Cougars → Cape Town
- Jan 18, 2017
- 3 min read
"When do you leave?" Spring 2017!!
When do you leave?" Next semester!
When do you leave? Next month.
When do you leave? ...tomorrow
Tomorrow. What?! Tomorrow I will be boarding a 16-18 hour flight to Dubai, then Dubai to Durban, Durban to Cape Town, South Africa.
I've gotten a lot of questions like "how are you feeling? are you nervous?! I would be!" Short Answer- I don't know. I don't know how I'm feeling, and I don't know how I feel about that.
Going into these next four months, I have the mindset of being expectant and anticipating how God will move in me, and how much I will learn from the country/countries. I'm ready.
The only part of it, quite honestly, is it feels like I'm going to college all over again.
The only difference is this time I'm having to say goodbye to two families. Boarding the plane from Oakland to LAX was hard; waving goodbye to my parents from the other side of security was oddly comforting. What was difficult was turning around and getting choked up, knowing that I'll miss calling my mom whenever I forget a password or completely embarrass myself in front of someone walking to West Campus, random Facetimes from my sister showing me what Tsum Tsums she somehow convinces my parents to buy her, the 7-10 minute phone calls from my dad driving to work/walking the dog, daily Snapchats from my brother with the newest/ugliest filter possible. I'll just miss it.
I haven't had a "freak out" moment yet... but I'm sure I'm bound to do the ugly cry at least once. Being back at APU these last couple of days as been really weird/refreshing at the same time. Living with my friends but not going to class and just waiting like a puppy dog for them to get back... that sounds extremely pathetic, but I really feel for Xavi when we leave him at home all day.
Saying goodbye to my immediate family is one thing, saying goodbye to my Cougar family is going to be a whole different story. Again, for someone whose love language is quality time and just wants to be with people, not seeing the friends who I consider family on a daily basis is going to be rough. But I'll be back... and they'll be there.
"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
–Winnie the Pooh
As far as what I'll be doing when I'm there-
I will be taking 15 units - Principles and Practices of Community Engagement - Culture and History of South Africa - Applied Statistics - Human Growth and Development - Community Psychology
Along with classes, I will be serving at one of the longest-running and most popular service sites in Cape Town- Soteria
We will be based primarily at a pre-school that is staffed almost exclusively by volunteers, and the students will provide whatever support is necessary to help make the school a success. Previous students have been able to branch out into other activities once they have shown that they can give 100% to the school. These other activities have typically revolved around working with abused women and children.
(http://www.soteriaministries.org.za/)
I was messing with my parents that I would come back from Cape Town and they would be 40 cows richer because I'm going to fall in love with an African Prince or something... In all honestly (though that has its benefits) my hope is that I would come home and they would have a daughter who is spiritually recharged. This semester couldn't have come at a better time... I'm just ready to go. Here I am. Send me.
Prayer is much appreciated- for my cohort and me, my family & friends back home, and for the people, we will encounter there.
I told you I'd be back.
Cougars → Cape Town
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