Final weeks in Cape Town

Dear all,

Nearly impossible to believe that 2 weeks from today most of us will be back in Connecticut. The time has flown by and these final days have crept up on us!

Working to finish up papers and projects, finding ways to say farewell to colleagues and friends, deciding what things we still want to see and do, anticipating what it will be like to leave this place we have come to call ‘home’, and trying to predict what it might be like to fit back into the life we left 3 1/2 months ago, are things that are proving to be more challenging than many of us had imagined.

A half dozen of the 26 students have decided to extend their time here, a few being joined by family members, to do a bit of traveling before heading back to the states. The remainder of us are spending these final days trying to decide which of the many things we still want to accomplish can realistically be done before we get on the plane at 11:30 pm April 27th. Some are trying to creatively find ways to expand the size of our luggage to enable us carry home all of the jewelry, scarves, crafts, and gifts bought (purchased, of course, while trying to support the local economy, as someone has reminded me)! Many are trying to calculate how and when they will be able to return to Cape Town.

I am fairly certain we all agree this has been an experience of a lifetime that will continue to influence how we see the world, and live of lives, for years to come.

Throughout the semester students have been completing Activist Projects at various places, in addition to spending three days a week interning at their assigned field placements. I think each would agree they have gotten far more from these projects then they could ever have hoped to give. As time permits, and with their permission, I am posting student descriptions of projects together with links to some of the pictures they have taken. I am certain anyone looking at their comments will be as impressed as I am.

I am also still posting details of our week long adventure to Hluhulwe, Durban and the Drakensberg Mountains (March 22-March 28)---which I may or may not have finished before heading home.

Being new to this world of blogging, I have continued to add features to the blog as I have discovered additional options:
* Cape Town weather (because who knows when one might need that information);
* a counter, to see how many times the blog has actually been viewed;
* a side bar listing posts by label to find specific posts without scrolling through the entire site;
* a few pictures embedded within the text of posts;
* pictures related to each post that can be accessed by clicking on the title;

Being new to blogging this certainly is a work in progress--- which I will condense, as well as update and edit, as I have the time and energy to do so!

In the meantime —enjoy!

Cheers from Cape Town