While getting a ride home from one of my co-workers a few weeks ago, we struck up a conversation about my time in Cape Town, she asked me if I was homesick, to which I responded, “Nope! Not even a little bit.” She then asked me, “What is it about Cape Town, people come here and they don't want to leave, they fall in love with this country, why?” I thought about it for a few minutes before coming up with some generic answer about how much I loved the people, and the overall beauty that South Africa possess. After she dropped me off, volunteering her own time, and resources to drive me 45 minutes out of her way I was still pondering her question. It wasn't until our class last week that I think it really struck me, what is so unique about Cape Town that entrances its visitors and makes them dread departure. We watched a documentary titled “I Am,” the premise being - love. I am surrounded by love. Neighbors taking care of neighbors, I refer to my supervisor with the title “Mama” not sir or mam, Mr. or Mrs, she refers to us as her “angels,” when I am greeted on the street, it's not mam or Ms. it's sister. My girls at Beautiful Gate don't call me Ms. or Mrs. they call me “Mama Anna” or “Teacher.” I have never been loved so much by perfect strangers. I have had no feelings of homesickness because every home that I have been in, I have been treated like family. People who have nothing, give to those who have even less. Love, is all you need.
It is biologically proven that we as a human race are meant to support and sustain one another, to work together. Competition is not our natural state of being, love, democracy and community are.
This week, is a week of lasts and goodbyes. Our last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, our last visit to the city, last time seeing Table Mountain, our last minibus ride, last days at internships, last ride to work with our lovable (although his driving skills aren't quite so much) driver Andre and last classes. Goodbyes to those we have met here, formed relationships with, people and places that we have come to know and love, accepting that there is a chance that we may never see them again. There's the incredibly cheesy and corny saying that “Home is where the heart is.” I can safely say that part of my heart will always remain in Cape Town. I did not know that it was possible to fall so deeply in love with a city. So goodbye to our home, to a place and group of people that I have fallen in love with. I would not trade a single experience that I have had here for anything. I owe a great deal to how much I have gown and changed to the people that I came here with. A great deal of the family bond that we have formed has to do with this concept of love that Cape Town has infused in us all. We act as one unit, sharing resources, knowledge, looking out for one another, supporting each other, listening and talking with one another just as any family should. Love is all you need. As we say goodbye to the lives that we have built here, we look to the future, Marita once told us that we don't need to know what we want to do, but who we want to be. So it is time now to turn the page and embark on new adventures. I don't believe that I am saying goodbye to this life for good, or to any of the people that I have shared this experience with. I've been nervous about what the transition back into my life in the US will be like, but if this semester has taught me anything, it's that each journey and experience in life is what you make of it.
Mother Teresa was once asked “What can we do to promote world peace?” She responded, “Go home and love your family.”
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