Took a few weeks but I’m baaack! Currently sitting back in the U.S; this post will center around my week leading up to departure. Next week I’ll touch on my initial reactions being back and finally, on Christmas I’ll give you my 10 lessons learned in Cape Town. Ok, onward to today’s post:
My last week in Cape Town felt like I was being pulled by a dozen strings in different directions. I needed to pack, I needed to hike at least one more time, not to mention the list on my phone of all the places I still hadn’t eaten. One of the challenges of being abroad for 3 months is the thought process that goes along the lines of “Oh! I really want to (insert activity here!) but I have time to do it so no rush”. Then all of a sudden, you wake up one morning and realize there’s five days left and still so much you haven’t done.
Unsurprisingly, my last days at my internship were sad as I grew attached to the people and my surroundings. I realized how much I’d miss the small things, how both Remano and Hester knew how I take my morning cups of instant coffee (which tasted way better in SA I might add), looking up to see what time it was across the world, the hand statue I knocked over every day. But I was happy we got the chance to go out for one last dinner. I am truly grateful I got along well with both of them and have a newfound appreciation for co-working spaces.
As far as the last minutes of the trip: it was plenty stressful. A piece I never anticipated but now that I’m not panicking makes a great story: a trip with my flatmate Gauthier the day before my flight to a closed UPS warehouse to convince a guy to find and pass me an envelope (containing my permanent residency card that was left in the US and I had to overnight) through the gate. Once that was out of the way, I finally got everything packed and set for the journey home. My friends and I made an awesome plan and I spent my last day doing one of my favorite things: enjoying a beer tasting at the Cape Town Festival of Beer. Not only did we get to try some great brews, but I also got to say goodbye to a friend and brewery owner I wouldn’t have had a chance to see otherwise. Eventually, I found myself on a plane bound for Paris and after 34 hours of turbulence and delays, I made it into SFO.
Per usual, here are some photos from my last week:
That’s all for now, I’m off to take a nap (will the jetlag ever end??)
See you next week.
-Camila