Amy Vieira: Bridging Continents

Adapting to a new country, culture, and traditions can be an exciting journey. However, for students transitioning into a new school, the adjustment can be challenging. Yet as they acclimate to the school culture, they integrate with their peers and stand out for the unique life experiences they bring. Hosted by Dr. Brad Schultz and Amanda Price, this …. is Mustangs Unbridled.

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Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;43;29
Speaker 1
And Lipscomb Academy. We welcome global students to campus as an enriching opportunity for both them and our school community. These students bring with them diverse perspectives, cultures and traditions and share these unique experiences with the Lipscomb family.

00;00;44;01 - 00;01;07;19
Speaker 2
One such student is senior Amy Viera, originally from South Africa. She came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 with strong family ties to Lipscomb. She's excited to continue her education at Lipscomb University next fall. Welcome to the studio, Amy. Thank you. You already have a lot of family that's over here. Raymond Dodd and your brother and your sister is here.

00;01;07;22 - 00;01;12;00
Speaker 2
So tell me, what was the what was the draw to bring you to the U.S.?

00;01;12;02 - 00;01;34;15
Speaker 3
Yeah. Well, my brother and sister came over to North America to study in 2013. I think it was. So my brother got a soccer ska soccer scholarship at the university. And so he came over and my sister went to Canada to study there. And yeah, when they came back home after their first year, they both were like, We're not coming back to South Africa.

00;01;34;15 - 00;01;54;26
Speaker 3
We're we're not coming back. We're going to live like settle down over there. And so my parents had kind of felt that God was calling them to move to America. But after that, they're like, okay, we can't be the grandparents across the world. So that was kind of the main reason We just wanted to be closer to them and not be like divided across the across the world.

00;01;54;29 - 00;02;07;24
Speaker 3
And then also for me to have like better opportunities because, yeah, the standard of living in America is just generally higher than it is in South Africa. So that also played a factor. But the main thing was just be close as a family.

00;02;07;26 - 00;02;22;02
Speaker 2
So it took several years for your family to actually immigrate here and you were able to get a student visa before your parents could come. So what was that like living with your brother and sister in law, waiting for your parents to be able to get their visas?

00;02;22;03 - 00;02;39;22
Speaker 3
Yeah, it was hard. I think in the moment, obviously like this big transition and big life change and not having my parents there, it was hard. But looking back at it now, I really see like how God kind of restored it in a bit of a way because yeah, it took us like ten years, I think almost ten years to move over.

00;02;39;22 - 00;02;57;06
Speaker 3
And so for that period of time, I wasn't living with my siblings. Like we grew up separately and, you know, we missed a lot of each other's lives. And so it was, you know, having that two months with him and his wife was really actually a lot of fun and a lot of like restorative from the past that we've missed out on.

00;02;57;08 - 00;02;58;17
Speaker 2
And here's his wife.

00;02;58;19 - 00;02;59;18
Speaker 3
Wayne Bura.

00;02;59;20 - 00;03;05;08
Speaker 2
And what don't she teach English? You made it sound like she was just some random person.

00;03;05;10 - 00;03;06;25
Speaker 3
Everyone knows. I know everyone knows.

00;03;06;28 - 00;03;15;29
Speaker 2
You know? Yeah. Okay, so it's now been. I'll be three years this fall. Yes. What do you miss about South Africa?

00;03;16;01 - 00;03;35;10
Speaker 3
My family and my friends that are still there. Obviously, I miss the food. I joke about this a lot with everyone who asks me, but I do miss the food there. I think a lot more options in South Africa because we're just a very diverse place and we have a lot of different cultures and different people. So a lot of food options.

00;03;35;13 - 00;03;49;09
Speaker 3
And yeah, like I miss the vacations, you know, there's like memories there. So like going to the Kruger National Park, as my family used to do that almost every year. And so, like, I miss stuff like that, but I mean, I'm happy here.

00;03;49;12 - 00;03;51;25
Speaker 2
So when you say you went to this national park, is that a sorry.

00;03;51;27 - 00;03;53;21
Speaker 3
It's like safari. Yes.

00;03;53;23 - 00;04;13;22
Speaker 1
Yeah. So you mentioned living in South Africa, missing things like the food. So I had a in college, I played tennis and I had a tennis player who was from South Africa, and his parents would send him ostrich jerky. Oh. Now, I shouldn't assume that everybody in South Africa likes ostrich turkey, but it was a box of disgusting, is what I would call it.

