Ethnically, I am Nigerian, so being in an African country, I find that I share many similarities with some of the cultural aspects. Although being African is not a monolith and one cannot lump all African countries together, there are still some shared similarities on the continent.

With that being said, I can relate to many norms of South African culture, like greeting and the concept of friendly neighboring. Also, with some of the more indigenous tribes, there are similarities in the foods. For example, many of their meals are starch-based, which is very similar to Nigerian culture—the concept of eating meals with a lot of rice and stew.

Despite these similarities and things I can identify with, there are many parts of South African culture, specifically the deep culture, that I cannot identify with or relate to. One aspect of South African culture that I found very hard to digest was the different racial classes. Racial classes are something we do see in the United States, but as time progresses, the divide between different classes is fading away. We still see a lot of discrimination but many would argue that it is not as predominant as it was years back or at least not as blatant. In South Africa, however, the discrimination is still very loud and blatant. Apartheid was dismantled just about 30 years ago. Many of the attributes of the Apartheid government are still lingering in society today, and one racial class that is particularly disturbing is the formation of “colored” people.

In the United States, that term is viewed as derogatory and should not be used at all in a modern-day context. However, in South Africa, it is still very much in use. This was something tough to assimilate to or even try to use when referring to people, as I was uncomfortable because of the American context I have of the word and how it is still used in South Africa to pit groups against each other. A very notable example of this came with our tour guide, who referred to himself as a “colored” man. When talking about his family and his hometown, he refers to them as “colored,” but still relates to the “Black” experience. That was very difficult to understand because the colored community stands apart from being Black or African, yet still finds themselves relating to those experiences.

Although it’s very interesting and somewhat uncomfortable, I am navigating this cross-cultural experience by simply being respectful and knowing I am a guest in this situation. I believe it is important for me to take it all in, and even if I don’t truly understand it all, it is important for me to respect the country and its culture.

I’m still processing how these interactions may be impacting my own identity. However, they are allowing me to be more open-minded and to learn about other people’s identities, seeing the similarities between them because the differences are always highlighted.