I’ve been in South Africa for exactly seven hours now and it’s already been a beautiful experience. South Africa is one of the countries I am most excited to get to know. Cape Town has always seemed so beautiful and lively and full of history. On our flight here, our flight attendant took polaroid pictures of me and fellow Bryn Mawr student, Khadijah, framed them.

She even let us wear her hat!

We arrived to a beautiful hostel right by the beach in Muizenberg. The temperature was a perfect fall breeze and, although it rained on us, the sky made up for it with a rainbow.

me on the beach in Muizenberg

the view from outside of the airport

Since we’re exhausted from our 12 hour long travel itinerary, we haven’t done much but take a walk around the beach and see what’s in town. Tomorrow, our schedule starts getting packed and on Wednesday we leave for a two-week rural stay in Zwelethembe.

The idea behind the rural stays in our program is to have a better sense of the diversity of experiences that exist in each of the countries we visit. This will be our longest rural stay and the only one that we’ll have a homestay family in. I’m writing a blog soon about homestays and what they’re like and how to decide if they’re the right option for you as opposed to living in dorms!

I’ll keep you all posted on what I’m up to in South Africa for the next four weeks!

Sunday, September 24 was our final day in New Delhi, as we were going off to our second country, Cape Town, South Africa! It was so bittersweet to leave India. Though I was excited to move on to the next country where I would deal with less humidity and would have a beach near me, I was sad to see India go. I had just developed a sense of comfort in this country, after some of culture shock and acclimating. I finally had my transportation and communication skills down to be able to navigate on my own. But just as that comfort set in, we had to move to another country. IHP loves to keep you on your toes!

This is a goodbye post to the beautiful and authentic parts of India that I had the privilege of seeing!

Goodbye to auto rickshaw drives

Goodbye to the traditional Indian breakfast, Chila

My time in India felt so short and I wish I could have seen more and shared more experiences with you all! But, I am so excited to meet South Africa and Brazil and share those experiences with you!

This is my first time blogging outside of Bryn Mawr, and I’m more than 7,000 miles away!

I’m in New Delhi with one of Bryn Mawr’s study abroad partners, SIT. My program is a multi-country public health program and is taking me to India, South Africa, and Brazil.

So far, I’ve spent three weeks in India, and I’ve been able to see the metropolitan New Delhi, the rural Bahraich, and the infamous Agra (home to the Taj Mahal).

Our schedule is packed and wifi is very spotty, so that’s why I haven’t been inundating you all with blog posts. But so far, this abroad experience is amazing! Since my program is public health-focused, I’ve been able to really dive deep into issues that I’m passionate about. I’m doing a case study project on mental health and I’m looking at the most prominent mental health issues in each country and doing a comparative analysis of what that looks like. I’m hoping that the work I do this semester will be able to translate to Bryn Mawr/Philly, and I will have an opportunity to participate in a project or volunteer in something that relates.

This Sunday I will be leaving India (sadly), but going to South Africa!! We will spend two weeks in rural Zwelethembe, and then three weeks in urban Bo-Kaap. I am so excited to see what awaits me in South Africa, and to share new posts and pictures!

If you’re a current undergraduate interested in studying abroad, keep in touch with my blog as I will make posts giving tips on how to choose the right program, how to apply, how to deal with culture shock/homesickness, and more! If you’re not an undergrad interested in studying abroad, keep in contact with my blog for cool pictures of these beautiful countries!

me and Lachmi the elephant (who I was able to ride on!!)

me in front of the Taj

me and fellow class of 2019, public health major, Khadijah

Humayans Tomb