00;04;13;25 - 00;04;14;17
Speaker 1
You familiar with.

00;04;14;17 - 00;04;17;28
Speaker 3
This? I'm familiar with it, but I personally have not had it.

00;04;18;01 - 00;04;21;13
Speaker 1
Okay. Basically, a stick wrapped in ostrich made that showed up.

00;04;21;14 - 00;04;30;06
Speaker 3
We do? Yeah, we do eat like a lot of game, like buck and stuff like that. It is more common, I think, there and I do like it, but I personally have not had ashtrays. I can imagine that.

00;04;30;07 - 00;04;31;01
Speaker 2
It's.

00;04;31;04 - 00;04;31;22
Speaker 3
Quite a sight.

00;04;31;26 - 00;04;38;16
Speaker 1
Anyway. Just been lying to me also. Right. Like now that I think about it, I mean, I'm in Turkey.

00;04;38;18 - 00;04;41;23
Speaker 2
Oh 5050 Okay. Oh, yeah.

00;04;41;25 - 00;04;48;28
Speaker 1
So what are some you know, what are some things that are different about living in South Africa than the United States?

00;04;49;00 - 00;05;07;16
Speaker 3
Yeah, I was thinking about this when you first brought it up. And I would say biggest difference is the people, because obviously, like the people is what makes the place, you know. And so like with the different people, you get different cultures, you get different food, you get different lifestyle. And so I just think the people is what's really different.

00;05;07;19 - 00;05;31;11
Speaker 3
I wrote some things down, like that's different between South Africans and Americans. So South Africans, we use humor as a coping mechanism because we go through a lot of daily struggles that most people shouldn't have to like. Our government is pretty corrupt, and so because of that, we like our electricity is not stable, our water supply is not stable, our roads are really bad.

00;05;31;11 - 00;05;52;25
Speaker 3
Anything public like public transport, public health care is just not really good. And so we face a lot of like struggles that we just shouldn't have to. But because of that, we use humor to kind of deal with it. We make light of our situations. It's kind of like you either laugh or you cry kind of situation. So yeah, we are really funny people, pretty sarcastic and pretty dry.

00;05;52;27 - 00;06;11;24
Speaker 3
But yeah, we kind of use humor. We're resilient and innovative because we have to like, deal with these unexpected issues. We make plans to like keep on going. You know, life keeps on going. Even if we don't have any power, we'll use candles or these special lights that we have for loadshedding. Just life doesn't stop because of it.

00;06;11;24 - 00;06;45;27
Speaker 3
So we're really tough people, creative. Like I said, people are diverse. We have 11 official languages. And so with that, like there's a lot of cultures and I know like America, there are obviously a lot of different people here too. But because South Africa is smaller than the US, I feel like it's a lot more concentrated like you, you know, where I lived in an English suburban area, you drive like 10 minutes from my house and there's like poverty, like shacks, you know, people living on the street where in America, I feel like it's kind of harder to really see the difference.

00;06;46;00 - 00;06;49;24
Speaker 3
Yeah, I would say those are kind of the biggest that stand out to me.

00;06;49;27 - 00;07;02;12
Speaker 1
So that was really well said and very thought provoking. And Johan, by the way, was very funny in college, you know, That was why. So that's good to know. Yeah, it's so hot if you're out there.

00;07;02;15 - 00;07;06;04
Speaker 2
Because he had to eat ostrich jerky. Yeah, he was making light of it.

00;07;06;06 - 00;07;21;27
Speaker 1
Supposedly. So you mentioned loadshedding, which I have not really heard that term, but you're talking about the electricity and you can't really count it. So what does that like? What might that look like? As is that I'd like a daily thing if it is. How long. What, what would that look like?

00;07;22;04 - 00;07;47;08
Speaker 3
Yeah. So when I was still living there, it goes in like waves. We have periods of, like really bad outages. It just depends on like, how much money the government is funding to our electricity system. But typically it's like you have scheduled power outages. So like there's a whole app for it. You put it like on the news, like people can check their district like, say tomorrow because I lived in a place called Grand Park Ridge.

