Lessons Learned

I’ll admit, I was no expert on South Africa when I boarded that flight. However, we’ve learned a lot about the country and it’s culture, as well as learning a few things (some humorous) about ourselves and the Peace Corps in the process:

1) Before our arrival in South Africa, the Peace Corps explained that South Africa is a country of polar opposites. This is especially true in urban areas, where shantytowns can butt up against multi-million dollar homes. Similarly in our rural villages, BMWs and Landrovers cruise down streets next to donkey carts carrying water to homes without wells. 

2) South Africa is enormous.  The distance between Cape Town and Pretoria is equal to the distance from London to Rome. Yep. From the Drakensburg Mountains to the beaches in Durban and along the coast, to Kruger National Park and beyond, South Africa has a landscape as diverse and rich as its people.

3) Speaking of diversity, did you know that the National Anthem of South Africa is composed using the five most spoken languages in South Africa. The first stanza is Xhosa and Zulu, the second is Sesthoto, the third is Afrikaans, and the last is English.

4) If you want to learn a language and learn that language well and very fast...join the Peace Corps. It is incredible how much language you can absorb when you are immersed and your survival depends on your ability learn.

5) Running water is nonexistent in rural areas. This means that we collect water through a Jojo and use it to cook, clean and of course, bathe in buckets. This process really isn’t as bad as it sounds. However, no running water also means...pit latrines. Now some of these latrines are nice and don’t stink, and some aren’t. So, unlike many Americans who would avoid the public bathroom at all costs, when we walked into a KFC (pretty much the only piece of American “culture” universally found in every large town in South Africa) we lined up! A flushing toilet, running water sinks and soap immediately became the center of discussion among our group.

6) South Africa is hot. Not only is it hot, but the sun is much stronger than a summer day in the States. Every single one of us has become a few shades darker in the places where our business casual attire (required Mon-Fri) doesn’t protect us.

Until next time:

            Letters are always fun to read. It’s easy for me to post whenever I get internet but it is hard to hear about what you all are up to. Write and tell me!

Chris Tingley

Peace Corps

PO Box 9536

Pretoria 0001

South Africa

**In the near future I will be renting my own PO Box in my shopping town, stay tuned for its address**

Please note: If you do send care packages, please keep the value below $35 USD and list the contents as used clothing/books.