It’s strange to think that our time here is quickly dwindling, and the countdown until we are back in the U.S is beginning. I remember that 3 months ago I was feeling like I had so much time to experience South Africa, and while I have done a lot, there is still so much that is left unexplored. There is still so much of this country that I have yet to see, cultures that I know nothing about, and ways of life that I still have no understanding of. In a way this realization, that one can spend 3 months in a country and still know so little, has put a few things into perspective for the future. I plan to, in my lifetime, travel as much of the globe as possible. I want to have been on every continent, backpack through Europe and South America, and see the Great Wall of China. While I want to travel to all these places and explore them, I’ve come to the conclusion that just because you’ve been to a place, doesn’t necessarily mean that you understand that place. Just because I’ve been to Cape Town, South Africa, doesn’t mean that I know how all people in South Africa act, think, or feel. It doesn’t mean that the vibe of Jo-Burg is the same as that of Cape Town (definitely isn’t by the way). The world is so big and it is impossible to say that you’ve been everywhere, seen everything, and know everyone. So while I do think it is important for us to become exposed to as much as we can in this lifetime, it is important to keep in mind that our grasp of understanding only goes as far as we reach.
On another note, it is a wonderful thing to know that the opportunities for learning, growing, and changing are endless. I know for a fact, just from being in Cape Town, that I have changed. I can pick out specific instances where my actions and thoughts have differed from how I would have acted or thought before I came on this trip. In a way its almost scary, and I’m somewhat anxious about how the “new” Nicole will be accepted back into life at home. Even more worrisome, is that I might not have the desire to fit in anymore. Not that it’s a worry to be different, but a worry that the life that I lived before, the sayings, jokes, and just plain ignorance that were such a part of my daily life, will no longer be acceptable to me. I constantly wonder how my friends will react if I try to inform them of things I have learned. Even more importantly, I wonder how my own family will react, and if they will understand? I know that no matter what happens, whether I choose to act on it or not, I have changed. Now that I have been opened up to this whole new world where racism, sexism, rape culture, and many more social issues are so often discussed, how can I go back to being my naïve and uninformed self? How can these issues that are so prevalent in society, and affect EVERY single person in the world, be put on the backburner? The answer is that they can’t. The only thing I have left
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