00;07;47;11 - 00;08;05;02
Speaker 3
And so I would like go on the app, I would click on Rampart Rage and you could see, okay, tomorrow at from like 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., you're not going to have any power. And so that's kind of like what, loadshedding is it just because like our government did not like take the funds and put them where they needed to go.

00;08;05;02 - 00;08;10;00
Speaker 3
And so we don't have like enough electricity to sustain everybody.

00;08;10;00 - 00;08;17;05
Speaker 1
So would they, would that mainly hit like residential, like your homes or would it hit schools? Like if you're in school with a school, be out of power?

00;08;17;05 - 00;08;31;03
Speaker 3
Also, it would be mainly residential areas. But when there was a there was a point where it got really bad. And yeah, our school would also but a lot of people have generators and so our school would have generators. So yeah, it would hit us, but we would keep going.

00;08;31;09 - 00;08;35;09
Speaker 2
Was it daily like you would look daily to see when power is going out in your district?

00;08;35;09 - 00;08;48;28
Speaker 3
Yes. If it was a really bad like period, yes, it could be daily and multiple times a day. My grandma, this was I was already here in America when this happened, but they were having power outages, I think, from like 6 to 8 hours a day.

00;08;49;00 - 00;08;50;00
Speaker 2
Wow. Yeah.

00;08;50;03 - 00;08;52;04
Speaker 3
And like daily.

00;08;52;06 - 00;09;01;22
Speaker 2
Yeah, Well, you mentioned, I think you said 1111 national languages. Yes. How many of those do you speak? I mean, can you name. Oh.

00;09;01;24 - 00;09;21;25
Speaker 3
I can barely I can barely name them. I English is my first language. I went to English school, English household. So I speak English. And then Afrikaans is my second language. It's kind of like descended from Dutch. So yeah, Afrikaans. And then I did a little bit of Zulu in, like, preschool school. And so I can kind of speak a little bit of that, but it's pretty rough.

00;09;21;28 - 00;09;35;03
Speaker 3
Those are, I think, the three most common languages. It's also like Ceuta City. I think is one, but it's like African tribes, almost like they each have their own language. Yeah.

00;09;35;05 - 00;09;40;05
Speaker 2
How do you all communicate across cross, you know, across people?

00;09;40;05 - 00;09;55;20
Speaker 3
Yeah. That's why English and Afrikaans and Zulu are like the three most common. So even if you are not English, you typically can speak a little bit of English or a little bit of Afrikaans. It's kind of how we communicate.

00;09;55;22 - 00;10;10;26
Speaker 2
Okay, so we have the Washington DC as our capital. And when I was researching South Africa, I found that you'll have three capitals. So I, I was just wondering why. I don't know why.

00;10;10;29 - 00;10;31;06
Speaker 3
Yeah. Of so we have three, one in Cape Town, one in Bloemfontein and then one in Pretoria and each of them kind of have like their own purpose, like, you know, how you have like the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch, like that's kind of why we have three. So Cape Town is the legislative branch. That's where our parliament sits.

00;10;31;08 - 00;10;47;03
Speaker 3
Bloemfontein is that judicial kind of city. And then Pretoria is kind of like the executive. I mean, the President has a house in Cape Town like he lives in Cape Town, but it's kind of where his office, I think is. So they each have their own unique purpose.

00;10;47;03 - 00;10;57;12
Speaker 2
But now geographically, compare South Africa to somewhere in the U.S. What is it? SISA Do you know? You may not I'm just I know.

00;10;57;12 - 00;11;10;08
Speaker 3
It's I think it's just a little bit it's it's bigger than Texas, but it's probably like the size of like one big state, like a huge state. But yeah, it's not it's small compared to the whole U.S..

00;11;10;10 - 00;11;12;16
Speaker 2
How many provinces do y'all have?

00;11;12;18 - 00;11;13;12
Speaker 3
Nine.

00;11;13;14 - 00;11;19;02
Speaker 2
Nine provinces or states as our history lesson for the day. Yeah.

00;11;19;06 - 00;11;33;00
Speaker 1
So when you're living in South Africa, think back when you were younger, like, what was the reputation about the United States? Not so much that you heard from your brother, like even before that, right? Like, no firsthand knowledge, really. Just like what's what was the reputation?

