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Welcome to Our Blog

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG

As anyone who has participated in UConn's Education Abroad in Cape Town will tell you, there are no words to adequately explain the depth of the experiences, no narratives to sufficiently describe the hospitality of the people, and no pictures to begin to capture the exquisite scenery. Therefore this blog is only intended to provide an unfolding story of the those co-educators who are traveling together as companions on this amazing journey.

As Resident Director of this program since 2008 it is once again my privilege and honor to accompany another group of remarkable students to this place I have come to know and love.

In peace, with hope,
Marita McComiskey, PhD

(marita4peace@gmail.com)

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Alex Z loving her placement, loving Cape Town

The weeks just keep on getting better and better here. I’m finally falling into a rhythm with my internship, school work and free time. But first, I’m going to talk about my internship because it’s probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I am in love, IN LOVE with the aquarium. The animals and my coworkers have already touched my heart. I’ve been immersed within a lot of activity so far, and I’m glad that they keep me busy. There aren’t necessarily set stations at the aquarium; we really just help each other out with what needs to be done. Feeding and cleaning the animals and their environments takes up most of the time, but for the remainder of the day, I experience dives and other really cool things around the aquarium. We recently collected five juvenile sharks off of the coast to tag and monitor. The thing that I love about this aquarium as well is that they don’t collect in order to display. Most of the animals are rehabilitated and studied and are soon released. All in all my internship is amazing and I’m counting down the days to go to work.

Classes here are interesting and I’m so thankful for that. Being in such a beautiful place with so much activity makes it difficult to concentrate, but thankfully Marita, Vernon and Vincent keep everything fast-paced and intriguing. There is a lot of conversation which is a very different (but good) change from the science classes I typically take. Everyone has their opinions and everyone contributes things to the conversation that I never have considered myself. The group that I’m around brings light to subjects I had never thought of before.

Free time is absolutely amazing. There is never not anything to do in Cape Town. I’ve been to Muizenberg beach, Long Street, gone grocery shopping, gone shopping downtown in the markets, have experienced many live bands and have indulged in food that I never would have considered trying at home. (Fun fact: ostrich steak from Mama Afrika’s is one of the most delicious things in the world). I’ve spent a lot of time with my housemates exploring, which is awesome. They’re really an amazing group and I’m so glad that we’re all relatively on the same wavelength when it comes to adventure and energy level. My coworkers also have taken me to drinks and have showed me around Cape Town explaining and showing things only the way locals can. Everything is beautiful. And if it’s not physically beautiful, the history and culture that surrounds it changes your perspective on things and makes it an incredible experience.


I cannot wait for the weeks to continue, though I already feel as if they’re flying by. I LOVE CAPE TOWN!


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