South African Culture

Our work here is so overwhelming, I've forgotten to even talk about the culture of SA'ns. The people here are extreeeemely nice. We can't go to a gas station or a restaurant without someone asking where we're from or what we're doing. They seem to be a light hearted people, who aren't afraid to joke around with you (although it may take a minute to pick up on it..they're very sly with their flat expressions). There are two very different extremes in the economy here, a remnant of their apartheid segregation still lingering. The shanty towns, or townships, are communities of black populations. Shacks upon shacks upon shacks make up the colored hillsides, where some people go without running water in their house, and house fires are quite common. Some of the townships are left over from the townships developed during the apartheid, while others have popped up since. They are a stark contrast to the swanky, new age restaurants, malls, and shopping centers that are also common here.

Although almost everything is written in English (menus, road signs, government documents, etc), there are eleven official languages in South Africa. After the apartheid Nelson Mandela and his governments recognized all languages, and required there to be education opportunities in each available language. If you grow up speaking a language, there will be a school that teaches it--it may be on the other side of the country, but it is available. The three most common languages in the Eastern Cape, where Port Elizabeth resides, are Afrikaans (a derivative of Dutch), Xhosa (one of the languages with "clicks" in it), and English. While English is my far the most commonly spoken secondary language, it is rarely a native tongue, or the language people grow up speaking in their houses. Xhosa is more common within the black communities, while Afrikaans, having derived from Dutch, is more commonly spoken with the white citizens. 

The extremes in this culture are hard to ignore as outsiders, but it seems as though many residents feel the burden of the struggling economy and hardships of the working class. Twice we have had people tell us how much they'd like to come back with us to the States, and two others have told us how much they want to leave South Africa...that almost anywhere else in the world would be better. Although the quality of life for many residents is close to what many American's experience, there is a large majority that are living in substandard conditions and, of course, receiving much than less than standard health care.