00;11;33;02 - 00;11;54;03
Speaker 3
There was this like ideal that the American dream, you know, like America is this big, powerful country, land of opportunity. Because obviously South Africa, like as I said, the government is pretty corrupt and there were a lot of issues and the standard of living is pretty low. So there was this idea that America was like this great place where you can go and fill out your dreams.

00;11;54;08 - 00;12;10;19
Speaker 3
Yeah. And just start a new life. But I mean, there was also like that typical, like cowboy country southern, you know, kind of image of. Yeah, I think most of it was all good things about America. Everybody was kind of in all of it. But yeah.

00;12;10;21 - 00;12;15;05
Speaker 1
Did you, had you heard about Nashville or just or your brother like about something just.

00;12;15;06 - 00;12;30;02
Speaker 3
Or my brother? Yeah. I think when we look at America, we like kind of picture it all in one thing, like the one big state. You know, when I got here, I realized that it's all actually a lot bigger and every like, place is very different and not all like, the same.

00;12;30;05 - 00;12;38;10
Speaker 1
Yeah, in any way at this point in time, you thought you were going to see or experience. That's not the way you thought it was going to be.

00;12;38;13 - 00;12;57;19
Speaker 3
Not really. I Yeah, I've been really happy here. I think the food is probably one of my biggest disappointments. I don't really I didn't have an expectation for it, so I can't really say that like, oh, it didn't meet my expectation. But yeah, that has probably been the biggest disappointment. And I mean, we've been here for almost three years, but we haven't traveled that much.

00;12;57;19 - 00;13;05;21
Speaker 3
And so I think there's still a lot for me and my family to see. Yeah, I would really like to travel and get like East Coast, West Coast, that kind of thing.

00;13;05;24 - 00;13;09;27
Speaker 1
What is your favorite, like restaurant or type food type that you have you'll tolerate here?

00;13;10;00 - 00;13;20;05
Speaker 3
Oh, um, I would say Greek. I love Mediterranean food. Like, yeah, like Greek food. It's my favorite for sure.

00;13;20;07 - 00;13;35;16
Speaker 2
So you said that you went to a private school in South Africa. You had a unique experience. Let me back up just a minute. You already have a whole bunch of unique life experiences. I've never been on safari. Have have you?

00;13;35;21 - 00;13;36;16
Speaker 1
Have have.

00;13;36;16 - 00;13;37;04
Speaker 2
You really?

00;13;37;04 - 00;13;38;15
Speaker 1
In Lagrange, Georgia? Oh, my.

00;13;38;15 - 00;13;39;06
Speaker 2
Goodness.

00;13;39;09 - 00;13;41;12
Speaker 1
You. They they they.

00;13;41;14 - 00;13;43;03
Speaker 2
Are not quite the same.

00;13;43;03 - 00;13;50;29
Speaker 1
No, no, no. Listen, they put you in a vehicle with no windows and buckets of food, and you get attacked by giraffes.

00;13;50;29 - 00;13;55;22
Speaker 2
And then I've done that in Animal Kingdom. I've been on a safari as well.

00;13;55;25 - 00;14;00;03
Speaker 1
Yeah, but yours was not as if animal Kingdom did not look like what I. It's not.

00;14;00;03 - 00;14;02;09
Speaker 2
As realistic, Right. Yeah.

00;14;02;11 - 00;14;03;16
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00;14;03;19 - 00;14;25;18
Speaker 2
So you have, you have, you've experienced things that I may never experience in my lifetime and you actually were the, the, the focus of a medical case study as a result of one of your life experiences at the school. Well, I'm just wondering, is that something you would want to share with us?

00;14;25;20 - 00;14;49;29
Speaker 3
Sure. So it was 2020, my start of my eighth grade year, which is the start of high school for us. We go from eighth grade to 12th grade. So, yeah, it was January. And how what we do in South Africa is at the beginning of every year we would go on a school camp like your whole grade. We're going to school camp and it's like for bonding, you know, get to meet the people in your grade, get to meet your teachers and just kind of bond as a grade.

00;14;50;02 - 00;15;07;27
Speaker 3
And so we were at this camp. It's in the middle of nowhere. Like Bush felt, you know, kind of secluded and we were supposed to sleep. The girls were supposed to sleep outside that night like you do at every camp. You supposed to have like one night where you sleep under the stars. And but there was a huge storm.

