I had done no research about Cape Town or the country as a whole. I knew about Nelson Mandela and that is about it. I had an idea that I thought was correct, but I was immediately proven wrong upon arrival. The city itself is beautiful, and it is far more westernized than I believed. I honestly did not feel like I was in another country. It was very interesting to learn how recent all the history is in this country because it has been like this for my entire life. We were given the privilege of going to visit a township outside of Cape Town where we saw the large wealth disparity between the cities and the average people of the country. We were taught some of the local sayings and customs as well as learned about the history of the township and the struggles they faced as they tried to expand. This study abroad has been a life-changing experience that I will never forget. There is a problem in this country where their power grid is not strong enough to support the country, so they have this thing called load-shedding which is where they turn the power off in designated areas for 2-3 hours at a time. This allows the country to provide power to areas that would not have power otherwise. These areas have just recently received power, but also the country struggles because not all of their power stations are functioning. I see a lot of similarities between the businesses in Cape Town and the businesses in the USA, but with the townships, I noticed a very big difference. For example, we had the opportunity to go to a coffee shop in the township that was run by a man who was able to go to the UK and study how to be a barista. When he came back his family fully supported him to create a business in his hometown and I thought that was very interesting that he wanted to come back and make a change in his community instead of leaving and trying to just make his life better. I really appreciated this because I saw a sense of community that I personally do not see in America. I appreciate this experience because of the opportunities that I had the privilege to experience.
