From the 6th to 15th my squad and I had the awesome opportunity to spend some time in South Africa! Now if you didn’t know South Africa and Swaziland are very different places. Our first few days we were at a camp in Pretoria. Even though we were still isolated in a slow environment I went through a little culture shock. How? It was literally just the simple change of someone else making and serving me my food, and there was yogurt. That’s it. Those few simple things were enough for me to become very aware and surprised about what was going on. And then we went to Nelspruit.
We were no longer staying in a camp separate from the outside world, but we were at a hostel called Old Vic’s Travelers Lodge run by a man who, I kid you not, is famously known as “Crazy Dave”. This was a whole new level of different from where we were living because there was WiFi, a mall nicer than any at home, rooms for less than 15 people, and bathrooms with doors! It felt so special and a lot like being in America. Of course it isn’t America, and you remember that when literal monkeys break into your kitchen, and as ridiculous as it sounds, literally eat your bananas? True story. Being in a place so developed didn’t give me more culture shock but instead it made me appreciate the differences in the way we live in Swaziland.
After being able to call some friends and family, and eat real chocolate ice cream 5 times I was pretty much done with the WiFi and the mall. Sure those things were nice for a few days but I realized that they’ll always be around. But when else in my life will I be able to live the way I’m living in Swaziland? When else will I be so isolated? When else will I pick ants out of my peanut butter? This is the longest I’ve gone without being home. This is probably the least amount of internet I’ve had in my entire life and this will be the only time that my entertainment will only be the people around me.
I saw the changes a lot while we were on a safari in Kruger National Park. The morning of the safari, we walked up to the trucks at 4:30am and Crazy Dave hurriedly put me in the front passenger seat separated from all 9 others in the back. It ended up being a blessing because our guide Tyron ended up being an awesome guy to talk to the whole day. And not to brag, but my Colorado life trained me at spotting wildlife, so I was a good helper. But Tyron told me something cool. He said ‘no offense, but you aren’t like most Americans. You guys actually talk to me and each other. Most people just go on their phones and listen to music and things’. I knew it was true but it made me think. After only a month it’s become so natural not to have internet and quick entertainment and to instead interact with people! I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know how cool of a person I was sitting next to if it weren’t for the different experience I was having in Swaziland. Because like I said before, when else have I lived liked this?
It was nice to get a break, catch up to people, and see that South Africa was just as beautiful as people always said it was. But it’s also been nice to see how habits have changed and that my appreciation for small things has grown being in the slow culture of Swaziland.
