Cape Town

After A While Crocodile...

I flipped through the pages of my planner today to find that I only had to flip twice to see “Cape Town!” written down only two Saturdays from now. After it was an arrow that was drawn across that days after it, pointing into the oblivion that is the five months that will follow that flight without a return. So, in two weeks, I’ll take a plane to South Africa, where I will submerge myself in a culture I have yet not explored. “Are you ready?” They ask. Not in the slightest. 

I’ll tell you a little something that I’ve learned about myself over adventures past: it won’t hit me until my breath is fogging up the window of that plane, my forehead cold against its pane. My eyes will scan the mesmerizing landscape that is Cape Town from above, and it will be in that moment that it will hit me, and I will be speechless. 

But for now? I do what I can to get ready. And let me tell you, even with the visa application process and the flight booking process down, I’ve still got a long way to go. Actually I haven’t even scratched the surface. I still have to:

• Buy sunscreen. A lot of it.
• Pack the sunscreen. And all of the other stuff that I need. But not too much stuff.
• Finish my Winter Break reading list.
• Decide what I’m going to do on the first day.
• Pay the bills.
• Go down a wormhole of South African travel videos and vlogs on YouTube (...again).
• Ask for recommendations from everyone I know who has been to Cape Town.
• Make a super long list of the places where I want to go out of those recommendations.
• Plan a budget so I can afford to get through that list.

Okay there’s a lot more where that comes from but I will spare you the neverending list of bullet points for the sake of both of us getting slightly too overwhelmed. Instead, I will focus on my things to do while I am abroad because those are way more exciting to think about. Here’s my list of intentions for my semester in Cape Town this Spring: 

Prioritize Self Growth

With this journey to a new country ahead of me, I am exposing myself to the vulnerabilities of culture shock, unfamiliar cultures and experiences, meeting new people, and more potentially discomforting scenarios. However, I hope to be comfortable being uncomfortable. By embracing the discomforting scenarios, I will grow as a traveler, a student, a friend, and, most importantly, a person.

Seek Adventurous Ways to Learn

Just as much learning can occur outside of the classroom as it can occur within it. As I enter into a new environment full of new learnings to be sought after, I hope to find them throughout my experience, beyond the comfort of the classroom.

Be. A. Sponge.

As I go into a semester that will push my comfort zone and my typical personal surroundings, I hope to be as open as possible. There will be so much to learn from the landscape, from the locals, from my teachers, and from my peers, and I hope to absorb as much as I can.

Be Fearless But Cautious

Cape Town is an incredible place, with explorations to be had left and right. I hope to be as fearless as I can, within reason of course, in pursuing the many things to see and to do during my time there. 

With these intentions top of mind, when it does hit me that I am spending my next semester in Cape Town, South Africa, I will be ready to do. Two weeks...here we go!

            I was selected to study abroad during the fall of my sophomore year. It’s now spring semester of my junior year and I’m finally getting ready to go to Israel. I mean, South Africa. No, I don’t think the two countries are that similar; however, until just a few months ago I was getting ready to spend a semester in Israel.

            Israel feels like a second home to me. I grew up in a Jewish household and learned Hebrew until I graduated high school. In fact, my sister lives in Jerusalem along with several members of my extended family. I figured that spending a semester in Israel would allow me to become better connected with the country, culture, and people. Since I have already been to Israel twice, I am confident that I would feel comfortable living as an Israeli student. While I still believe that is true, I realized last September that I wanted something else out of my study abroad experience. I didn’t want to be surrounded by the familiar. I didn’t want to be with people I know. I didn’t want to be comfortable. As soon as the University of Cape Town was introduced as an option for study abroad I contacted the program director at my college and asked to change locations.

            South Africa. To be honest, all I could picture were lions, Great White sharks, and Nelson Mandela, but I knew there was so much more. As I began to research this foreign land, I learned about a nation that is more diverse than America’s own “melting pot.” With 11 official languages, countless plant and animal species, and geographical features ranging from mountains to deserts, South Africa is truly a unique country. Moreover, the people of South Africa have endured a tumultuous history. After being colonized by both the Dutch and the British, the people of South Africa entered independence under the segregation regime known as Apartheid. Even though this regime has been overthrown, the county is still plagued by racial inequality and vast socioeconomic disparity. While these seem like problems that could only plague an undeveloped country, they are, in fact, problems that persist in America as well. Therefore, my semester abroad at the University of Cape Town will be more than just an opportunity to immerse myself in a foreign culture and have completely new experiences. Rather, it will also be an opportunity to learn from one country and apply the lessons learned to other countries, specifically the United States.

            Although I am confident I would have had an incredible experience studying abroad in Israel, as I begin to pack my bags for the coming semester I have never been more confident in my decision to study in Cape Town, South Africa.