Reflections from South Africa (looking back)

Something that quite immediately struck me on arrival in Cape Town was that it did not really “feel like Africa”. Not that I have been that much to Africa before, but compared to Zimbabwe and Ethiopia where I have been, Cape Town felt very much less “African”. And as my friend probably quite correctly stated; you will probably see more black people in southern London than in central Cape Town. However I, honestly, don’t pay much attention to the colour of peoples skin and quite often I don’t even really “see” colour that way. But then all of a sudden something makes you aware of the fact that the colour of the skin can look different, and sometimes it is the strangest things. As for example when you meet a black person with a band aid. The band aid is supposed to be “skin-coloured” not to attract too much attention, but the “skin-colour” is the beige/pink of a Caucasian person, which really do catch attention on a black person. Then it struck me; I have never seen band aids developed for black people. Maybe there are some, just that I have never seen any. Or is our world really still so biased that it has never been developed?!

International Table Manners

Travelling is learning. Not only big things, but also the small little details.

Never having really been to South America before of course I had a lot to learn, and still have, but exactly because of this I treasure the small details I have learnt during this time. Like knowing how to tell a Brazilian couple apart from other couples in a restaurant. Well, I have to admit this is not something I have discovered by myself, but it was actually pointed out to me by a Brazilian with international outlook.
He pointed out to me that whereas it for me and for most people I know it is natural that you sit opposite your partner if you go to a restaurant, to be able to see each other's faces, Brazilian couples prefer to sit next to each other (to be able to touch and snog?). At first I thought he was joking, but having paid attention to it I have to say it seems to be a fact. Here in Buenos Aires I have noted it is a safe way to spot Brazilian tourists.

Peru

I must say I like Peru this far! Already at the airport in Lima I was very surprised of how modern it seemed, eventhough I quite immediatly met two men with cages with live chickens at the airport!! When I first heard the sound of chicken I thought it was some ironic joke, but then I saw them. And they were for real. But apart from thet everything seemed very modern and effective and people spoke English and were used to handle foreigners, something you don't see in Brasilia!

In Cusco everyone is very professional and helpful and most people speak some English, and even if they don't they have a wonderful patience with my strange mix of Portuguese, Italian and Spanish. Of course Cusco lives from tourism and need to treat their guests welll, but this is not always the case in all tourist destination. In some places you get the feeling they only want to milk as much money ouf of you as possible while you are there but don't give a damn whether you will come back or what you will tell your friends when you come back home. This feeling I didn't have in Cusco.

Not really in Aguas Calliente or Machu Picchu either, although here it is more obvious that it is a professional tourism industry. People are however still very nice.

Where Do You Come From?

I haven’t been writing for a while, partly because I was travelling and partly because I moved and it took a while before I got internet working in my new house. But now I will try to write more regularly again.

One thing I was asked several times when I was back in Europe was whether there is racism in Brazil. I found that question a little hard to answer, once because I have not been here long enough to know and twice because it is a question of how you define racism. My impression is that most Brazilians are actually proud of their ethnic mix in the country and this is really one part of being Brazilian. But there is no denying that there are more black people that are poor, that black people are less educated and overrepresented in crime, both as perpetrators and victims, overrepresented in jails and underrepresented in the government, parliament and business etc. To what extent this is because of “racism” or “social factors” I can not tell.

One thing that has struck me though and that is very different from where I come from, and that one could say is connected to the notion of “race” is the Brazilian obsession of heritage, ancestry and where “you come from”. And then I don’t mean where I as a foreigner come from, but from where in Brazil other Brazilians come from. I have noted that among the Brazilian friends that I have it is very common to immediately ask a person you meet for the first time where they come from, be it a friend of a friend, the waiter at the restaurant or the guy filling up your car at the gas station. Maybe this is because Brazil is such a huge country. Maybe it is because in Brasilia almost everyone comes from somewhere else or maybe it is because of this ethnical mix. It can be based on the accent the person has or the way the person looks or acts or or the name, but it seems to be some kind of sport to first guess where a person comes from and then ask. It is not only a matter of where the person comes from geographically, because the next question is often “what’s your ancestry? Italian, Polish, German?” For me these questions feel a little awkward and uncomfortable as this is not very politically correct to ask like that in Sweden. But here everyone seems completely ok with it and even proud to tell where they come from and where their forefathers came from.

