Week 1: Whatever you thought about South Africa, think again.

Group:

Joshua Alvarez

Bianca Alcorta

Elisa Benavides

There were three main points that our group came up with about what we originally thought about South Africa that changed once we arrived: 

1. People

There are a lot more White Africans than we expected.  We anticipated for there to be mainly Blacks around the city, but we noticed that there is a strong correlation to economic disparity a.  A lot more of the Blacks seem to be “working class.”  We also noticed that there are certain Blacks who seem to be well off and have good job opportunities; they might be the exception though.  One thing that was shocking to us was the fact that the moment that we left the airport we noticed the townships and they were not what we had originally expected it to be. 

2. Communication

During our orientation the speaker told us the quote, “It’s not about what we can offer but also what they can offer us.”  We have been realizing that we have a lot more things in common than we expect with the South Africans that we have met so far.  We also noticed that people here are more open about their life and their stories.  There was a lady that some of the girls met who shared a very personal story about how her sister was shot.  What we are wondering and want to find out is how their family culture is, so far their communication seems to be very comfortable with the public.  In addition, we’ve found out that self-reflection is really important and having time for ourselves is critical because it allows us to view things from a different perspective. 

3. Safety

There were a lot of attempts from people trying to pickpocket us the first few times that we went out in the city.  We also encountered a lot of people begging for money out on the streets, some were harassing us to give them.  This is what shows that the unemployment rates are really high. It’s very different hearing and being told that there are high crime rates and actually experiencing them.  Several people have already attempted to steal our phones and items from purses. We tend to attract a lot of attention as a group.  When we are all together everyone will stop and stare at us, but when we are as individuals or in smaller groups no one pays much attention.