Interview with Madison - Age 10

What do you like about living in South Africa?
There is a place called Pilanesberg near where we live where you can drive around and look at different animals in the wild.

Christmas is in the summer here, so we can swim on Christmas.

I like being able to play outside everyday, even in the winter.  And we can be barefoot all the time in the summer.  We can even go shopping and to restaurants barefoot.

I have made new friends here. 

What do you  dislike about living here?
The internet, power and water are going off all the time.

It's extremely cold here in the winter and we don't have heat inside the house.

I miss my friends and family from the States.

There isn't much to watch on TV.  We have 4 channels, 2 are usually in a foreign language and the other 2 have South African shows. 

How is it different here than in the USA? 
They call stop lights "robots" here.

They call napkins "serviettes" here.

There are really nice houses right next to shacks.

We have a movie theater but it only plays 4 movies at a time.  1 is usually a kid's movie.  There is no butter on the popcorn at the theater.

There is no heat in the house.

We drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car. 

How is it similar to the US? 
We live in a house that is kind of like houses in the States.

We have a small mall and a grocery store. 

What can you get to eat here that you can't in the US? 
Pap - it's kind of like grits. 

Rusks - they are a hard, dried out biscuit that you dip in tea or coffee.

There is a restaurant called Carnivore, you can eat all types of different meat - giraffe, zebra, impala, crocodile. 

Do you like working at the Lighthouse Children's Shelter? Why? 
Yes, because I know that we are helping children.  I like all the little babies, they are adorable. 


How is the weather different? 
In winter, the weather outside is warm, but it never warms up in the house.

It doesn't snow here.

We can play outside in the winter.

It gets much hotter here in the summer.

We get huge rain storms that sometimes last for days. 

What are your favorite things to do here? 
I like to swim and go to Pilanesberg and Sun City (a water park that is about an hour away.)

I like going to the big mall in Pretoria.  At the mall they have a Build A Bear and they have a springbok stuffed animal that you can get there.

I like to eat at a restaurant called Mugg & Bean. 

Is school the same here as in the US? 
It's the same for us because we home school. 

How about for the other kids? 
No, it is different.  The kids here have to wear uniforms and the schools are a lot more strict.  They have school all year long and they start their new school year in January. 

Where is your favorite place to take visitors to South Africa? 
Carnivore, Pilanesberg and the Lion Park. 

Is there anything else you'd like to say about South Africa? 
South Africa rocks!  I love it here.