The funny thing though is that since it in most cases was a long time ago since these forefathers came to Brazil and everyone now is Brazilian you could think it would be less important. Whereas in Sweden the most people with some other background than ethnically Swedish came during the last 50 years or even less. Maybe this is exactly the reason. In Sweden the integration in still ongoing, or actually it is exactly a matter of “integration” into something that you obviously do not automatically belong to, and therefore it is important to not be anything else than “Swedish”. Brazil on the other hand was formed by immigrants (one way or the other) and the “Brazilianess” hence never questioned. Or maybe we Swedish are just being arrogant, thinking people would be offended if you ask them where they come from if the answer will be something else than some other part of Sweden? Well, even if it would be another part of Sweden people could be offended. Many persons moving in to the City from the countryside work so hard to blend in, loosing their accent and doing there best to be at least seventh generation city-breed, that any question bringing this in doubt would be a severe offence.

Cultural Adaptation and Cultural Adoptees

There is this thing that I have never understood and that is this total fascination and absorbtion of another culture that I have mostly seen happening to some europeans getting in touch with Latin American or African culture. What generally happens is that they get completely in to this culture and everyting connected to it; the language, the music, dance, food, sports and religion and specifically only are attracted to persons from that specific culture. Often they can go to quite some extent in defending why this culture is so much better, so much purer and more "real" than others.
I have never understood this and I have also never understood this faiblesse for these cultures. Partly I have explained this with the fact that I don't speak the language and hence is not able to understand this. I willingly admit that I still don't understand Portuguese very well, but I still think I would never be one of those committed culturalists. Not that there is anything wrong with the Brazilian culture, it has many positive and fascinating features, like most other cultures. And maybe here is my problem with these people. They tend to over romanticise the culture they have fallen in love with and start to despise and reject their own native culture without sometimes even knowing it very well.
This I don't understand and most of all I don't see the need for this reaction. I have a theory however and that is that these people are somehow seekers that are somewhat unhappy and unsatisfied in their life and with the culture they grew up with and find an easy fix in adopting another culture. What they tend to miss in the process is how much they are formed by their own culture anyway, like it or not. And also that all cultures have their advantages and shortcomings. Now I will want to interpret my scepticism toward this as a sign of good diplomat material. I like different cultures and like to know more and understand more about them, including my own, but feel no need to get over enthusiastic about one before the other.

By Different Standards

The last couple of days I have been to quite a few meetings at different Afghan ministries, universities and NGO:s It is very interesting to visit Afghan institutions. Often they have rather spacious offices, partly because they don’t have that much furniture. Although all the offices I visited had desks, chairs and laptops. Often it is very difficult to find the person you look for, even though you have an appointment. There are often no signs or listings on where to find people. Fortunately there are always a lot of people around to ask. Unfortunately the often have no idea about where to find the person you look for. Sometimes it is a little difficult not to start laughing. Not at the persons themselves n. b.!! They are all very nice and friendly and helpful and, I am sure, doing their best under very difficult circumstances. What makes me want to laugh is the enormous difference to offices in Sweden and how absurd it somehow seems. In every office you meet a lot of people who just seem to linger in the hallways. Often they look as if they had been sleeping in the street, a bit dirty and rugged, some limping, many missing teeth or having very black teeth. Some of the old men in beard and traditional clothing look as if they would be hundred years old and you really wonder what they do there. Maybe many don’t really do much there, maybe they just do linger.

On the other hand there are a lot of people doing different kind of services. It is a huge difference between the people you meet in the corridors and the ones we meet in the meetings. The ones we meet are all better dressed, healthier looking (although some of them also miss teeth) are well educated, often abroad and speak good English. You also notice a very big difference in hierarchy. The guys (they are all men!!) that we meet seem to have an army of office attendants. Whenever they want something they just call, or even ring a bell! And immediately there is someone at the door, ready to bring some more tea, get some documents or make a copy. You will not find any like that in a Swedish office!

When you ask someone for the way to someone they often point in some direction only for you to meet someone there who sends you back. Often they even choose to walk with you, even though they don’t know where to go, they just walk with you and do the asking for you. So not only do the traffic situation often make you come to late to the meetings, the walking around on huge office areas delays you even more.

The Kabul University area was also huge! But it was actually very nice. It is the greenest place I have seen so far in Afghanistan. It is in a huge lush park. Of cause the buildings are quite run down and the equipment and furniture is really nothing like we are used to, but the area was very nice. The professor in geology that we met was contemplating the situation of his country compared to what he had seen in Europe (Germany) and disapprovingly wondered how long it would take for his country to get to 50 or maybe even 30% of the level we have in our countries. He looked a bit sad when he said that and I can understand him and felt that there was nothing we could say to cheer him up.