The Nightlife

It's incredible to see the difference between the "nightlife" here in South Africa in comparison to that at home. The term "going out," on the weekend seemed to me to be innocent enough. But when a girl named Maips asked me at lunch if I had "gone out" yet, Anna and I naturally answered her question with something along the lines of,

"Yes, we went grocery shopping at one of your shopping malls and bought a pair of gloves, too!"

Laughter erupted for nearly 10 minutes straight before Anna and I finally got an explanation. Apparently "going out" is classified solely as going "clubbing" or "partying." We responded with a timid "oh," and looked down at our plates. It was quiet for a moment before the table began to ask questions again.

"Wait... so you guys in America don't go clubbing or drinking?"

It took the next unfortunate ten minutes to explain that yes, Americans go clubbing and drinking, but no, Anna and I do not. They couldn't believe that people our age in America actually obeyed the drinking laws (granted there are some people that do not). Apparently in South Africa, where the drinking age is already as low as 18 years, businesses do not even ask for identification when purchasing alcohol! Thank goodness Anna and I will be staying over a host family's house over the remaining weekends... no stress in having to dodge these situations!