Although I was negligent of posting in South Africa, I am glad that I finally have time to sit in my chair at my desk, and reminisce about one of the coolest experience I've partook in- the Foster Youth Exchange in South Africa.
I want to begin with what lessons Africa brought to my attention, particularly in the case of time. Now, here in America, time is of the essence- our food is promptly served without any hindrances, mostly everyone living in urban areas is infatuated with constantly updating themselves with the current time, down to the minute. Time is more important than food, and for the majority, we all are ruled by father time.
However, this is not the case in South Africa. First of all, in regards to food service, some would consider it horrible. That's because it takes probably an additional ten minutes for every meal to be served. When the waitress or waiter is taking your order, it is not uncommon for him to become distracted by other happenings around him, and altogether even leave the order. During out in service at Sonke, their staff meeting started fifteen minutes after the hour (I might be a new professional, but I have never been in a professional organization's meeting that started that late- CYC chapter meetings excluded). When we would ask for directions while in the midst of one of many wrong turns, we would be ridiculed for our attempts to 'hurry' the conversation up, and get to the point of actually giving the direction. And of course, there was the x-convict tour guide at Robben Island who was as ignorant of time as I was to Afrikaans, one of the eleven official languages in South Africa.
In other countries, one must be malleable to cultural constructs. We cannot be ego-centric in a world abundant with variations of cultural norms; for we would truly miss the essence of diversity. South Africa tends to shift their importance on time, and replace it with family as high priority.
Mostly all of the stores, despite the ones found in tourist areas, were closed down before 7PM. Much traffic hit at rush hour, but by 7pm on our way back from the boxing session at TakeDown Gym, the roads were practically empty. It was as if all of South Africa had gone somewhere, and I would wager my bet as that somewhere being home. There was a sense that our group was treated as family, and although some might say its motivation was driven by tips because of our tourist status, I would claim most all of the people we met greeted us with a true self, void of any end result other than the desire to exchange a bond.
And whats best about traveling in a big group is that I got to experience what it was like to function as a 'family' unit. All had their parts, as Jamie mentioned in an early blog, and each part was important to the overall welfare of the group including financial, emotional, and physical strengths. Many a day was I tired, and many a day was my tiredness lessened by exercise, positive affectivity of others, and purpose of our group. To be part of something greater than yourself is humbling and invigorating and surely is something that everyone should experience while young. I've traveled to Asia and Europe prior to this trip, but nothing compares to my experience of group travel. I'm definitely home with a heck of a lot of hope.
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