Last Week

Thursday, June 18th, 2015

Hi everyone,

I am now in my final week here in South Africa. It seems as though my time here flew by fast, but going through my blog posts, it is evident that I did keep busy and make the most of this experience. I had two final exams today. They went very well and all my studying this past week has paid off. Tomorrow, Gabe, Angela and I fly to Cape Town. I am excited to have 4 stress-free days of leisure as my time here comes to a close. Cape Town was definitely a highlight of my trip and I am pumped to have the opportunity to go back again.

When I started this blog, I created it for documenting my travels and sharing them with my friends and family back home. There is no doubt that I accomplished that and am so glad that I spent time and energy to write about my experiences each week. However, there have been some pleasant surprises with what has become of my blog.

This blog is currently viewed around the world by people I have never met. There have been over 2,300 hits in the 141 days I’ve been here so far. I get hits on this blog from over 5 countries a day and the list is growing. This is largely because I’ve shared my blog with other international and local students and they have shared it with their family and friends back home, who follow it regularly. My co-workers at my internship back home are also avid followers and drop me a line once and a while telling me how much they enjoy my blog. Of course my close family and friends keep up with it too, but they have been sharing it with many of their friends as well. These are people who I have never met, but enjoy reading my blog, which is awesome! At St. Cloud State, my university back home, my blog is being shared with those who are going to be studying in South Africa next semester. Even a past teacher of mine shared it with her class during her lesson on blogging for a class writing project.

I do however need to give a special shout-out to my girlfriend, Emily, for always being there to annotate my blog posts and help me with some formatting, especially in the beginning. It is always nice to have a second set of eyes whenever you are publishing anything. My blog wouldn't be what it is without her.

This blog has evolved into something far greater than I ever imagined. I am pleased that it has been able to be informative and…of course…entertaining (I got a lot of feedback about that time I did the poop spitting contest, ha) to so many people across the world. This blog has also created a unique experience for myself because it caused me to think critically and recall specifics about my experience each time I post. There is no doubt that by keeping this blog I have grown in numerous ways that I otherwise would have not on this trip.

I wish all my readers the best and sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read about my travels and experiences.

Stay tuned,

Blake

Took Lily to "Spy" for her birthday

Baked Lily Birthday Cookies

My last day on campus