Johannesburg, South AfricaTuesday, September 8, 2009
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Europe to Africa DAY #2
Had a long, ten hour, overnight flight from Zurich to Jo-berg. Thankfully they seated us together once again, even though one of us was on standby when we first checked in at Warsaw. I have always had a difficult time sleeping on these flights and might have nodded off ten minutes here and ten minutes there. Saw a racist act on the airplane, as a white South African woman cut in front of a black South African woman to use the restroom. Then when confronted by the black woman, the white woman just responded, “You won’t be telling me what to do.” I was amazed and got a glimpse, even before we landed in South Africa the deep-seated racism that exists. Got into Jo-berg around 9:00 am, which is the same time zone as Poland, interestingly enough.
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I had tried to book an inexpensive hotel in Jo-berg last minute, and so at this point, after making it through passport control and getting our luggage, which all made it safely, we decided to exchange some U.S. Dollars for South African Rand and then find an information booth and ask about the best way to get to our hotel which was 11 miles from the airport. Everything was very easy to find and everyone was very friendly. The man at the information booth set us up with a guy named Joseph who would taxi us and all of our luggage to the hotel. The driver’s side is on the right side of the vehicle in South Africa, as it is in England.
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On the taxi ride to the hotel, we had a great conversation with Joseph, who is a born-again Christian and goes to a Presbyterian church. Joseph began to teach me a few phrases in Zulu, which is widely used in Jo-berg. It is amazing to travel to another continent, hear different languages than you have for the past nine months, and even feel the difference in the atmosphere, both physical and spiritual. The languages used in Jo-berg are Afrikaans, English, Zulu and Tswana. Joseph told me that during apartheid, they were forced to learn Afrikaans, but now the black South African community doesn’t want to speak it. He grew up speaking Tswana in his home.
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We were helped with our luggage up to our room by another very friendly man, and after we were met at the counter by a very friendly woman. We then decided to walk to a mall to get some lunch. It is cool walking down half-paved roads, with the other half being red dirt. We ate at an Indian food restaurant, as we haven’t had this food since we were in England. There is a large Indian population in South Africa as well. We were waited on by a guy named David. He was so great. The food was fantastic. He even took time to teach us more phrases in both Zulu and Tswana. When I use these conversational phrases like, “sawubona” which means, “hello;” “kunjani” which means, “how are you?” and “siyabonga” which means. “thank you,” the faces of those I am talking to lights up. As in other countries, when you even attempt to speak their language, they are so happy. We are having a great time in South Africa, even though we will only be here for the day and overnight.
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On the taxi ride to the hotel, we had a great conversation with Joseph, who is a born-again Christian and goes to a Presbyterian church. Joseph began to teach me a few phrases in Zulu, which is widely used in Jo-berg. It is amazing to travel to another continent, hear different languages than you have for the past nine months, and even feel the difference in the atmosphere, both physical and spiritual. The languages used in Jo-berg are Afrikaans, English, Zulu and Tswana. Joseph told me that during apartheid, they were forced to learn Afrikaans, but now the black South African community doesn’t want to speak it. He grew up speaking Tswana in his home.
.
We were helped with our luggage up to our room by another very friendly man, and after we were met at the counter by a very friendly woman. We then decided to walk to a mall to get some lunch. It is cool walking down half-paved roads, with the other half being red dirt. We ate at an Indian food restaurant, as we haven’t had this food since we were in England. There is a large Indian population in South Africa as well. We were waited on by a guy named David. He was so great. The food was fantastic. He even took time to teach us more phrases in both Zulu and Tswana. When I use these conversational phrases like, “sawubona” which means, “hello;” “kunjani” which means, “how are you?” and “siyabonga” which means. “thank you,” the faces of those I am talking to lights up. As in other countries, when you even attempt to speak their language, they are so happy. We are having a great time in South Africa, even though we will only be here for the day and overnight.
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Christian Young
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