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Hey,

Just a quick shout out! Still alive here in South Africa.

Right now I'm feeling pretty tired. Tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town and we've had a couple really big days of homework. One more paper due tomorrow and then we get a little break. Kind of. Then we're off to habitat, which will be exhausting on a whole other level. I really am looking forward to it though.

We visited our first township yesterday. We went into an orphanage and played with the kids for a few hours. It was really hard because I knew that it wasn't any sort of sustainable connection with these kids, and it seemed unfair. I guess it was a good first glimpse at what's in store though. Mostly I'm really excited for Habitat because we'll get to have a solid time intentionally connecting with one family in one township. It seems more fair to everyone that way.

I guess something I'm struggling with right now is how my mind interacts with home while I'm abroad. Honestly it's so strange to think of everyone going about their lives while I'm here. I love to hear from people and get a tangible connection because otherwise it just doesn't feel like it even exists. Also, one of our class mates joined us a little late and brought us some bad news about a student from home, and that just made it even more clear how disorienting it is being abroad. Big things are happening all the time everywhere. It's strange though, maybe it makes me realize how ego centric I am at home. I have my whole world so contained and neat at home and only have to think about things far away when I want to. Here I am living "things far away" and my world can't be neat and contained.

That said, I miss every one and hope that you're all well and good.