00;15;07;27 - 00;15;31;12
Speaker 3
And so they put all of the girls in this big hall, kind of like chapel, like this big hall. And we just sat on the floor. And so I was I was sleeping. And I'm a pretty light sleeper. So, I mean, like, I was uncomfortable. I was tossing and turning. And then I woke up and there was this sharp pain in my, like, upper right shoulder and my neck.

00;15;31;15 - 00;15;53;25
Speaker 3
And so and it was stinging and it wasn't going away. And so my first thought was, oh, I've been bitten by a bug or something or something scratching me in my sleeping bag. So I sat up to kind of like look around to see what was what was there. And as I said above, I felt like it felt like a water gun, like someone was hitting me with a water gun on the back of my shoulder.

00;15;53;28 - 00;16;13;00
Speaker 3
And so I was like, Who is doing this? I thought it was like some girl playing a prank on me or something. So I turn around and as I turn around, I see the head of a snake go down like it was. It spat at me and then it like shimmied down back into the sleeping bag. And so I was like, Oh, I have been bitten by a snake.

00;16;13;00 - 00;16;18;17
Speaker 2
Okay, How would you feel that? God, no.

00;16;18;19 - 00;16;21;29
Speaker 1
I'm also guessing like a spitting, I think. Is this a cobra?

00;16;22;02 - 00;16;25;25
Speaker 3
It was a mozambican spitting cobra. Yes.

00;16;25;28 - 00;16;28;02
Speaker 2
Oh, like this name.

00;16;28;05 - 00;16;33;11
Speaker 1
So it's not pitch dark. It's almost like I'm trying to also picture you just getting a little bit of a glimpse of this.

00;16;33;11 - 00;16;43;12
Speaker 3
Little bit of a glimpse? Yeah. It's like I barely saw it. Like I saw the movement. Like it didn't move. I don't think I would have seen it, but I saw its head kind of so. Yeah.

00;16;43;14 - 00;16;46;00
Speaker 1
All right. And then. Then you scream, Ah.

00;16;46;00 - 00;17;01;23
Speaker 3
You know, people ask me, they're like, How did you remain so calm? And I was like, It was Jesus. Like, I'm not even kidding because I, I don't like snakes. I mean, I'm scared of snakes before this even happened. I don't, I don't like snakes. So, I mean, yeah, my first reaction would be like, to jump up, scream and, like, run away.

00;17;01;23 - 00;17;20;20
Speaker 3
But I just remained calm. I stayed silent. I got up slowly and I kind of walked like as father as I can get from the snake. I walked like, along the edge of my sleeping bag until I got to a safe distance, all while like watching it, which in itself is a miracle because they're known for blinding people like they spit at your eyes.

00;17;20;20 - 00;17;38;08
Speaker 3
That's their defense mechanism. So the fact that it didn't even hit me in my eyes was also God. And so then once I got to a safe distance, I just ran. And I woke up one of the camp counselors that was in the hall with us. And I was like, Man, I think I've been bitten by a snake.

00;17;38;11 - 00;17;54;26
Speaker 3
And I mean, it's like 3 a.m.. She's like this teenage girl, you know, She's like, You've been bitten by a snake. And I was like, I think so. And she's like, okay, show me where. And she turns her flashlight on. I'm like, somewhere here. And her eyes just go, like, huge. And she was like, Oh my gosh, she starts calling.

00;17;54;28 - 00;18;13;01
Speaker 3
They do have a snake guy on the campus. So she starts calling him. She's calling my teachers and my principal because he was there that day. And so now everyone's waking up. And that was kind of that whole night's kind of a blur. I do remember just sitting outside after the adrenaline had, like, worn off and I was crying.

00;18;13;01 - 00;18;32;07
Speaker 3
I started to feel it, you know, it was getting really sore. And I did have that moment because I do. It's funny, I watched this snake program with my grandpa. Every time I would go over to their house, I would watch. It's called Snakes in the City. And this guy goes in and he catches snakes that have like gone into people's houses and stuff like that.

00;18;32;07 - 00;18;48;21
Speaker 3
And it's one of my favorite shows. Like, I love watching it. And so I do know a lot of random facts about snakes, but the black mamba is like, you know, one of the most deadliest snakes. You could be dead within 30 minutes. So I did have this moment where I was sitting outside. I was like, what if it was a black mamba?

