In the midst of preparing for Africa (passport? Malaria meds?
Shoes? Backpack? Yellow fever vaccine?), somehow I did not spend much time
thinking about the actual experience of the journey. I did not think much about living in another
culture. What was I thinking?
After an 8 hour flight to Frankfurt, and being mistaken for
someone who speaks German several times, as I was puzzling over a German menu,
I realized that I was in for a serious intercultural experience. When I ordered iced Kaffee and received a cup
of coffee and a cup of ice, I realized how silly my oversight was.
When I boarded the next plane and sat down, this was outside
my window:
When I saw the South African Airways logo, modeled after the
South African flag, I got excited about the journey for the first time. Before, I had been nervous and preoccupied
with getting the details taken care of.
It hit me- I’m going to South Africa, completely by accident.
After a ten hour flight, during which I learned that I kind
of like turbulence, because it breaks up the monotony of a plane ride, we LANDED
IN JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA!
Willie and Karin (pronounced Villie and Karn), some of
Georgia’s business acquaintances, met us at the airport and took us to the
guest house in Pretoria where we would spend our only night in South Africa. We ended up spending the day with them. After a brief rest, we went to a museum on
Afrikaans history followed by the national botanical gardens and dinner at
their house. It was lovely. It took me a few minutes to understand their
accents, but both of them were very nice people (into essential oils and
plants, so I felt comfortable). I tried
to get into the driver side of the car because I forgot they drive on the left,
and at every intersection I thought we would go the exact opposite direction
that we did.
South Africa is gorgeous, and I wish I had more time to
spend here. More updates to come!
I believe eastern Pretoria, at least from where I was standing on the monument.
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