After Cape Town

Since I left Cape Town I really have not spent much time at home in Vermont, which I think has probably been for the best.

From Cape Town I flew to London where I spent a week with my family before my sister flew off to Tanzania for the summer. I also got to spend some time with some good friends I met on my first trip to Africa a few years ago. We have stayed pretty close over the years and they made me feel better about being able to stay close to the amazing friends I made while in South Africa.

Exploring the English countryside with some great friends I met in Tanzania.

Once I got home I worked for a few days before I got too restless and decided to take advantage of some flight benefits and fly down to Miami to reunite with some Cape Town friends. Mike, Alex, Talia and Lana showed me around the city and we spent some time at the beach and hanging out with Talia’s blind great dane Pearly and vicious foster puppy.

Hanging out in Miami with Talia and her dogs.

I flew home again, back to reality, realizing that it’s something that will take more time adjusting to than I had expected. But a few weeks later we were reunited again in Montreal! Monica, Alex and I met at Maya’s place in Montreal for a music festival we had been planning on going to since we were in Cape Town and we were surprised by Ellie and Jenny when we got there. After the festival we talked and reminisced and told stories and we spent the next day exploring the city before Jenny and Ellie left.

Jenny in an Alex-sandwich in Montreal.

The tribe reunited (minus a few) in Montreal! Monica, Jenny, Alex, Maya, Alex and Ellie rocking her new cane!

 

Maya, Alex, Monica and I spent another night in Montreal before we all drove to my house in Vermont where we went swimming and to the Ben & Jerry’s factory among other Vermont activities. After a few more days in Vermont we went on a road trip to Boston before Alex flew home. We got to visit Liza in New Hampshire, another friend in Nantucket, explored Boston, and our friend Joey in Cape Cod where we met Maya’s parents.

Alex, Monica, Maya and Matt jumping into Binghman Falls in Stowe, Vermont.

With my final year just a few days away, I’m excited to finish my out my college career for now, but how can it compare to the incredible semester I had in Cape Town? The first week I was in Cape Town during the international student orientation I met two American students who came to Cape Town for graduate school at UCT. I have been considering this more and more for next year and am going into this year with that as my goal.

I think I could have gone anywhere to study abroad to have an incredible semester and see cool things, but I cant help but to think how different my semester would have been if I hadn’t met the amazing people I got to know so well in Cape Town. After sharing these amazing and ridiculous experiences together, seeing each other at our absolute best and sometimes at our worst, I can say with confidence that I have met some lifelong friends.