I Thought This Week Would Be Easier to Sum Up #HogsAbroad in South Africa

well, as of tomorrow at 9:51am, i will have officially been in cape town for one week! i honestly thought that when i would write this post, all i would have to say was: “great first week! these are pictures of the people i’ve met and the cool touristy things i’ve done! yay traveling!”

and while all of those things are true and i will talk about the fun things i’ve done, that is only the surface. if we’re being completely honest, this week has been extremely stretching: emotionally, mentally, spiritually, insert adverbs here…

i guess before i explain a little how this week has been stretching, i want to clarify that i am in no way trying to gain pity. being stretched is good! being stretched is real! i also don’t want to portray this experience thus far as disappointing, or even unenjoyable because that is not the case: this week was a great start to what i will most likely call “one of the greatest journeys of my entire life.” i will also note that i prayed to be stretched and spent. when studying Jesus’s words, “ask and you shall receive,” i think i somehow disillusioned myself into thinking that He will not deliver in fullness at the time in which He declares…. which we all know is far from the truth. so, for these six weeks, i prayed for growth, understanding, and to be stretched like never before. i couldn’t help but laugh at myself when the middle of this week hit and i was wondering why i was feeling discomfort. it was in that moment when i could hear the Lord whisper, “this is when the real faith begins. don’t shove what you are feeling back down. push through the discomfort.” that statement is becoming a daily reminder, and sometimes even hourly, depending on the day. and i think ultimately at the end of the day, it is still a challenge from the Lord: “do you trust who I say I AM? will you choose Me?”

now to actually describe the discomfort. i don’t think i have actually told many people the classes i am taking here, but they! are! really! cool! i am taking a class on Poverty + Development in South Africa, as well as having an internship with a local non-profit organization (more on that to come!). in my poverty + development class, we immediately began tackling the hard conversations, topics, and even had to work through extremely tense moments as a class. i really won’t go into details about these discussions because it would take a lot of time, but i will say that, what i believe, what i think, and even how i think has been challenged — but all for productive means and long-term benefits that i can’t begin to fathom right now. and i am becoming okay with that.

moving on from my classes (which i will definitely write more about later on), on to the fun things! this week, outside of class, i have made/deepened friendships, written papers, explored different districts of the city, gone to the top of Table Mountain, toured a township right outside of the city which was followed by a traditional south african BBQ…

honestly, there’s not really a good way to explain what i’ve done through words so….

here is the view from the apartment balcony!

you can see Table Mountain National Park in the distance with the Rondebosch district below. I spend most of my time in Rondebosch because this is where our group lives + takes classes.

on wednesday after our first morning of class, our entire program took a walking tour of the Central Business District and the beautiful Company Gardens! here is another glimpse of Table Mountain from the Gardens: the entire city is basically centered around the mountain so it is never really out of sight!

wednesday afternoon/night, my friends and i took the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain since it was a clear and beautiful day! for those who don’t know, it is currently the winter season in south africa so it is a little chilly and rainy quite often! the best time to do anything outdoors is to wait for the clear and sunny days that are unpredictable.

i was in awe as we reached the top of the mountain. i honestly felt as though i was weightless at the top of the world… it was also a mesh of feeling small, but limitless. like, i have nothing to bring the Lord, but He still allows me to bask in His glorious creation? it’s humbling, yet empowering… actually maybe this is more of a “you had to be there” to understand kind of moment. idk.

i also made friends! wowowowow these girls are freaking fantastic. who would have thought that after only seven days, i would have created long-lasting friendships?? i definitely did not think so at first. kaitlyn, haley, becca, elizabeth, and mia, you all have surprised me in the best way possible!

i guess these photos portray the real aspect of why i am in south africa… taking classes. the picture above was taken at a hole in the wall coffee shop my friends and i went to in the Observatory District of Cape Town on Thursday night. not the most fun thing we could have been doing, but there was such a relaxing/peaceful feeling about escaping Rondebosch and drinking coffee/eating fifty percent off pizza in the local neighborhoods of the city.

Friday, we went to the Cecil Rhodes Memorial Restaurant for lunch and had class overlooking the city (photo above). not a bad view for a cold + rainy day with class in session.

on Saturday, our group traveled to the Langa Township and received a tour! the people of Langa were extremely kind and i am very grateful that they allowed us to enter their homes and communities. i learned a lot about townships and the various communities of cape town due to the apartheid era through this tour, but that merits a blog post of its own. soon to come. swear.

after this, we had south african bbq and it. was. delicious. i apologize in tenfold for not taking a picture of the food.

well, if you made it to the end of this, congratulations are in order and also thank you for reading what i have to say. i am definitely not an expert on anything i have discussed and will continue to discuss, but i am growing in knowledge and am trying my best!

upcoming posts (hopefully):

-what’s it like to live in a city that has a water crisis?

-how can i see the effects of apartheid twenty (ish) years later?

-the complexity of south african society

-leaving my christian bubble

-the adventures of twenty-somethings trying to do touristy things without being stereotypical american tourists

and the clock just stroke midnight! happy monday 

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International Studies major Layne Coleman spent the Summer 2018 term in South Africa.

Read more from Layne at https://lifeoflaynecoleman.wordpress.com/

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