Lucy's Experience

September 8-9 

Hallo from Johannesburg, South Africa! I can’t even put into words how much this trip has changed my perspective on culture. I came into this trip not knowing very much about the country, but from what I have seen it has made me take a step back and examine everything a bit more. I find some things in their country a little odd to me. One thing that I find confusing is how they drive on the other side of the road. It is sort of cool to look around at the roads and highways to see the ways that they travel. When I was around them, I noticed that they were speaking in German which is very unusual in South Africa. A lot of words and phrases are different here. For example, chips are called crisps, cookies are called biscuits, traffic lights are called robots, elevators are called lifts, bathrooms are called toilets, and a trunk of a car is called a boot. My host family also loves to use the words ‘shame’ and quite. They tend to just say the word ‘shame’ after they hear something horrible or sometimes they might use the phrase, “Oh what a shame!”. In almost every sentence, my host sister would say the word ‘quite’ and we both laugh and bond over that. I am adapting to their culture because I have even found myself saying ‘shame’ and ‘quite’ on my own!

This weekend I have done a lot of exploring! On Saturday my host family took me to the Lion and Safari Park. There, I got to see countless animals from hyenas to giraffes that were 100 feet away! After we went through all of the animal enclosures, we got the chance to pet baby lions. That was by far one of my favorite things that I have ever done! Just being able to be that close to them was really a chance of a lifetime. On Sunday we went to the Farmer’s market for brunch. It was very interesting to see all of the different kinds of food that they have. I wasn’t expecting South Africa to have as many ethnic food choices, but boy I was wrong! After a quick stop at the Farmer’s market, we headed over to the Crocodile Park. We got to see many crocodiles there, but I was very surprised that there weren’t that many in the water. I also got to witness the feeding of the crocodiles. The last time they fed them was the second week of May! My host sister and I also took on the challenge of going zip lining over the crocodile exhibit. I have to say that I was very scared at first, but looking back it wasn’t that big of a deal. We went to a show there and I got to hold a baby alligator, a small corn snake, and a huge anaconda snake!

I definitely went out of my comfort zone this weekend because snakes are something that i have always been very terrified of. St. Angela has a quote that states, “ You need not be anxious if you do your best” I think this quotes speaks great volumes for me on this trip. Although I may be anxious at times, St. Angela always brings me back.