What was South Africa Like?

            That question was assigned to me as homework on the last night in order to prepare me for the abundance of times I would have to answer it upon returning home.  The short answer is that it was overwhelming.  I feel like I spent the entire two weeks I was in SA in a constant state of sensory and emotional overload.  None of the mental expectations I had going into the trip even remotely covered the realties, both positively and negatively, of what I saw and experienced.  Each day I felt totally consumed by the vastness of what there was to take in.  And I continually feel like I come up short when I try to explain the events of this trip to others.  Pictures barely do the vibrant landscapes any justice, showing and explaining the massive settlements of shacks and the seas of garbage covering the ground surrounding them doesn’t seem to fully convey the magnitude of their presence.  Also nothing I can say could let anyone else experience the smells, like the overbearingly potent odor of sour milk as it is being prepared in mass for lunch, which bombarded me daily. 

And I don’t know how to articulate the spirit of the people I met, especially those at Emafini.  Everyone there had an air of hopefulness and love so strong that I could feel it in every interaction I had at the school.  In the short span of a week and a half there I felt that I had gained a family that I can return to if (and when) I come back to South Africa, which will welcome me back with the same open arms they initially greeted me with.  The one thing I can say with certainty is that you need to see and feel this country for yourself before I can even begin to convey what I’ve experienced here in a way that will do it justice.