Things have turned out better than I ever could have imagined. I was pretty nervous about traveling by myself to South Africa, since everyone kept telling me it has one of the highest rates of violent crime, rape, etc in the world. Every time I told people I was going, I would see this look on their face that was far from reassuring. I'm thankful that I have had no problems so far.
When I landed in Joburg, I was exhausted from the flight. Got a little lost in the airport (as usual), but managed to get down to customs only to find out that my duffle bag never made it on the flight and was still in the States. At least there wasn't much important stuff in it :) Went through customs without a problem but then had no idea how to get a hold of a phone so I could call my hostel for my airport pick up. This was where I first fell in love with the people of Africa. I asked people at an information desk where I could find a phone and a nearby taxi driver overheard and escorted me to the phone card place, even making the phone call for me to the hostel since I had no idea how to use the phone. Then he walked me upstairs to the waiting area and gave me his information so he could show me Johannesburg properly. He truly was one of the nicest people I had ever met.
I got to the hostel and settled in, then met everyone. People at hostels really put you to shame if you haven't done much traveling before. I met Aussies, Kiwis, Brazilians, Brits, and more that have been all over the world! One 26-yr old has been to 29 countries already, and plans to get to 40 by the time he's 30. Most of the people from Oceania had done a big East Asia tour and talked about it like it was pretty common to do. They have also been all over Africa already, and Europe of course. They had amazing stories, it was so great to just sit in the common room and talk through the night. And most of them travel by themselves all the time which was really reassuring!
Only thing was I didn't know the extent of how dangerous Joburg actually is before I came. I mean, no one I've talked to at the hostel has had a problem themselves, but they all told me stories. Some fun facts about Joburg: apparently it's one of the most dangerous cities in the world (maybe top 3); the downtown area (which you do NOT want to go in during the weekend since there are no cops) is the most densely populated area in Africa next to maybe Cairo; it's fairly common for people to carry guns on them constantly therefore lots of violent crime. I heard stories about muggings at gunpoint that happen frequently, even during the middle of the day in public areas. My host was saying how you never want to yell at a taxi driver because he might just pull out his gun and shoot you. Stuff like that ACTUALLY happens. Some general rules: never walk around Joburg at night, especially by yourself; if you're in a car, don't have your purse or camera or anything valuable visible or on the seat next to you- if you are ever at a stop light, people will look in and break your window and steal it without a second thought--> hence why Joburgers are notorious for running red lights and creating their own driving rules :) you quickly learn to follow suit!
Joburg is the financial center of South Africa, and as such, has more millionaires than even Germany. The mansions are HUGE. We went to this really wealthy suburb Sandton. The cars there were ridiculous. I've never seen more BMWs, Audies, Porches. But then it's mind-blowing because you see this juxtaposed with all these black South Africans standing on the side of the road trying to sell stuff to drivers. It has the greatest (or one of the greatest) inequality gaps in the world, and it's really visible.
But it's still an amazing place. I can't wait to see Cape Town at the end of the semester, everyone at the hostel has been telling me it's way better than Joburg.
PS. Bob's Bunk House is the best! It's a home away from home where this nice older couple help out with everything and are fantastic sources of information on what life is actually life in South Africa. Really eye-opening to hear multiple perspectives on the whole post-apartheid society. But more on that later.
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