Acquainting myself with the African continent

Well, it is official. Following 18 hours of air travel, I have crossed the Atlantic and arrived in South Africa. The experience so far has been one that is hard to sum up in few words. One part of me is extremely excited to be in a land with such amazing culture and such interesting differences. The other part of me finds some of those differences as a major cause of anxiety though…but I must start at the beginning of things.

So far the trip has been a consisted of me battling my expectations and trying to let my mind run away from me. I must admit that I have never been a fan of airports or flying, mainly because of my lack of experience with the two. Thankfully, I am starting to understand that there is not much to be scared of. Simone and I started with a two hour flight from Cleveland to Atlanta, which was smooth and easy. I had always heard horror stories about the navigating and dealing with the size of Atlanta but thankfully we had three hours before our next flight so we were about to calmly make our way to Concourse E, which consisted on strictly international flights. All was well up to this point.

Are next step was to say goodbye to the United States as we boarded our non-stop 16 hour flight to Johannesburg. Not exactly my ideal way of spending some free time. The good news: I think that flight went by quicker than I thought it would and I was able to sleep nearly a full night’s amount... The bad news: being on a plane for 16 hours is an awful experience and I am glad that I have four months before I have to step on another plane. We were over the Atlantic for most of the time, which was not really as scary as it sounds. I think it helped that it was night time and then when it was light out, the clouds made it nearly impossible to see anything below us. The really exciting part was when we finally got to overland and I got my first glimpse of a whole new world. On our way to South Africa, we first passed over Namibia and Botswana. The desert and sparse landscape seemed to be the stereotypical image of Africa. There was something very moving about the scene though. Even though it seemed so lifeless and barren, there was something peaceful and beautiful too (picture attached). Shortly thereafter, view outside my little port window went from alien planet to the lively, American-esque urban environment of Johannesburg.


Enough about the plane ride though. I made it. I survived. And that is about as much as I want to think that experience for right now. So far my first steps in South Africa have seemed hardly different. The airport was standard; sterile, emotionless. I was happy to see that most of the World Cup decorations were still proudly hanging, much like a broad smile across a proud mother’s face. Once baggage was claimed, my presidential flashcards were exchanged for pictures from National Geographics (dollars changed to Rand :)), I was happy to meet Simone’s father Rian, and his girlfriend Debbie. It was great to finally meet him in person.

As the red sun set on the wintery (roughly 40s Fahrenheit at night) African city, I got my first real taste of the differences I would be experiencing. Cars heading about on the left-hand side, feverous driving from the right side of the car…still just seems wrong to me. I really wish I had those metric conversions down pat in my head. Soon we were back at Simone’s father’s house, unloading our abused luggage, but only for moments as we were off to meet her Gran and cousin (hitting the ground running). Johannesburg, or Joburg as they lovingly refer- lit up like a million fireflies. What a breathtaking view to take in, but my gut told me that there would be much MUCH more to take in when the sun came up. The night ended with plenty of unpacking and a healthy dose of home (a few episodes of good old Dexter). Since that first night I have just been taking in all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes and building my comfort zone.

I must apologize to all about the length of this first post but what can I say; it took me five minutes to figure out how to flush the toilet…

Hope all is well and I know I will have more and more to post soon!

Totsiens! (Goodbye in Afrikaans)