8 Culture Shocks: Cape Town
Spending a summer in Cape Town, South Africa interning for two start up marketing companies was the ultimate experience. This was arranged by Volunteer Adventure Corps. I received a scholarship from the Benjamin A. Gilman program which covered my flight, housing, and more! It allowed me to get the true experience of life in South Africa. Here are some key culture shocks I experienced when I was there.
1. Electricity
You have to physically go pay for electricity here. In every house there’s an electricity box, when it gets low you go to the grocery store and buy more. There's no bill that comes in the mail :)
2. Laundry
In most areas there are no dryers. We pin our clothes on clothes lines to dry. Some houses do have dryers but they eat up so much electricity and don’t really work that well.
3. Work Environment
Just by the companies I’ve seen and interacted with the business world here is much more laid back. People come to work when they please, wear whatever they’d like, and work from wherever. Smoking cigarettes is a large part of the culture. When I was at my first internship, everyone kept disappearing. Then I realized they stepped outside every half hour to take a smoke.
4. Public Transportation
You have options - the train, bus, and minibus taxis. The train is very slow but gets you from point A to point B. It is sometimes sketchy and robberies happen from time to time. They have a metro plus section which is a couple of cents more and it’s the “nicer part” of the train.
The bus system is extremely nice in Cape Town! Fairly new buses and they run just about everywhere you could think.
The minibus taxis are very interesting. They’re literally mini 15 passenger vans that run up and down the main roads. They each have a driver and then a guy that works the passenger door. He will yell out the window and jump out of the car to try and get customers. They drive crazy fast and stop without warning. Depending on how far you’re going it’s extremely affordable. My ride cost me 7ZAR which is about 50 cents. The drivers are kind of aggressive because they’re competing with the other taxis for customers. One time I was riding and the driver hopped out of the car and started fighting another driver for stealing a customer.
They also have Uber here!
5. Load shedding
In short, load shedding happens when there is not enough electricity available to meet the demand from all Eskom customers. It could be necessary to interrupt supply to certain areas. It is different from a power outage that could occur for several other reasons. Load shedding actually occurred when I was at the gym. Our class did not stop, we continued our burpees in the dark! Quite an experience.
6. Safety
You should be careful anywhere you travel, however, the leaders of our intern class gave us a few tips specific to Cape Town:
Don’t use the ATM machines out on the streets because it’s almost guaranteed your information will be stolen.
It’s best to avoid walking alone and taking the train after dark to avoid muggings.
We were discouraged from going into the townships because of the crime and riots. I went to the townships often for my internship and personally felt safe however, there are many unfortunate stories.
7. Architecture
I stayed in a neighborhood called “Obs” short for Observatory. The buildings were older and the neighborhood gave a Bohemian hipster vibe. The architecture reflects late Victorian semi-detached homes. Since the homes we stayed in were quite old, we dealt with termites, roaches, etc. There are other neighborhoods with modern homes closer to downtown and the beach areas.
8. Cost of living
Everything is extremely affordable as the US dollar goes a long way in South Africa. You can get a large cappuccino for $1.50, a daiquiri for $4, and a fish plate for $5.