Voilà. un petit peu de temps et un accès à internet! C'est mon premier jour au travail!
Depuis samedi dernier c'est l'Afrique du Sud de mon coté. Le pays est impressionnant, l'année prochaine il y aura la coupe du monde de football ici et tout le monde semble très content de ça et l'esprit général est celui de produire le meilleur à la face du monde!
Le voyage a duré environ 24 heures. C'est long de toutes les façons que l'on approche la chose, mais le fait de pouvoir avoir internet à Paris a complètement transformé cette expérience! Vive la connectivité et je ne peux attendre le jour où ce ser apossible de l'avoir aussi pendant le transport! On se sent vraiment connecté et c'est très efficace pour se rendre compte que l'on ai sur la même planète. Vive les nouveaux moyens de communications.
Il est aussi vrai que Johannesbourg, la ville de mon stage, aide vraiment aussi à cet égard. C'est différent de Toronto, Montréal, Paris ou Fort-de-France bien sûr. Mais pas plus que ce quoi on s'attendrait et certainement pas plus différent que le Canada français ne l'est du Canada anglais. Je ne me sens étrangement pas dépaysé: tous les éléments qui définissent cette ville sont déjà présent tel quel dans une autre civilisation déjà connue.
Pour la modernité, on vient d'en parler, pour la société et pour ceux qui connaissent, c'est vraiment très proche de notre société aux antilles (on ne vient pas d'Afrique pour rien hehe ) mais ça semble plus facile à vivre que chez nous. Je pense en fait que c'est parce que l'état d'esprit général est plus joueur.
Ça fait drôle de revenir dans une société où il y plus de Noirs que de Blancs aussi :P Les relations entre Noirs et Blancs sont aussi très similaires dans la forme à celle des Antilles. La séparation est cependant plus marquée.
La pauvreté est une chose un peu différente qui apporte tout le facteur dangereux de cette ville mais cela me rappelle les banlieues parisiennes et la ville de Mexico.
Cela complète ma vision de Johannesbourg - Afrique du Sud
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At last I've found a little bit of time and an internet connection from my supervisor's office who is home sick...
Since last saturday it's South African time and let me tell you that the country is quite impressive! Next year there will be the FIFA soccer world cup here and everyone is preparing for it. The country wants to look its best for this worldwide event!
My journey here lasted about 24 hours which is long by any measure. however being able to connect on the internet in Paris was game changing really. It litterally took away all my home sickness and made the 4 hour transit time go really fast. Long live our modern communication means.
Johannesburg where I have my placement also is big help in making me feel at home. The city is different from Toronto, Montreal and Paris or Fort-de-France of course but the change is no more bigger than going from French Canada to English Canada. At least this is what it feels like at this point... Every element making this city unique can be found in another part of the world that i already know.
Modernity can be found in every western city. It is actually very funny to use the exact same windows on the same dell computer and type on the same keyboard than back home. Society-wise this is very close to what we have in the French Caribbean (we have african roots and it actually shows a lot hahaha ) however the mindset seem more easy to live than ours. It is also funny to be again in society where there are a lot more Blacks than Whites after all these years in continental France and and Canada.
Relations between Blacks and Whites are also very similar (in the form) to what we have in the Caribbean with a deeper divide however.
Poverty is somehow new though and this is what meks this city dangerous. It is the same to any kind of poverty and the one that is found in Paris suburbs and in Mexico city.
This completes my composite picture of Johannesburg - South Africa.
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Nooo! Don't complete the picture yet! Tell more! I miss my beloved SA and you are my conduit to it for the next three months. I so want you to explore for me what it is like being a black man where you are part of the majority in post-apartheid South Africa but you are from away. The moment you open your mouth this will be known if that assumption has not already been made. I am so interested to hear how South Africans react to you. I am sure this will become more apparent as you spend more time in SA, but everything is still tinted through the race lens. I am just so curious to hear what they make of you.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about what you said about being able to find the same things in different cities, and thus not feeling like you're somewhere too different. It's like..I'll walk through a store and see things that are made around this part of the world (and are very cool and beautiful) but that I can find for the same price in Courage My Love in downtown Toronto. It is comforting in a way, but also kind of sad, I feel.
ReplyDeleteHey! Kinda along the same lines as Larissa - how do the people there react to you being from Canada? I'm doing my internship in Mexico City (as per your shout-out on poverty), and sometimes I get looks when I say I'm from Canada, and I've received comments like, "Oh yeah, rich people live in Canada." Comments?
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