The Wanderer Not all who wander are lost - JRR Tolkien

Nothing opens one's eyes like travelling. When you live in your own country, the world happens to be too small. It is difficult to even think about how other people's live and what they do, for instance, on a thursday night. Because you are used to your own routine, that is all you know, and you are too busy to worry about such things.

But me, I've been dreaming about travelling ever since I was little girl. I started to save money, but a golden opportunity changed my life forever: so I accepted a job opportunity in South Africa. And I came and embrace this country with my arms wide open.

Soon enough, I learned what it means to be a foreigner. I have to say, probably because of their own diversity, South Africa didn't seem bothered with my "foreigner condition". I discovered the many differences between them and me, starting with the language, but nonetheless, I never felt an outsider. They treat me like one of their own. As soon as I arrived, we had braais, they introduced me to the dried meat, biltong, made from springbok (their national animal), ostrich or even beef. It is an "acquired taste", and I'm still getting used to it, not the same with Boerewors, a kind of very traditional sausage that has become one of my favourite dishes. Afrikaans is a beautiful language and I am busy now learning, specially to talk with older people.

The journey is not over yet. But from the many things I have learned in South Africa, I think the most important is that now I see everything with "tourist eyes". I am amazed of this wonderful world, and the wonderful people that inhabits it, and the more I know, the more I want to know. I left my little country, where everything seems to be perfect to meet with a culture facing their own struggle, and even though, kind enough to make me feel like home.