Perpetual Change

Global Pathways III

Adjustments: Now write to explain how you adjusted your behavior, your views and perceptions (intellectually, emotionally, socially, politically, etc.).

I mentioned above that one way in which I changed my behavior with the refugees, relative to my normal traveller engagements.

I strive to move slow and listen much when I travel. I also try to engage locals in conversation as much as possible. I have rarely traveled in English speaking countries (only the UK and Ireland), so communication was much easier in South Africa; however, for the first time in my travels, I was glad to have an American accent. Racism runs high in South Africa still, although it is markedly less in Durban than other locations. I think this is greatly due to the large Indian population, and also that it was a stronghold of the British colonization of South Africa. However, my clear American accent demonstrated that I was not Afrikaans, nor British (a group I did not realize had such a large SA representation), and therefore I was outside the racial issues that are just below the surface. I felt many people would relax to know my origin, but not all. Some felt they had more to prove to me, or that they were generally confused and surprised by my presence. I have experienced this sentiment before, as I often travel in off-seasons and off-the-beaten-path. However, this adjusted my motivation to learn local languages. In fact, I found that often locals spoke different languages, and no one seemed to enjoy hearing Afrikaans.

One thing that cautioned me was everyone's concern over safety in the country. I adjusted behavior to avoid some cities and areas even in company, and to stick with locals, and mostly in daylight. However, as I was there longer, crime did not seem too bad. In fact, while riding in a taxi in Johannesburg (a mode of travel that I do not normally take unless for safety), the driver said that we were in a bad neighborhood. Johannesburg has a very bad reputation with South Africans, tour books, and the international press. Certainly, it has had some bad cases, but I began to wonder if the crime is more directed at locals and racist driven than at tourists. In fact, I was often a bit shocked and appalled at the fortress appearance of walls around even moderately sized homes. The neighborhood that we were driving in looked rather normal though, and I asked the driver if we should lock the taxi doors, while stopped at a stoplight (which they call robots). In South Africa there are often people peddling small merchandise between cars at red lights. He said no and asked why. After explaining car jackings in Florida, and seeing his expression, I wondered where was the more dangerous place.

The next day, against the advise of some, I took local transportation into the center of town on a Sunday (considered more dangerous on weekends), and walked to the train station. A gentleman next to me on the bus offered to accompany me; he turned out to be a school teacher, the streets were crowded and friendly, and no one seemed to notice me and my bag, even though I was a clear minority. I was very paranoid, much more than I have ever been travelling, and it made me quite paranoid to walk around Tallahassee after I returned.

Also, while in Johannesburg, I visited the Apartheid Museum. It is well acclaimed...and sickening. We spent 2 hours and saw about 1/3 of it, and I was almost catatonic afterward. I could not take anymore, I did not feel well, and I had a headache. I could not believe the nature of it all, and how everyone genuinely seemed to think that what they were doing was best. The most amazing thing was to see young black girls taking pictures in front of the statue of one of the prime ministers that engineered Apartheid in a garden in Pretoria. I could not understand if they did not know what he had done or did not care. I could not bring myself to ask.

While in Durban, I visited the Shark Board to learn about their shark nets. These are a fascinating and seemingly effective aspect of South African beaches. However, I learned that I was engaging in some risky business in my daily swimming and stopped.

Also, while in Durban, we got to witness the political process of an election. The politics and history of the country, which I learned much of, are really fascinating. I definitely asked more about politics than I normally would. This was also because I met some locals who were politically active. The most interesting was politics in reference to the informal settlements and townships. The people there do, in fact, vote and have a say, even running their own candidates. They also get water subsidies and are supposed to have trash collection, though this seems insufficient or often neglected. Often people in settlements are there to be closer to jobs where housing is insufficient. It seemed that often they have a homestead somewhere else in a rural area. Even most of the hotel employees lived at the hotel to alleviate this problem. This was not what I thought the situation was like before I arrived. In all, I learned that South Africa has had an extremely complex history, even before the arrival of Europeans. Nothing is straight-forward or clear cut.

posted by jjs @ 9:41 PM