Reverse culture shock. You don’t think it will actually
happen. But then it creeps up on you.
Going from Malawi, even the capital in Malawi, to Cape Town,
South Africa has been like going from zero to 10,000. There are so many choices
at the grocery store, so many expensive cars and pothole-less roads, so many
smartphones, and so many women wearing trousers and leggings all around. The
skyscrapers are enormously tall and construction of new ones is happening with
massive mechanical machines. People rush around with headphones in, completely
tuned out of the world and their surroundings. Shops are chock-full of material
goods, all set up enticingly, and restaurants have so many food options. People
are a beautiful blend of mixed races and cultures. There are wide sidewalks,
pedestrian crosswalks, and stoplights. The produce and meats at the grocery
store are all wrapped up in plastic.
I feel so lost and over stimulated. What happened to my
simple, village life?
As I walked around Cape Town as a tourist with other PCVs
yesterday, I felt a lot of emotions. I felt guilty for being capable and privileged
enough to just up and leave the village and come to a big, expensive city such
as this. I also felt disgusted and literally nauseous from the amount of
consumerism that engulfed me. I’d almost forgotten how (MY normal) society
functions.