Random Thoughts about Culture!

Some of my MANY random observations and thoughts:

A lot people in SA drive hatchbacks. Lucy and Gary both drive them. Brand names like BMW, Range Rover, and Mercedes Benz are very common here. It’s very rare that you will see a Nissan or Ford. 

Okay…I have to admit that I am going through a food withdrawal. Pizza here is not the same as the Giordano’s, deep dish spinach, Chicago original that I’m used to.

To me, this is flatbread, but they call it pizza.

I love hearing the different names for Johannesburg. It is referred to as Joburg, Jozi, eGoli, or the City of Gold. 

The Absolutely Captivating Jacaranda Trees

The summer season is approaching soon and I’m getting a glimpse of the Johannesburg thunderstorms, which are quite frightening. Each storm is like something you’d see on National Geographic. One word: EPIC! I prefer the moderate temperature and sunny days in SA, over the Midwestern weather extremes in Chicago; but I am adjusting to the afternoon storms that happen religiously each summer day here.

I still haven’t adjusted to seeing people drive on the other side of the road. We went to the drive thru at Chicken Licken and it was fascinating seeing my host mom drive on the other side to pick up the food. 

When I lived in Pretoria, occasionally my friends and I would have to take a taxi to school. Taxi’s here are vans that carry 12-15 passengers. When you get into the taxi, you pass your money forward and the person sitting closest to the taxi driver counts the money and passes back everyones change. Taxi drivers can be reckless drivers and their taxis can be in ridiculous conditions. People ride them because they are very inexpensive. A one way ride cost R12 ($1.20) and you can either get dropped off really close to your destination, or right in front depending on the driver. There are different hand signals that you put out when you want to catch a taxi, and they change depending on what neighborhood or city you’re in. Where I live, your index finger pointing up means that you want to go to the Jo’burg CBD (Central Business District). When you point down it means you want to go somewhere local. I’ve steered away from riding taxis; in part, because I don’t speak the local language that most of the drivers use, and secondly, I don't, nor do I think y’all, really want to see my journey end in a taxi accident? 

In my complex the water went out twice last week. The second time it lasted for 5 hours. Each time was without notice. This time we got a notice that on this coming Tuesday, October 28th , we won’t have water from 7am until 5pm. This will be the case for about 5 neighborhoods in Jozi. It’s true that you don’t know what you have until it's gone, and a water outage is an extreme rarity in the States. Being the hygiene freak that I am, I was shocked. It’s crazy how the universe works, because the first day we experienced this, I couldn’t cowash my hair, like I normally do everyday. I just dampened it with my face towel and put my normal "juices and berries" in it (http://jadelilly.com hair butter and Jane Carter Collection’s Curl Defining Cream). My hair was flawless that day.

Fro-Shizzle

I created a Tumblr page to share my experience with more of the world!  All of my posts will be on Blogger and Tumblr, for your convenience! 

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Culture

I had an amazing weekend. I slept over my friend Tumi’s house, while my host parents were away on business. Tumi and Kwena are the children of a family friend, Carrie. Tumi is 16 and Kwena is 20. My host family and I first went to their house a couple of weeks ago for dinner. We all connected very quickly, and decided that Gary and Lucy's business trip would be a great time for me to spend some more time with them. 

Me to Tumi: "Let's take a picture in the middle of the street"

Their entire family are vegetarians, so I had very nice vegetarian meals for much of the weekend. The first night, though, we ordered Chinese; so I got to cheat on my vegetarian filled weekend by having beef and broccoli. Another night we had corn and salad for dinner. I didn’t think I would get full on such a healthy and seemingly light meal, but I did! The last night I stayed, we had veggie sandwiches. I had cucumber, tomato, lettuce, avocado, cheddar cheese, and onions, on a ciabatta roll with olive oil and black pepper. It was the best sandwich ever. I can’t wait until we go grocery shopping, so that I can have it again. 

My veggie sandwich 

After that, Ivana (Kwena’s girlfriend) made Nutella milkshakes. It was absolutely the best milkshake I’ve ever had (I've placed the recipe at the end of this post for your enjoyment).

Over the weekend I did lots of new and interesting things. Tumi, her friend Dylan, and I, went on a walk. Tumi likes to eat things she finds in her neighborhood; leaves off of bushes and fruit off of trees. She said she eats them all the time and that they were all edible, so I gave them a shot. I figured she’s a vegetarian, and she lives here, so she knows all about the right things in nature to eat in this area. I tried two different types of leaves, Mulberries, another type of berry, and we were going to have wild figs, but they weren’t ripe yet. The mulberries were quite nice; the less rich in color they looked, the sweeter they were, and the more purple they were, the more bitter/sour they tasted.

The unknown berry that I tasted

I also did a workout with Kwena and Ivana. We power walked around the block, did pushups, sit ups, jumping jacks, and planks.  I am still sore from that workout. Lucy and I are suppose to start a squat challenge but we keep “forgetting” about it. I want to start doing planks every morning but I just keep “forgetting” about it (Clearly we will "remember" when we get serious about it).

