On Monday, we had an “Easter egg hunt” similar to the one we had when we met together at the Suderman’s before this intercultural semester. The scavenger hunt includes six clues and we had to solve one to get to the next. The final clue that awaited us was to look for our Easter eggs also known as our candy bags the Sudermans put together for us. We split off into our committee groups and worked together to solve the clues. Each group got a reward also to go out to dinner with their committees when we got to St. Lucia.

On Wednesday morning, we wrapped up our time in Pietermaritzburg with a debrief session led by Graham of CLP. He asked us to think about three S’s that we observed in our last three weeks in PMB. What did we notice about soil, also thought of as land, society, and soul, otherwise thought of as the people? In thinking about this, we were tasked to think of these in “I no longer doubt…” statements. A few examples from the group were: 

• “I no longer doubt that there can be justice without land reform.” 
• “I no longer doubt that power is always corrupt.” 
• “I no longer doubt that the soul can only thrive in the presence of beauty.” 
• “I no longer doubt that communities can change the world.” 
• “I no longer doubt that all humanity is deeply intertwined.”

We had the opportunity to spend one night in the Drakensberg mountains on Wednesday. We left Pietermaritzburg in the morning and arrived at the backpacker that afternoon. A group of us then went for an evening hike up the mountain. We enjoyed some gorgeous views together and had fun watching a group of baboons play from afar. After a wonderful 3 course dinner provided by our backpacker, we went to bed only for half of us to wake up at 6:00 am to do the same hike, but at sunrise. Although the trail was the same, the sun and sky made it all the more beautiful. The one downfall of our stay consisted of freezing cold showers accompanied by much cooler weather. Despite this, we left the mountains with a greater appreciation of the natural beauty in South Africa, a feeling of rejuvenation, and for those of us who didn’t dare face the showers, a slight feeling of grunge.

-Mary Kate Bomberger