The Beauty and Peace of Different Cultures Interacting

            Watching two cultures meeting for the first time in the documentary “Zulu Summer” was a thrilling experience.  Over several years by the way of a radio station and the internet three Zulu men, one a prince, started talking with a man in Butte Montana.  Eventually, the radio broadcaster in Butte Montana invited the Zulu men to his town for a visit.

            Arriving at the airport the Zulu men were greeted by a big group of towns’ people of Butte.  Leaving the airport the Zulus and the Americans went to lunch at the Butte town hall where the two cultures talked and ate and began to find out about each other.

            The city had arranged for the Zulus to stay in a lovely two story home.  The radio broadcaster drove them to the supermarket there for them to choose their groceries.  The Zulus were amazed to see how clean the store was and the large variety of foods there.

            Looking at the Americans and the Zulus interact was a joy to see.  Friendliness and hugs filled the air during the American and Zulus meeting times.  On the Fourth of July the Zulus were given the honor to lead it.  They learned about pot luck dinners at a party given for them.  Going to the place where people vote they found out violence was not part of that event.  They shared that in their country there was always many police guarding the voting area and even then violence would break out.

            Places of business were shown and they were driven to see the mountains, the farmlands and the ranches located nearby.  Zulus live in a flat dry area so Butte was quite different from the place where they live.  In the evenings sometimes they were taken to a local bar where they could have a drink and listen to the western music as they met and talked with more of the people of Butte.

            Near the end of the documentary we saw the town’s people at the airport hugging and saying good bye to their Zulu friends.  At the very end, we saw the Americans arriving in the country of the Zulus for a visit.

            Looking at these two cultures meeting and enjoying each other’s company while they learned about how the other ones lived I think is a lesson for all of us to see how peace could be achieved.

            I found it interesting to see an example of what my culture looks like at least some of the time.