00;18;48;21 - 00;19;08;00
Speaker 3
Because they didn't know what kind of snake it was. At that point, I was like, What if I'm going to like, die in the next 10 minutes? I did have that thought. But again, the Lord kind of pushed that out and was like, No, you would be having symptoms by now. You still feel great. Like, and even if it was like, this is not, you know, you're going to be fine.

00;19;08;02 - 00;19;29;25
Speaker 3
So yeah. And then from there my principal offered to drive me to the hospital. So we drove in his car. It was him, a camp counselor giving him directions, and then two teachers of mine and I was in the middle in the backseat. And one of the side effects is that you get sick, you throw up. And so I threw up in my principals car on the way to the hospital.

00;19;30;02 - 00;19;30;09
Speaker 2
Which.

00;19;30;09 - 00;19;31;23
Speaker 3
Is probably like the funniest part of.

00;19;31;23 - 00;19;34;00
Speaker 2
The story. I felt.

00;19;34;00 - 00;19;53;02
Speaker 3
So bad. I was like, This is so embarrassing. Who's also like my new principal? Like, I didn't know him. This was like my second day meeting him and I just threw up in his car. But then, yeah, they took me. I went to three hospitals before I like because they were looking for the anti-venom just to have that in case something went wrong.

00;19;53;05 - 00;19;57;00
Speaker 3
And so the last hospital was the only one that had the anti-venom.

00;19;57;02 - 00;20;03;25
Speaker 2
So yeah, so he also told me that the girl next to you.

00;20;03;25 - 00;20;04;03
Speaker 3
Oh, yeah.

00;20;04;04 - 00;20;05;19
Speaker 2
Bitten by the same snake.

00;20;05;19 - 00;20;10;21
Speaker 3
My friend and I were. But yes, she was sleeping. So you were sleeping next to me. And when you.

00;20;10;21 - 00;20;13;14
Speaker 1
Threw the snake off of you onto her. Right. Is that how.

00;20;13;16 - 00;20;14;02
Speaker 2
The snake.

00;20;14;02 - 00;20;19;22
Speaker 3
Was actually in her sleeping bag? The snake? We don't know how it got there, but it was in her sleeping bag.

00;20;19;22 - 00;20;22;16
Speaker 2
Did she feel it, too, when it bit her?

00;20;22;18 - 00;20;42;09
Speaker 3
We've had, like, discussions about this because they think that she was bitten before I was. But she said that it didn't feel the same. Like it woke me up like it was so sore, like I could tell something was wrong where she she said that she woke up and she kind of felt something, but she didn't like she went back to sleep.

00;20;42;10 - 00;20;42;26
Speaker 3
It wasn't at.

00;20;43;01 - 00;20;51;03
Speaker 1
All. I don't know that they always inject the venom that makes sense. Like I think I forget what it's called may like a phantom bite or something like that. They don't always do that.

00;20;51;03 - 00;21;08;08
Speaker 3
Well, we also think that one of its fangs was actually broken because I had two holes when I entered in, but the one was really small and it closed up by itself, like they didn't have to do anything for it where she only had one hole. That's why she didn't think she was bitten. It just looked like a blister on her foot.

00;21;08;08 - 00;21;14;12
Speaker 3
So we do think that one of its fangs was broken. So that could have also affected her bite.

00;21;14;14 - 00;21;18;12
Speaker 2
So what was the medical treatment for that?

00;21;18;14 - 00;21;39;01
Speaker 3
So, yeah, we spent like two, three days in ICU. They said that my bite was the more critical, like the first 48 hours, because it's obviously closer to your organs, your heart and all that kind of stuff. So they were just like keeping you in ICU. They were watching my oxygen levels and like, just making sure that none of my organs fail, stuff like that.

00;21;39;01 - 00;22;04;04
Speaker 3
And then once, like we got out of the 48 hours, it was just wound care. So we got a plastic surgeon in and what they did, we went I went in for three operations on a monday, Wednesday, Friday. And so the first operation, they just like they cut, they kind of circle like they clean out the wound. And because in a snake's fang, the venom like pocket is at the bottom of the fang.

