Sarah's realizing Cape Town has a lot more to teach us than we have to offer it

Being in Cape Town has been a remarkable whirlwind. 

Sarah

I think if I could only choose a few adjectives to describe this city, stunning would be one of them. The eclectic mix of landscape makes the city magical. Look left to see fog rolling down Table Mountain, right to see skyscrapers rising from the ocean, up to see rows of brightly colored houses, and over to see palms trees and pines dotting the horizon-it’s still surreal.  And the people of Cape Town I’ve met are so alive–so vibrant and hospitable. Tour guides have shared their personal views so candidly, strangers have welcomed us–calling us their own children immediately–and others have spent the time and energy to shake the hands of 26 college students individually.  If that isn’t welcoming, I don’t know what is. When experimenting with the Jammie shuttle system at the University of Cape Town, one graduate student missed multiple of her buses, simply to stay and talk with a few of us. When she finally hopped up to grab her shuttle, she missed it again because she was too busy hugging all five of us first.

Yet perhaps more startling than the vibrancy of people and place here in Cape Town are the lucid, unglamorous facts of inequality. Remnants of South Africa’s past are actually quite present. History feels much closer here. Perhaps this is because it is, in a sense, with this being the 20^th anniversary of democracy. I’m still trying to comprehend the poverty of those living within the informal settlements, of makeshift shacks and tents, of quarters often too tight to sleep a family of four. It is here that people’s lives appear so far removed from the beauty of this city and yet so intertwined . . . for I’ve seen people come together for Sunday morning church, or for afternoon community jazz. In each instance, the energy, the radiance, and the joy were more tangible than the humidity drenching the heat.

Ubuntu is my new favorite word without question. I was warned it would be evident here but I never imagined just how visible. The term translates into the likes of “community” in the fullest sense, into phrases like “I am a person and you are a person because we are.” I will never say I haven’t experienced community back at home, because growing up in a tiny shoreline town I have again and again. But I’ve also experienced a broader culture very much shaped by rugged individualism. The sense of community here glows because it seems to exist without qualifier or caveat. I notice it even as a foreigner . . . community appears as a way of thinking, of acting, of being.

As my housemates and I continue to adjust to Cape Town and our internships, I only look forward to getting to know everyone better. I want to make more memories, enjoy more laughs, and explore the city. As importantly, I want to learn. I’ve been kindly reminded that we aren’t here to save the world–Cape Town has a lot more to teach us than we have to offer it. And still, I’m not sure exactly what to expect over the next three months. I just hope to give my time, patience, and energy during our stay and leave a little wiser.