After around 22 hours of flying, we finally made it to Cape Town! I didn’t really know what to expect, as I did not have a window seat and it was dark when we arrived. However, when I woke up yesterday morning, finding myself looking out at an ocean view on our huge porch, I knew I made the right decision in coming here. We began the day with a meeting between all the members of Global L.E.A.D. Everyone has such big ideas for the adventures they want to accomplish here, myself included. I have set a couple of daring goals:

1) Cage dive with great whites

2) Hike to the top of Table Mountain before I leave

3) Eat some sort of strange meet or seafood

4) Go either bungee jumping or skydiving

5) Make tons of great new friends

After meeting together, we went on a grand tour of Cape Town. Our tour guide, Ish, was born and raised in Cape Town and is one of my new favorite people. Throughout the tour, I realized that we are in a truly spectacular city. This city has everything, including beautiful mountains, the ocean, and a metropolitan lifestyle. We went to the V&A Waterfront, which is shopping center reminiscent of a harbor town. It has tons of tours and even several American stores like J.Crew. We also drove the bus high up and were able to see amazing views of the city. The day was overall a great way to introduce us to the culture and history of Cape Town.

Today, May 17^th, we had our first guest speaker, Uma Mesthrie, who talked about apartheid and the history of Cape Town more. It was very interesting and insightful to learn about the culture of Cape Town. Afterwards, my roommates and I had our first big adventure: a trip to the grocery store. The grocery store was surprisingly normal comparative to what I was imagining. We got to take a pretty walk along the water to get there as well. My only true struggle was trying to find Parmesan cheese, of which they apparently have none.

I can’t wait to begin to explore Cape Town even more so and go on many adventures. This trip has only just begun!

-- Cary Sellers