A funny circumstance happened one day as some of the girls from my the team and I sat in the cafe where we get our internet. Every day we make the mile trip to the free internet so we can check our emails and look for possible contacts for the World Race to partner with. On this particular day we arrived at the cafe around noon, so as you can probably imagine we were a little bit hungry. In a moment of pure genius thee of the four of us decided to order large orders of chips (french fries), while the forth ordered a small. As a group of people who has spent the last five months in Asia we were expecting a modest amount of chips because in Asia a large order is like twenty fries. Imagine our surprise when the waitress walks out with three huge plates overloaded with wedges of fried potato goodness. Needless to say since our flight from Thailand to South Africa we have been experiencing no small amount of culture shock. Here is a list of some of the things we have found shocking over the last few weeks.
Furniture: You mean we don’t have to sit on the floor?
Towels: So soft I just want to snuggle with it.
Tipping the Waitress: Whoops sorry nice cafe people, I’ll remember next time.
Sidewalks: What is that paved path on the side of the street for? I thought it was just a motorbike lane.
English is Still Hard: Will it ever be easy.
Real Pasta: Is that spaghetti sauce not based on ketchup?
Potatoes: I am eating all the starch.
Organized Road Systems: There are stop lights here. (Fun note the South Africans call them robots).
More than Seafood and Chicken: lamb, beef, and pork. Someone pinch me
Lettuce: A salad… they still exist.
Hand Shaking: No more Hai for me.
Grass: houses have front lawns, might have frolicked the first time we encountered that.
Grills: Slap those steaks on the grill its time to have a braai!!! (basically a cookout).
Organized Agriculture: I cried the first time I saw large irrigation systems and John Deere tractors. My team has made a “farm kid jar” for every time I say something especially farmer-like, I can’t help it my heart is happy.
South Africa is truly a beautiful place full of many blessing for myself and for my team. I am so thankful for all of the little funny differences between Asia and here. Readjusting to life in America will be difficult when it comes; luckily there are five more months before I have to worry about that. However; if at anytime back in America you run into a young person between the age of 21 and 35 who seems to be shocked by the simplest things; like free napkins at the dinner table, do not be afraid for they’re mental stability; he or she is probably just former World Racer.
Thank you for the prayers for my team and myself, the Lord is really teaching us about his love and provision this month. We still have a little over a week left of Unsung Heroes and are praying for some divine appointments with possible future World Race contacts.
