Hogsback

Although I am actually 2 months away from going back home, it is weird to think that I’m already having my last times with all of my friends in South Africa. It is also strange to think that at this point all of my friends have either graduated from Wheaton already or have embarked on their summer adventures.
Rhodes gives us a week for our reading period, or as they call it here “Swot Week,” so my friends decided to take our last trip all together to Hogsback in the Amatole Mountains. We did a lot of hiking and camping but mostly spent our time talking and appreciating where we were. It is hard not to be reflective when you’re in such an idyllic place- with regards to state of mind and location in the world. I feel very lucky to be able to have such a unique opportunity, and suddenly all the cliche-study-abroad-nostalgia that my upperclassmen friends experienced makes sense to me.
After exams are finished, my friend and I are traveling across South Africa to Cape Town, Durban, and the region formerly known as the Transkei before we return back to Grahamstown for the National Arts Festival. Although I haven’t even started my trip across the country, many of my South African and non-South African friends are going home. Although I am looking forward to traveling again, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the idea of having to indefinitely say goodbye to many of my friends.