Submitted by Kahlia Baptiste on the 2017 winter session program in South Africa sponsored by Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics…
I cannot believe that I am really in Africa! Here in South Africa, specifically Pretoria, I have noticed that the infrastructure mimics that of the U.S. I was surprised to see that there was a highway system and beautifully constructed housing. I feel as though I have been uninformed about Africa my whole life. Some people, including myself, often end up with a skewed version of South Africa, which consists of Africa being a poor and underdeveloped continent. I can assure you that all of Africa is not so. The people we’ve come in contact with have been very nice to us. Our tour guide Patrick, who has been giving UD students tours since 1996, is amazing! He is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. It is very beautiful here in Pretoria.
Similarly, to my home in the Virgin Islands, traffic moves to the left, the only exception is that the steering wheel is on the right. Awkward right? But, it’s just their way of doing things.
During my first week here, my group visited the union buildings where Nelson Mandela’s 30 ft. statue is located. For me, the statue being so huge shows how powerful and influential Mandela was on his people. We also hiked in the Groenkloof Reserve, where we spotted giraffes, zebras, guinea fowls, ostriches, hartebeasts and a sable antelope, among many others. This was a terrific experience because I have never seen any of those animals in person. I was amazed.