Saying Goodbye

May 20, 2016. 

I am sitting in the Cape Town airport at gate A6 ready to fly to Addis Ababa and then to Nairobi on Ethiopian Airlines. I cannot believe today is my last day in South Africa, at least for now. 

I said many goodbyes. I said goodbye to my landlord, Japie and his family, on Wednesday when they had a lovely dinner for their family, my roommates, and me. Yesterday I said goodbye to my good friend, Laurin, who was the very first person I met and friend I made in South Africa in July of last year. Yesterday I also said goodbye to David who cuts my hair, and who also asked me to be a hair model for him before I left (which is why my hair is purple). I also went by my favourite store, Cape Union Mart (where I might have spent too much money), and said goodbye to my friends there. 

I said goodbye to my good friend, Max, around 7:30am who came and picked up my lamp and mattress this morning on his way to work. I said goodbye to Zanel as she left for work around 8:15. By 9:00 my friend, George, was at my place to say goodbye after just getting off a long bus ride coming from traveling with work. I said goodbye to Karl and Morticia by giving them food and a final squeeze. 

And then I had to say goodbye to Jonita and Joubert. They drove me to the airport, helped me with all my luggage, waited with me when I tried to get my VAT tax money back, and then told me goodbye before I went through security. We are all sad because we seemed to have realised too late we were friends this whole time. We always saw each other at home, but rarely went out to do anything together. We were just roommates who really got along but still did our own thing. Now we have done many things in the last weeks because of me leaving, and we are thinking..."why haven't we been doing this the whole time?" Jonita and Joubert promise to visit America, and I have told them I will have to come back to South Africa. 

Sadly I didn't have time to download my goodbye picture with George. But I will add it later. I have had a wonderful experience, made great friends, and planned more travels (of course) after my year abroad in South Africa. It is quite emotional to leave, and I will miss everyone so much. But I am excited for the new things to come!

Thank you all for following my year long study abroad blog for South Africa. However, I will continue the blog in Uganda, Kenya, and Germany until I get home in the beginning of August. 

Bye South Africa! 

Jonita. Me. Zanel. 

Laurin. Me. 

Cape Union Mart crew and me.
(Cape Union Mart became my favourite store in Stellenbosch. Great outdoor clothing and gadgets)! 

Joubert and Jonita. 

Jonita and me. 

Keys. 

Morticia is sitting with all my clothes. She wanted to be packed. 

Bye bye Morty. 

Max took my mattress. That really made the room feel empty. 

Mortician still wants to go. 

Bye to David who does my fun hairstyles! 

Me and Jonita in the airport right before I left for security. 

Can you find Morticia?

Today I went outside to study and enjoy the sun. I have one last final exam which is this Wednesday, the 18th, in my Public Theology class.

Of course my Halloween black kitty, and trusty companion, Morticia decided to join me. She is laid out next to my chair on my right side. In the first picture, if you look closely, you can see her green eyes.

Today is Sunday, and I officially leave South Africa in 5 days on Friday, May 20th. I honestly cannot believe it. It feels like I arrived yesterday, and yet when I actually think about all that I have done, it begins to feel like a long time ago. I am sad to go, but also ready and excited for the future.

I must say I will miss Morticia and Karl so much. They are my good friends...

Jonita and Joubert

Although we will still see each other this week, my roommate, Jonita, and her boyfriend, Joubert, and I decided that we would all go out and have a nice breakfast together before I leave town. Jonita and Joubert are both from South Africa and studying exercise science at Stellenbosch. I have lived with Jonita since the very beginning. We are the best roommates, and I will truly miss living with her so much. I love our random chats, always laughing together, and calling Joubert when there is a huge spider in the bathroom. I know we will keep in touch and I sincerely hope that they will come and visit me in the United States. I know that they want to, but for now it is all about saving money to make it happen. 

I will miss you so much! 

Jonita. Me. Joubert. 

Jonita. Me. 

Jonita. Me. 

Joubert. Jonita. Me. 

Enkosi

Sadly I had to say goodbye to my kids who I worked so closely with since February. My volunteer program has ended and we had to say our goodbyes. My partner and I planned a special day for our last day. 

I started by telling them that this was our last day with them, and that we were very sad that we had to go. I said that we loved every moment with them and that we would miss them very much. But, I said  that today was not a day to be sad because we were going to have fun and celebrate together. The teacher helped me translate this into isiXhosa. 

We started by having a variety of fruits on a plate...pineapple, grapes, oranges, bananas, apples etc. Then we asked a student to come to the front of the class, sit on a chair, and we would blindfold them. Then we would pick a fruit, show the class, and then put it in the kids mouth. They had to guess which fruit they were eating. The kids loved this game and went absolutely crazy over it! We had to start making them take turns by following each other in exactly the lines they sat in on the floor because otherwise they all tried to run up to the chair at once and it was a battle over who got their first. 

