Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Gross generalizations about black South Africans

Ok, so I've really only been in 2 rural villages, so maybe not everybody is like this, but it's surprised me how similar the people are that I have met. In American, it's usually a local phrase or family saying, but here it seems like everybody has the same mannerisms. I'm fond of lists, so here's one to explain to you the typical rural black South African.

They take curtains and window coverings seriously. A window might only be a meter wide but the curtain covers the whole wall.
They always say 'serious?' When they mean 'seriously' or 'are you serious?'
The get scared of a problem, and usually leave it alone.
It takes 3 hours to do something that would take 45 minutes in America.
The women are super nice, the children are curious, and the men are either very polite or very creepy.
They love hot tea, with loads of sugar and milk.
All the meat and other food is very salty, maybe that accounts for the excess of sugar in the tea.
They very rarely eat breakfast. Either because they can't afford food or don't want to. I can't tell you how many times my host moms come home at 4 or 5 or 10 at night and say they are so hungry because they haven't eaten all day.
Starches are king. People here eat pap (bogobe) and bread like the world is going to run out tomorrow.
They are scared of technology, they don't want to break a computer so they won't touch it unless they have to.
They have religious enthusiasm. Everywhere I go, random strangers talk about God's grace and goodness. Which is fine, but they also expect you to have the same beliefs, and woe to the person who tries to actually discuss religion.
Kids are expendable. So have a dozen, hopefully half will survive childhood and can do all the household chores.
They lack tact. If they think you're too fat, too tall, too loud, to lazy, you are going to hear about it. From the whole village.
They are indirect. If they are hungry, they'll say 'aren't you hungry?" So I have to be careful how I phrase questions or they think I'm asking for a lot more than I actually am.

I've only been here a couple of months, I'm sure there will be more lists like these in the next 2 years. Enjoy!

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