"Joy in Spite of Everything"

Well, folks, it's been a rough few days.

I had several different orientations for studying abroad, and in each one they showed us this graph that charts the range of emotions you go through when living and learning far away from home. There's the initial high, and then there's the sudden dip when you realize that you're going to be gone for five months and you have to actually work sometimes and you're starting to miss home. Eventually, things even out until you have to readjust to going home. We'll call this my "dip" weekend.

I've been dealing with some digestion issues the past week, and I've been pretty miserable the past few days because of it. Saturday, on the way home from purchasing things to help with said digestion issues, two of my housemates and I were mugged in broad daylight, about two blocks away from Kimberley house. It's something we've been warned might happen over and over again, but it was still a completely surreal experience. The only thing they got was my friend's cell phone, but my leg was also cut when the man tried to slice my bag with a razor (he was older, and didn't have very good aim, apparently). One of our neighbors (who looks like Santa, incidentally) heard the yelling, came outside, and the two people ran off.

We were pretty shaken by it, but everyone is fine. I repeat for the worriers at home: I am fine. I had my leg checked out by a doctor, and that's fine too. It's very superficial, and I'm up to date on all my shots. We've filed a police report, and hopefully they'll catch these people (they tend to hang around the neighborhood). The police seemed to take it very seriously, despite the fact that it happens all the time.

This is Cape Town, South Africa. We live in a young neighborhood with a lot of international people, and we're obviously Americans. Sometimes things happen even when you are being really careful, and it's just a part of living in a city with huge economic and social disparities. The people who mugged us were most likely drug addicts, and this was an act of desperation, not malice. I'll have to change the way I shop for groceries (i.e. take 10 of my housemates with me when I go), but I can't be afraid to leave my house. I have met some great people in this neighborhood, and they are not all out to get me.

I'm shaken, a little scared and a lot homesick, but the whole point of this adventure is to leave my comfort zone. Don't get me wrong, I'm not purposefully putting myself in harm's way, but Cape Town is definitely not Asheville, North Carolina...no matter how beautiful the mountains are. This is a wonderful, complex place and I've been given so many opportunities to learn and meet truly influential people. I miss home, but I'm still thrilled to be here. And, yes, I'm being very careful.