Before we started our power walk 

Tumi and Philippe (Carrie’s boyfriend) went to see a healer one day while I was there. I asked Tumi about how her sessions go. She said she was going to get her mind and body ready for her exams that she will be taking soon. She said the healer sent positive spirits her way. Kwena told me that when he went, the healer healed his back pain. Tumi also told the healer about some bad spirits that were going around Ivana’s house, and the healer gave Tumi 2 incense and a piece of rose quartz to give to Ivana. She instructed her to light the incense around her house and to put the rose quartz under her bed. I think that the idea of a healer is really fascinating, and I hope that I can go to a session while I’m here. 

On Saturday, Ivana and I walked 3.3 km to an outlet mall because we wanted to get out of the house. Carrie is in the States, and Philippe was at a market selling his artwork (he’s a French artist). In South Africa, you can’t start learning to drive until you’re 17, and then you can get your license at 18. I was surprised when I learned this, because in the states you can start learning at 15, and get your license at 16. I got some fantastic deals at the mall. We went to this store called Cotton On and I got the most comfortable pair of sweatpants. I have an obsession with sweatpants (they’re just so comfy) and I couldn’t bring many to SA, because they would have taken up too much space in my luggage. 

All in all, it was a really fun weekend, hanging out with other teenagers, and being exposed to other aspects of the environment here in SA! 

Here’s the recipe to the world's greatest milkshake:
Ingredients:
1/3 Cup of Nutella
1 cup of milk/skim milk
3 big scoops of vanilla ice cream/3 big scoops of low fat vanilla frozen yogurt

Directions:
Prep time 5 minutes
Add all ingredients in blender and blend 
Serve immediately (makes 2 10 ounce milkshakes)

Source:The Little Kitchen 

Bon Appetite! 

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Lion Park Extravaganza!

Petting Lion Cubs

Anyone who knows me, knows that since I made the decision to study in South Africa, that I have dreamed of laying with the lions! Well, I went to the lion park with my host family! I actually got to interact with the lion cubs; and honestly, it is kind of intimidating at first. I was a little hesitant. You see, The Lion King (one of my favorite movies), set me up for fall. I wanted the lions to be like Simba, but their presence is more like Scar’s. After petting the lion cubs, we saw meerkats in their zoo-like habitat, and then they leave it and go to the lion park (nothing like and American zoo...the animals actually have freedom and the openness of their natural habitat)! We also saw ostriches. Yo, they are NOT an attractive site to see (but they taste good). Then we self-drove through the lion park section. We passed zebras, a giraffe, wildabeast, and spring-bok, before we got to the separate lion section. We went through four separate lion sections. I learned that lions really are VERY lazy. They get up for a second, and then go back to laying down. I got to see some of the prides eating (that's when I discovered why they kept the other animals separate from the lions). I was within a couple feet of each pride we saw. One lion walked right across the front of the car. Although there were HUGE warning signs that said “Keep windows closed at all times,” we kept ours open at all times. I felt very up-close and personal with the lions. 


Take a look at my Youtube channel for footage from my lion filled adventure. 

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Culture In South Africa

I love riding in the car with my host parents. When I get in the car with my host mom, we listen to either pop or Spanish music; in the car with my host dad, he's playing Earth,Wind, & Fire, Bob Marley, or Hip Hop. We are always enjoying some kind of music. 

My Host Dad Gary and I

My Host Mom Lucy and I

My host dad plays Action Cricket and five-a-side soccer. When my host mom and I attend his action cricket games, we act like its baseball (because we are American and don't know anything about cricket). It’s entertaining for us, because we make up what we think is happening through the entire game. After the games, we all have some laughs about it. My host dad and I joke about how American football is real football to me, and soccer is real football to him. I was a cheerleader for American football for 9 years. My little brother has played full contact football since he was 5 (he's now 10), and my dad coaches my little brother's team. American football has been a part of my life forever, and I LOVE that sport. My host dad's argument is, "Football is something played with your feet, not a game where you occasionally kick the ball". It is interesting how culture impacts even the sports we like. 

One of the things I have noticed here, is that I get a ton of compliments on my hair. This is funny because I have always seen my natural hair as nappy (I’m happily nappy); but people here see it as beautiful curls. Hair texture can so often be such a big deal in black/african American culture. The difference here in how hair textures are judged/viewed, is fascinating. People here are also quite amused by my American "accent" (I don't think I have an accent at all).

Car Selfie

I have finally accepted the fact that I am considered "coloured" (of mixed race) in this country, although I am "black" in the U.S. The people here think I am confused about my race when I tell them I am "just black"; so I decided just to accept what they see me as. South Africans are also fascinated by the fact that I don’t know where in Africa my ancestors came from. I try to explain to them that my ancestors didn’t come to America of their own free will, but it is actually a really difficult topic to explain. I assumed everyone in the world knew, and cared about, the history/experiences/plight of black people in America. Now I am finding that people have their own cultures, experiences and histories to be concerned with.

