"One Big Smile" by Allie Barlow

After the LONGEST trip of my life, approximately 25 hours or so, in case you were wondering, we finally made it to South Africa! After our orientation Monday morning, we went out on a tour of Cape Town. The best part of the day can be described in one word: Ishmael.

Ish was our tour guide, who is a local to Cape Town, the cab driver for our taxi service this month, and one absolutely hilarious dude. He showed us all the beautiful landmarks around Cape Town, taught us some history, pointed at all the “cool” places to go and eat, and cracked jokes left and right. He was completely full of life; his joyful spirit was spreading throughout the bus and as I looked around, everyone was happy.

At this sight, I realized that Ish is the epitome of how we all should be, not only on this trip, but everyday in life. I hope that the others saw what I saw in Ish, and I look forward to our adventures and learning experiences together; hoping that our joyful times and smiles rub off on each other throughout the trip.

-Allie Barlow

My life in 3 words: ONE BIG SMILE