Hey Everyone,
Well, this is it. My
last week is in the books. Tomorrow I will
board a plane and head back to American soil as a senior in college. I don’t know where the time went. It seems like I just got off the plane and am
just getting accustom to South Africa.
Life moves on. Once I get back I will
have about two months of summer and work before heading up to Collegeville for
football and my senior year. My time
here has been great. This week has been
a rush. It is finally hitting me that I am
leaving. There first people out have
started the parade of people leaving. I
finished all of my papers and tests, so I have a day to see South Africa guilt
free.
In the classroom.
This last week volunteering was great. On Monday, the school held Xhosa day for us. They were so appreciative of our being there
that on last Friday they planned the event.
It was a complete surprise to us.
They wanted to hold a day for us to remember them by because they
appreciated us so much. The day was
filled with song and dance. I will
always remember the energy and passion that is accompanies each activity of the
day. Towards the end of our trip, the
kids all sang and danced for us. Along
with that, the teachers cooked all kinds of traditional Xhosa food for us to
eat. Some of it was good, some of it
wasn’t, but the gesture was incredible.
More pictures of the crew.
Tuesday was our last day at the school, so we hosted a
Family Night for the school. It was a
big event. We invited every kid along
with two family members to the event at the end of the day. It was a way for us to thank them for our
time at the school because we learned so much from them. We all became very attached to the
students. I know I will miss my
kids. We were at the school all day
working on the event. The kids carried
on with their school, but then were let out at 2:00 to go home and get their
families and come back at 3:00. There
was a student from my class who waited for his mom to walk him home, so I was
able to have a nice talk with him. There
were two students who didn’t have any family at the event either, so I was able
to spend some time with them at the end of the night as well. Goodbyes are not my thing, but I think I was
able to thank most of the students properly.
For those that have addresses, I was able to get a few. I plan on sending a letter to them in a few
weeks to check up on them and make sure they are doing well.
The rest of the week has been filled with papers and essays,
so I feel like there is not much else to talk about. If you want to discuss things like the political
rhetoric post-Polokwane, I will converse with you about the topic when I am
back in the States. I will leave
tomorrow and head back with a stop in Johannesburg and New York before finally
making it back to Minneapolis. I have an
eight hour layover in New York which I am excited about also because I have
never been to the Big Apple. I am hoping
to stop and check out Time square. I
have to switch from JFK to La Guardia airports.
I am checking things out with the others I am travelling with, so
hopefully we can at least see a little of the city before heading back home
completely.
Like I said before, things will get fast in a few days. I am probably ready to go home, but I am actually
feeling somber about leaving. I’ll be
busy working and getting ready for football this summer. School will be even more hectic with classes,
football, and the job search. I will
have to join the rest of the world in a year.
The time here has allowed me to grow greatly as a person. I have made some great friends and I hope I am
a much more well-rounded person. I have
grown to love South Africa. There will
always be a place in me for the country.
Living and studying here has permitted me to see all different aspects
of the country. The country is young by
many standards. There are growing pains,
but I see a lot of good in the people that live here. I have made some great connections that I will
continue to stay in touch with.
Hopefully we will cross paths again.
I want to thank you all one more time for reading. It means a lot to have so many people that
care. I look forward to seeing you all
once I return.
The sun setting on South Africa one more time.
One last time, cheers!
Bobby
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