I am currently doing volunteer work at "The Teddy Bear Clinic" for abused children. The Teddy Bear Clinic (TTBC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring abused children are protected and rehabilitated (ttbc.org.za.). I learned about this organization, and the opportunity to volunteer, from Peggy-Sue Khumalo, former "Miss South Africa" ('96), who now works with my host dad in the banking industry. This experience is eye an opening one, because even though I have heard of cases of abused children, I’ve never had to deal with it directly. Roughly 6 million cases of child abuse are reported ANNUALLY in the US. It is very hard to find estimates of child abuse statistics in South Africa, but I am learning that at least 95% of the child abuse cases are sexual in nature. Sexual violence is a HUGE issue in SA. I am humbled and honored to be able to help some of the children affected by this awful state of affairs. This only strengthens my desire to change the world, one life, one step, and one day at a time.

The Teddy Bear Clinic

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Food!

My host mother, Lucy, is hispanic (which means I have the luxury of eating tacos and guacamole regularly). One day, my host dad, Gary's, cousin Jade came over and Lucy made black beans. While we were fixing our plates, Jade said, “I’ve never had black beans!" I was standing next to her astonished that she had never had them, because they are so common in the States. Lucy then explained to me that you cannot find black beans in South Africa, and that she had brought them here from the U.S.

Malva Pudding (google.co.za)

My host dad insisted that I try Malva Pudding, which is a native South African dessert, and  I LOVE IT SO MUCH. It's like a cake, soaked in syrup (it tastes like maple syrup to me, minus the high fructose corn syrup), with custard on top. Yo, it is SO good. I’ve also had Milk Tart, which is one of me and my host dad's favorite desserts. It looks like a pie, but is light and fluffy like a mousse. 

Prawns are served here instead of shrimp. Shrimp and prawns are often thought to be the same thing, but they are actually different in slight ways. The shrimp I am used to having in the States, are whole shrimp and have more of a fishy flavor. Here, prawns are served split in half, and have a less overpowering taste. 

Prawns and Chips

Biltong is SA’s version of beef jerky. It is better than the processed madness that we have back home. It is REAL dried meat, with proper seasoning. I never thought I would like it, but it is very good. 

I can't say enough about the freshness and quality of the food here. I am truly in love!

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Food in South Africa

I noticed while grocery shopping that the cereal aisle only has healthy cereal. You won’t find Captain Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or Lucky Charms in a South African grocery store. They do have a "Cocoa Puffs" type of cereal, but it's made of oatmeal and is not unhealthy for you. 

I have been to several different American fast food places here (KFC, McDonalds and Burger King); none of them are the same as they are in America. I prefer South African fast food restaurants like Chicken Licken and Nando’s; they are similar to KFC, but have better quality chicken and other foods. We ate Nando’s the other day, and I had salad and Portuguese dinner rolls. Something like that would never come with meals at fast food restaurants in the States.

My Friends Irene and Guellor at Chicken Licken

I went to a family friend's house over the weekend, who happens to be a vegetarian,and ate a full vegetarian Moroccan meal and didn’t notice that we had no meat with dinner until I left. The food she made was AMAZING, a complete palate of flavor. Lucy made the same dish for dinner tonight but she added chicken and it was just as good. 

Lucy's remake of the Moroccan dish plus chicken 

I’ve also had ostrich meat that Lucy showed me how to prepare. It was very good, I could completely stop eating beef and just eat ostrich meat. Seriously, it is so flavorful and EASY to prepare. It is quick to prepare and it has a perfect taste. Who knew that a bird's meat could look and taste so similar to a cow's? We ate the ostrich with salad and rice.

Ostrich Meat

Milk here only last up to 5 days...I am used to milk lasting for at least a week and a half. I find it to be the weirdest thing that many products here expire the very next day from when it is purchased. I like the fact that there are less preservatives; if I continue to eat like this, my body won’t be so preserved when I die. Food here is not like a McDonalds hamburger in America, it won’t stay the same for years on end. 

It was so good!

Gary and I ate a triple chocolate dessert with layers of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache. We got it at my favorite grocery store, Woolworths. Can you tell which side my host dad Gary ate?

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About My New Host Family in South Africa

I have some news that is both exciting, and a bit sad. I have relocated to a suburb of Johannesburg, with a new host family. Although things did not work out with my original host placement,  I am grateful to my first host family for providing me the opportunity to come to South Africa, and I wish them all the best. I will especially miss my host sister Patricia, who was so kind and helpful to me! I will also really miss the wonderful friends I made in my short time at my first school but will keep in touch with them via social media.

My move, though it's nothing I ever could have planned or imagined, has placed me in the best possible hands! My new host parents are relatives of a family friend from America. I am very excited about my new family, my new location and my new school! This move will allow me to attend a school with more transferable courses, and that will offer me a whole different level of academic experience than I would get in America! 

So, my Journey continues...

Gary and Lucy are AWESOME  host-parents (I'm an only child) and are truly about the cultural exchange experience. They have already taught and exposed me to so much. I can't wait to see what is yet to come! 

My New Host Parents!

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