Since I was very well blogged in Africa, I decided to continue to Europe, where we were a little busier throughout the day and had less time to blog. If you want to know about our time in Zimbabwe, feel free to check out some of my blogs I wrote while there.
From Africa, we went to the Ukraine. Now, we took what would be a week of travel, and condensed it. We took flights back to back from Malawi to South Africa, South Africa to Dubai, then finally Dubai to Budapest. From there we took a bus through Slovenia to the Ukraine. I think we managed to pack all of that into a crazy 72 hours. Somewhere in there I had a birthday.
By the time I reached our host site in Ternopil, Ukraine (our host’s mother’s apartment) I had no idea what time, day, or year it was. I was struggling to remember my age, and I was desperately clinging to the hope that I would not need my sleeping bag (as it had rotted a month earlier).
For whatever reason, going from America to Cambodia, I did not have too much culture shock. But going from the Philippines to Zimbabwe, I had the worst case of culture shock. I remember being introduced to someone and I couldn’t figure out what to do if I didn’t bow or do the southern African hand clasp. It took me watching a teammate to remember that I could just shake someone’s hand.
Then there were the mirrors. In Africa, mirrors do exist. People have them. We just usually didn’t. Suddenly in the Ukraine there were mirrors in the hallway, living room and bathroom. I remember hiding from my reflection for the first week that I was in Europe.
With the mirrors came the ability to do our hair and wear make up. Two things I personally hate anyway. After three months of not being able to brush my hair (my hair is stubborn) and freedom from makeup, I was surrounded by people looking “insta-ready” always. I had more anxiety than I would like to admit about it.
In Africa, we wore wrap skirts that came more or less to the ankle both for practical and cultural reasons. It was easy. I think I wore the same two outfits for three months straight in Africa. I loved it. In Europe, people dress well. There is no sweat pants or hoodie to go out.
Africa and Europe were absolutely amazing to be in. The struggle was real going from Africa to Europe. I’ve experienced culture shock several times in my life, but never like transitioning from Africa to Europe.
