God challenging me has really allowed me to grow. I am so excited to go back and to tell people about all I have learned and to inform them on what is going on in South Africa. With that being said I cannot wait to tell you more about Cape Town. So Goodnight from SA!
P.S. Getting my nose pierced hopefully tomorrow :)
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