00;22;04;04 - 00;22;25;22
Speaker 3
So when it bit me, it went deep into my tissue and like the venom got stuck there and like, made a little sac at the bottom. So they had to like, get in and clean that out. And then the second operation they put like this vacuum in my like shoulder, which like it vacuums out the venom, but it also vacuums my tissues close together.

00;22;25;22 - 00;22;41;22
Speaker 3
So obviously it tore through a lot of tissue. So it was kind of like sucking the tissue back together. And then the last operation, they just stitched it from the bottom up and then stitched up my wound. And then obviously throughout all of this, we're on antibiotics to fight the infection.

00;22;41;25 - 00;22;44;03
Speaker 2
Do you still watch snake shows?

00;22;44;05 - 00;22;54;04
Speaker 3
I mean, we don't I can't get the show here. If I could, I would, but I can't get the snake show here. But when I went back to South Africa in the summer, so I saw.

00;22;54;06 - 00;22;54;25
Speaker 2
Or.

00;22;54;27 - 00;22;57;22
Speaker 3
20, 23, I did watch the snake show with my.

00;22;57;22 - 00;22;59;14
Speaker 1
Grandpa having superpowers.

00;22;59;15 - 00;23;00;15
Speaker 2
No.

00;23;00;17 - 00;23;02;29
Speaker 3
No, no. Unfortunately not. Not that I know.

00;23;02;29 - 00;23;03;14
Speaker 1
That we know.

00;23;03;14 - 00;23;03;21
Speaker 2
Of.

00;23;03;28 - 00;23;05;13
Speaker 3
Not that I know of.

00;23;05;15 - 00;23;07;04
Speaker 2
Certainly. No.

00;23;07;06 - 00;23;09;27
Speaker 1
Our heroes never tell you these things anyways. No.

00;23;10;00 - 00;23;12;00
Speaker 2
No, no, no.

00;23;12;02 - 00;23;12;24
Speaker 3
I wish.

00;23;12;27 - 00;23;22;27
Speaker 2
All right, so I didn't these questions here are just about you. I'm going to give it to you really fast. So just the first thing that comes your mind. Oh, What is your favorite safari destination?

00;23;23;00 - 00;23;28;16
Speaker 3
The Kruger National Park. Specifically? There's a camp called Satara Camp.

00;23;28;17 - 00;23;31;11
Speaker 2
Is that all in South Africa, or does it bleed over into other countries?

00;23;31;11 - 00;23;33;03
Speaker 3
All in South Africa.

00;23;33;05 - 00;23;37;27
Speaker 1
So when you're on a safari, what's your favorite animal to see or get so excited about?

00;23;37;29 - 00;23;41;10
Speaker 3
They're all really beautiful. But my personal favorite is a leopard.

00;23;41;13 - 00;23;43;08
Speaker 1
Oh, are they easy to find?

00;23;43;15 - 00;23;44;00
Speaker 3
They're not.

00;23;44;01 - 00;23;45;04
Speaker 1
I was going to say they're nice.

00;23;45;10 - 00;23;48;25
Speaker 3
That's why when you do find one, it's like it's a good sighting, usually. Yeah.

00;23;48;28 - 00;23;53;21
Speaker 2
All right. What's your least favorite animal? Cobra. That's just what's going to give.

00;23;53;21 - 00;23;56;22
Speaker 1
Her the sloth. I mean, it may not be.

00;23;56;25 - 00;24;09;20
Speaker 3
We don't really see snakes. Actually, when we. You do. I mean, apparently. I mean, I would just say like a buffalo or like a Impala. It's like a buck. That's a pretty common bug. I mean, I've seen enough of them.

00;24;09;23 - 00;24;11;20
Speaker 1
Favorite beach.

00;24;11;23 - 00;24;22;12
Speaker 3
For swimming. It would probably be in Durban, the Natal area, but just for like a better beach vacation, I would say Cape Town. There's a lot more stuff to do in Cape Town.

00;24;22;12 - 00;24;32;20
Speaker 1
So you mentioned swimming. You think about like what we asked you, what you felt about the United States. When I think of South Africa, I think of great white sharks. So is that is I am I over thinking that or is the only valid?

00;24;32;22 - 00;24;35;26
Speaker 2
Is that a common a common occurrence to see them.

