Welcome to South Africa

I saw Allan, who picked me up in his field pick-up truck at the airport. Took me to stellies and showed me around. The weather was beautiful, clear, crisp for 2 days. Now is cloudy. But pretty clouds, attached to the mountains that surround the valley.
It’s spring time. Ultra-green leaves are coming out of the temperate land trees in this town that could be the south African version of Davis. Nice kindof historical buildings all white with Afrikaans names on them and pretty young 90% white people speaking Afrikaans and dressed up like anywhere else, plus some style.
I hardly feel like I’m in Africa. Weird interactions. Eating on a terrace, a black woman came to the neighbors asking for food and the girl sitting there just grabbed a bunch of fries and handed them to the woman. Blacks and whites and coloureds go to the university. Hard to tell who’s who sometimes. Despite there being a strong economic divide between blacks and whites, the feeling of racism is not strong as it is in the US. Perhaps that’s because it used to be so present, legal, mandatory. Now, we know the past but we’ve turned the page.
I visited an apt in the back of a house today. Might take it because it’s kindof old and rustic and the lady is very nice. Made me feel at home. Ulricke, the masters student showed me the place because she lives in another flat attached to the house. She told me their dog is sweet but doesn’t like blacks. The way it is. You just lock her up if you’re worried she’ll bark at your friends.
Walking in the street I realized how conditioned we are by the way we drive. I tend to pass people on the right, but as they walk towards me they move to my right as well. Because they tend to pass on the left. Funny how that is.
The girls in the lab said I need to buy pepper spray. They all have some. Muggings happen. Don’t walk alone at night. Bags are a target, don’t carry a bag. Always lock doors. Don’t leave anything in your car. You’re not safe if there aren’t bars on the windows. It’ll take a bit of time to get used to all this. Of course, according to allan, it isn’t that bad. Different people feel differently.
I could love this place. It has landscapes that are incredibly diverse, and the culture is endless in novelty.