After we played for a while we decided it was time to have cake. I had this cake especially made by my friend who works at the bakery. His name is Stefan. As you can see below, it says "Enkosi" which means, "thank you" in isiXhosa. The kids were fidgeting like crazy and the teacher told them to relax. We also split the remaining fruit amongst the kids plates. Before handing out plates to the kids I started going around and handing out napkins. All the kids had this surprised and happy look on their face with BIG eyes, and they were breathing in like, "wow!" and talking to each other. The teacher told me that they were saying that, now this was a REAL party because they had napkins! Who knew the napkins would be the most exciting part of the party? 

After that we played some music, danced around, and just had fun. At the end we had to say goodbye. I got down on my knees to give hugs, but the zippers on my shoes were hurting the front of my feet so I tried to fall back to sitting on my butt. In this moment the kids took advantage and tackled me. They were all on top of me (never wear earrings around children haha), and going crazy. Finally I made it out and was trying to walk to grab my backpack. They all thought this was so much fun that they were working as a team trying to lift my feet up out from under me so they could tackle me again. I have to admit, they worked together and tried hard, but eventually I made it out. 

I will miss them so much. I really love them and my experience there. I could not have asked for a better class. I thought I was going to be extremely sad, but in the end, I am actually just happy I had the opportunity to work with them. I wish I could go back and visit them sometimes, but hopefully they got a lot out of their time with us, just like we did with them, and they can go on to be happy and successful young adults who are not as haunted by racism and the struggle many South Africans have faced in the past. 

Last day of Jewellery Making Class

Last Wednesday was our last Jewellery class. This may surprise you, but it was a very difficult class for me. As my mom says, I am more the type that is "a bull in a china shop" than a soft and delicate jewellery maker. I broke little saws about a hundred times, sawed into my work table, had to start my necklace over again because I tied my knots too tight to get out when I made a mistake, and hated sanding and perfecting edges and corners to perfect the small details. 

Yet, in the end, I really enjoyed this class. I feel like I really learned a lot. I definitely learned that making jewellery is no easy task, and it is probably not what I will have a future career in. But I really appreciated just a small insight into that world. I had great classmates. We got to talk and learn about each other throughout the semester as we worked together. I am kind of sad that this class has ended, but I am ready for new things!

Maxwell

Last night was most likely one of my last dinners with my friend, Max, until we meet again. I hope to see him when I come back to South Africa at some point in the future. I also hope he visits the United States, and he has made me promise to keep in touch because one day he wants to show me his true home on top of a mountain in Zimbabwe. I look forward to that day. 

Max has been a great friend to Laura, and to me. He went sky diving with us. He works so hard and is always looking on the bright side. I was so lucky to meet him. He is someone who is so willing and ready to leave the past behind and embrace the fact that everyone should be treated equally. The story of his journey from Zimbabwe to South Africa 9 years ago is haunting. It makes me realise how lucky I am. We certainly are not all given the same road to walk on. And yet we sat together last night with nothing between us but a table, and we couldn't have been happier.

We were also thrilled to get our picture taken to show off our matching hairstyles! 

The cute ones

We have done so much with this class from talking about sports, weather, holidays, safety, family, health and much more to learning handshakes, laughing, colouring, and playing outside. We never stop entertaining each other. 

We made a gigantic paper chain which we all worked on together for two hours. The kids coloured beautiful leaves which are now decorations for the classroom. They made family trees and and easter bunnies. I couldn't be more proud of them and happy I got to spend the last 4 months with them. 

Here are just a few pictures to give you a glimpse into our special space. The other girl with blonde hair is Emma. She is from Finland and is another exchange student who is my partner at Ikhaya. 

Family tree

Class photo

Huge paper chain 

So proud of our paper chain :) 

The beautiful leaves made and coloured by the students 

May 3rd: packing up

Today I took down all my pictures and decorations from the walls. I sent the last box to my parents, which will hopefully make it home safely. Everything else will go with me when I leave here in less than three weeks on May 20th. I didn't have to take down my pictures etc today, but I decided it was time. I have been thinking about when to do it, and now is a good time to start the gradual goodbye process to my year long home in South Africa.

I already took my final exam for my Gender, Culture, and State in South Africa class. Tomorrow is the last day of my African Jewellery Making class. After that I will just have to finish up isiXhosa and Public Theology. 

This Friday I will have to say goodbye to my lovely kids at the Ikhaya School in Kayamandi. I have been with them every single Friday since the first week of February. I have bonded with these kids and I really love them. They are all cute, sweet, unique, smart, and have their own funny personalities. I will really miss them so much. I will post some pictures from my time with them soon.

Although it is close to the end, I am not quite finished yet. From South Africa I will fly to Nairobi, Kenya. I will take a 2 week tour through Kenya and Uganda. We start in Kenya and end in Kenya. Then I will get picked up and go straight to an orientation for the school I will be volunteering with in Kenya. I will start 1-2 days later after arriving back from traveling. Because of my unbelievable experience teaching here in South Africa, I cannot wait to meet the kids in Kenya. I will also have the opportunity to work with older kids up to age 14.

From Kenya I will go to Germany where I will visit my lovely boyfriend before FINALLY getting back home to the states in the first week of August. Wow! Then I have to finish my last year of college for my bachelors degree, get a job, and start working my butt off so I can get out there and do it again!