I've been here for over a week now, so I'm a little behind on the details. With that in mind, I'd like to share some of the valuable lessons I've learned over the past week.
Lesson 1
If you think having a flight cancelled is horrible, things could actually be a lot worse. Try making it to the airport, only to find out that your plane isn't there because the airline went out of business…a month and a half ago!! That's what happened to us in Johannesburg. The only thing worse that seeing no plane is seeing the bare wall where the airline's logo used to be.
Lesson 2
Nobody will ever ask me where I'm from during this entire summer. Every time I open my mouth, I might as well be singing "Proud to Be an American" by Lee Greenwood. In addition, never tell a South African "that dog won't hunt". It takes too long to explain.
Lesson 3
Take three Americans, put them in the back of a taxi driving "on the other side", and watch them fear for their lives at every right turn! It's not as scary now, but that first full day was rough.
Lesson 4
KFC is the Starbucks of South Africa. The KFC-per-capita rate here easily rivals a majority of states in the Southern U.S. I'm still hoping to find a Chili's before Amanda gets here next week.
Lesson 5
Coming to South Africa is a great way to limit the amount of news you hear about the 2008 presidential race. I'm happy to know that the Democratic nomination will be decided by the time I get back. Which brings me to the most important piece of wisdom…
Lesson 6
Building a democracy is hard. As with many countries in the past, South Africa is learning how hard the process truly is. Building an effective democracy - one that all citizens take part in - is also very difficult to get right on the first try. The United States has been at it since 1776, and we're still working out the kinks. South Africa has only had full democracy for a little over 10 years. While the 90s brought happiness to millions of newly-freed South Africans, these citizens are now looking to the government to address education, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and a host of other issues. I believe that major steps toward improving democracy usually come with new generations of leaders, so perhaps it will take new leaders to address these pressing issues. We'll see how it goes.
Clinton School Class III IPSP Blogs
- Amanda in Prague
- Carly in Nepal
- Chance in Cameroon
- Emily in Vietnam
- Erin in India
- Geoffrey in Argentina
- Hunter in Cameroon
- Idonia in Belize
- James S. in Cameroon
- Jay in India
- JD in Australia
- Jose in DC
- Julie in Nepal
- Lindsey in Malawi
- Lukman in NYC
- Marquita in South Africa
- Molly in Nepal (X2) and India
- Russ in Arkansas
- Ryan in South Africa
- Sara in Prague
- Sarah in South Africa
6 comments:
I love the lesson about driving the other way - that's funny :) That's how I felt when I went to Tokyo, I had no clue they drove the 'wrong way' and I was like: "What the FRUIT!! Where are you going?!"
Keep uploading those pics on facebook.
Take care Sanford.
i like your lessons. please don't look for a chili's though - that's just weird. and if you miss the US crazy political stuff just ask my brother to facebook you weekly updates.... you know he will and i know ya'll have discussed politics numerous times!
I think my favorite is Lesson 2. I died laughing when I read it cause I can totally picture you trying to explain that phrase to a South African.
great to "hear" from you sandman! keep the updates coming.
KFC is also incredibly popular in Prague and Shanghai, from what Timmy has said. Maybe international cities just really like initials. Look at H & M.
Hilarious!! Thanks for sharing the lessons. I imagine you three were pretty stiff after you got out of the car that first day. Nothing like seeing your life flashing before your eyes multiple times.
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