00;24;35;28 - 00;25;00;18
Speaker 3
Oh yes. They're yeah, they're more common in South Africa like we that's why when we came to the U.S., our first beach trip that we took, there was like no lifeguards and no shark nets. And so we were like, are we allowed to swim here? Because in South Africa, you you have shark nets and you have lifeguards that tell you you can only swim in this area because, well, one, the waves, you know, the ocean is a little rougher there.

00;25;00;18 - 00;25;06;03
Speaker 3
But also to protect you from sharks.

00;25;06;05 - 00;25;13;10
Speaker 2
Yeah. What's your favorite South African dish? So that's a that's a tough one.

00;25;13;12 - 00;25;31;17
Speaker 3
I would say like a bird was roll. It's kind of it's like a sausage. It's a type of meat, but it's like a sausage. It's kind of like a hot dog, but with a specific type of meat or just like a good steak steak braai, we call them brides instead of barbecues. So yeah, like a good steak braai.

00;25;31;19 - 00;25;37;17
Speaker 3
And then dessert wise, manana makes this it's called milk tart. It's. Yeah.

00;25;37;19 - 00;25;39;05
Speaker 2
Now, what's in that?

00;25;39;07 - 00;25;50;13
Speaker 3
It's kind of hard to describe. It's like a creamy it's got like a pie base, a pie crust, and then it's a creamy mixture with like condensed milk, I think like a little bit of cinnamon on top. Yeah.

00;25;50;15 - 00;25;57;17
Speaker 1
So your favorite American dish, you mentioned Greek, but that may not be your favorite food item. Maybe it is. Is it? What's your favorite dish or, um.

00;25;57;20 - 00;26;12;01
Speaker 3
Favorite dish in America? Yes. Yeah, I'd probably say like a Greek dish. I like to Dicky's. I also like kava cause my family, we love this. Like a good bowl. Yeah. Will probably be my favorite.

00;26;12;03 - 00;26;13;05
Speaker 2
You ever go to Chick-Fil-A?

00;26;13;07 - 00;26;14;16
Speaker 3
Yes, I do like Chick-Fil-A.

00;26;14;20 - 00;26;20;03
Speaker 2
Okay. Yeah. Chicken tastes like ostrich jerky. Yeah. Oh, no. You like.

00;26;20;03 - 00;26;20;16
Speaker 3
Chick-Fil-A.

00;26;20;19 - 00;26;25;06
Speaker 2
What's your favorite South African tradition? Oh.

00;26;25;09 - 00;26;48;24
Speaker 3
I don't know. This is really a tradition, but we have a national rugby team, the Springboks, and they their world champion. So like, we have a really good rugby team. And so, um, when the World Cup comes around, everyone is like Springbok crazy. Like we would as a family, my family, we would have family brides would come together, share a meal and then we'd watch the game together.

00;26;48;24 - 00;26;57;20
Speaker 3
And so I don't really know if that's a tradition, but it's definitely one of my favorite parts of being South African. As we get to support the Springboks.

00;26;57;22 - 00;27;02;00
Speaker 1
Is there an American tradition that you've picked up that you enjoy Thanksgiving?

00;27;02;02 - 00;27;09;05
Speaker 3
I love my family. We did celebrate Thanksgiving back in South Africa, but not not like you do here. I love Thanksgiving.

00;27;09;08 - 00;27;12;15
Speaker 2
What's your favorite memory of South Africa?

00;27;12;18 - 00;27;32;26
Speaker 3
Probably one of my family trips to the Kruger National Park is probably one of my favorite memories. Yeah, the whole family would get together and it's just so nice being in nature and not having to worry about school or cell phones and stuff like that. And you just get to see God's creation. It's just it's really wonderful being in the safari animals.

00;27;32;26 - 00;27;35;05
Speaker 3
So I'll be like.

00;27;35;07 - 00;27;44;14
Speaker 1
All right, Well, Amy, thank you for taking some time with us today and you for being here and being at Lipscomb Academy and to hear what you're doing. It lives the university in the future. But thanks for your time today. Thank you.

00;27;44;15 - 00;28;15;21
Speaker 2
It thanks for listening. The Mustangs Unbridled An exploration into the lives of Lipscomb Academy students, alumni, teachers, parents and interesting folk. We meet along the way to learn more about our school visit. W w w Don Lipscomb Academy, dawg. Until next time when the Mustangs run free. This has been Mustangs vital.