For my next themed blog post I have chosen: Something you now appreciate that you didn’t before. For me there are tons of things that I now appreciate more than before but the most significant thing that I definitely took for granted is independence. For almost the last two years I have lived in my own apartment with my friend near York. While in Toronto I can literally do whatever I want whenever I want. This doesn't mean that I do - it usually just leads to lots of late nights doing homework but the potential exists. Yes there is danger in Toronto, I am aware of it and I take care but the level care is totally different from here.
Johannesburg, and South Africa in general, has a reputation for high levels of crime and my gender and race make me in particular a target. This means that I have almost never walked alone outside of the fences of Nkosi's Haven and I don't go anywhere alone at night or on foot. This might sound very limiting and at times it does feel that way but most evenings are spent hanging around with the other volunteers and I don't mind too much.
The next aspect of independence I took for granted in public transportation. The TTC might not be the best transit in the world but compared to mini bus taxis it is a breeze. The mini buses are certainly interesting and I'm glad I have been able to take them but I would not want to rely on that form of transit. There are times in life when you don't want your trip somewhere to be an adventure. Most frustrating for me is the total lack of any signs. You want to find out which bus to take? You have to ask. Want to know the fare? You have to ask. Want to know where to get off? You have to ask. And you can never be totally sure the person you're asking knows where you mean and is giving you the right answer. This would definitely get easier the longer you lived here but it can also be rather frustrating. The other limiting aspect of the mini buses is most don't run past when it gets dark and it's not advisable to be travelling on them past dark any ways. Next time I start to complain about the TTC I'll try to stop and remember how it would be if I needed to rely on a mini bus.
The third aspect of independence here is the gate. As a result of South Africa's high crime rate almost every house and business has a fascinating mix of fences, spikes, bars and gates. Here at Nkosi's Haven we are able to keep the gate open during the day as the area is pretty safe but it is locked around 7pm. So if you want to go out of the gate after that you need to get the key, unlock the gate and lock it again. If you're coming back later than 7pm you also need to call the nurse (who keeps the gate keys) and have her come and let you into the gate. All of this can take 10-15 minutes of messing around at least.
This might seem like a relatively negative post but I really do now realize how much freedom I have in Canada. To me the most negative part is that people are so desperate that they feel they must resort to theft and violence. And that this results in people being so fearful of theft and crime that they need to surround themselves with fences. Realistically these issues have not been a major source of frustration for me, they are inconvenient for sure but I'd rather be safe than sorry as the saying goes.
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