All Good Things Must Come To An End

My travels through South Africa continue to be an enlightening experience. The racial struggle is still alive and present here in Joburg and the tension is palpable. For the first time, I experienced reverse discrimination in a store, where they refused to sell me anything but were more than helpful toward my coworker who is black. Although I felt a rage I had never felt before, I realized this was important for me to experience because it is a large part of life here in Africa. My trip thus far has offered me a glimpse of the racial disparities but I had been somewhat removed from it. I had not, until yesterday, experienced it myself. Realizing these racial tensions persist in all racial groups was a difficult lesson to learn but one that had I not experienced it, I would have been slighted in my perception of Africa.


Determined to put that awful feeling aside and give Joburg a chance, I went to dinner with a coworker at a fabulous South Africa restaurant, Moya. When we made a reservation for two, the staff must have thought it was a romantic couple because they sat us at a table in a little nook, complete with candles, roses, and a beaded entry to our table. My friend (a woman) and I laughed but figured we would enjoy it nonetheless. Live Afro-Jazz and African drummers performed for our entertainment and women dressed in traditional headdresses with multicolored feathers swaying in the breeze painted our faces as we dined. The food was incredible and we feasted on shrimp, samosas, king klip fish, and lamb tangine (stew-like meal). I had ordered a glass of wine which turned out to be the home to a few bugs. Mortified, the restaurant brought me a new, whole bottle on the house. However, my friend does not drink red wine, leaving me with the entire bottle to drink alone (which this morning I'm realizing was a terrible idea even though I didn't even come close to finishing it!).


Today is my last full day in South Africa as I must leave for home tomorrow afternoon. I am saddened by the impending end to such a fabulous adventure. It has been an incredible journey of a country, a culture, and of self. I want to thank you all for sharing in my South African adventures and for your kind words and wishes. I look forward to seeing you all again soon!