By Madison Overbey

My first major culture bump on our trip to South Africa occurred when it came time eat the first night. While we were at the airport I exchanged my American dollars for South African Rand. I essentially received R1 for every $6.75 after accounting for the exchange fees. When we got to dinner and opened the menu and saw that a pizza cost R75 my initial reaction was shock! I could not believe a pizza could cost so much. Then I remembered my exchange rate. I realized that R75 was equivalent to approximately $11.15 based on the exchange rate I received. Even better, that included tax. This same scenario has occurred each time I have to pay for something here in South Africa, but I am starting to get used to relating to my normal expenditures.

(April 6, 2012)