sooo pumped.

I am looking forward to South Africa very much… I have a feeling it’s going to be one of the best ports yet, although every port so far has been amazing in its own unique and different ways.  We’ll be in Cape Town, South Africa in 4 days and will be there for 5!! The picture posted is the view of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain.

 

Here’s what I’m planning on doing:

1^st day, Mar. 31—I’m going on a SAS trip to the Khayelitsha township. It’s going to be another eye-opening experience for sure, because the impression from the outside is fairly grim—many shacks line the outskirts and give no indication of the vibrant culture found within (taken out of the SAS field guide book). We’ll be visiting many places within the community to see the recent developments within the township. My roommate, Molly’s 21^st birthday is Apr. 1^st, so we’ll most likely be celebrating that night in Cape Town!

2^nd day, Apr. 1—I’ll be going on another SAS trip to I believe the same township, but a different part of it to the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, which was established by Amy Biehl who was a young American Scholar who helped in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. We spend the entire day there and get to tour the various facilities and programs within the township that are run by this foundation. Later that night a group of girlfriends (Abby, Abigail, Jenna, Andrea) and I will be staying at an Inn in Stellenbosch, where the wine lands are located.

3^rd day, Apr. 2—We’ll be going on a bike tour through the wine lands where we’ll be able to wine taste all day :) We may stay another night at the Inn, or head back to Cape Town and stay on the ship.

4^th day, Apr. 3—Depending on where we stay the night before we’ll either explore Stellenbosch some more, or Cape Town; sometimes not having a plan is the best way to go! Later that night we’ll be going to the Jazz Festival in Grahamstown, which is the world’s second-largest single cultural festival, attracting performers from not only South Africa, but the entire world!  The festival attracts an audience of over 140,000 people… so it’s gonna be a great time!!

5^th day, Apr. 4—Today we are planning on hiking Table Mountain and exploring more of Cape Town, then our ship leaves that night.

 

The day after South Africa I’ll be porting back in the US, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in a month!!! Crazy. I can’t believe how fast this whole trip is unfolding… it still seems so unreal to me that I’ve traveled to 5 other countries (Japan, China, Viet Nam, India & Mauritius) already.  The sad part of it all is that they are slowly slipping away, which generally happens after you visit anywhere and leave it.  Thank God I have thousands (literally) of pictures, as well as this blog and my journal I’ve been keeping.  Who knows if I’ll be able to re-visit the places that I’ve been, but I’ll always have something to remember them if I happen to have difficulty re-calling what I did in the future.  As I’ve exclaimed before, I feel so lucky and blessed that I had the opportunity to do this.  Through all the ups, such as seeing and experiencing different cultures first-hand and all the downs, like missing home, friends, family and Anders, it’s all been worth it.  I’ve become a better person because of all this and the memories and experiences that I have been able to create are gonna stick with me forever…

 

I am forever changed.