“It’s hardest to love the ordinary things, but you get lots of opportunities to practice.” – Brian Andreas

The thing I adore about Cape Town is the life it has been re-invigorated within me. I’m constantly marveling at the omnipresent mountain, feeling the rush of adrenaline as I ride alone on a minibus taxi, have my mouth watering as I stuff myself with Indian food at the bazaar, and have the freedom to aimlessly wander as I drift into the city after work. As I prance around this beautiful city, I wonder about the things at home I am missing. Dreary, gray days on UConn’s windy campus, the lackluster conversation of a lecture room of 300 students, the run of the mill dining hall food …

Which makes me think to myself, is it really that Cape Town is so different or is it that somewhere along the way, I have stopped recognizing the beauty and soul my life back at home. I realized how easy this was/is to do when on the minibus taxi this morning (a source of excitement for me every day) it felt so normal. I was reminded of this later again when I asked a Capetonian, what they thought about Cape Town and they drearily replied, “Ehh, it’s okay.” EHH, IT’S OKAY?!?! I thought to myself, as I wrote them off for being ridiculous and weird. Who doesn’t just loooooove Cape Town? But then I realized that this sweaty hot day must have been like many of the others for them. They know all the cool spots I’m so desperately trying to find, have tasted the food I’m salivating over, and met all the lovely people I’m trying to encounter. Just like I’d lost the ability to appreciate the rolling roar at a UConn basketball game, the wisdom of the lecturers and compassion of the professors at UConn, the community of the Women’s Center, and the delicious taco salads in the Union, they too had let their lives feel ordinary.

One of the most wonderful gifts Cape Town has given me is to realize how wonderful life is if you are constantly trying to look for the life within it. So appreciate and laugh, adventure and wonder, and above all don’t forget to marvel …

(However, with all that said, living near a city may be the most wonderful thing in the world … and I never want to leave.)

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