Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

One full week in Cape Town later, I’m still trying to warm up to this new locale. Given the constant torrential downpour and the whipping wind, it’s taking a conscious effort. I was told amazing things about this city, ‘the most beautiful one in the world,’ but arriving in the middle of winter and harbouring my own general apathy towards cities, I’m currently – dare I say it – unimpressed.

I understand that I am not in Canada, and I’m very tolerant of things like our apartment having a bath but no shower, and a stove but no kettle or toaster, and an electric blanket but no indoor heating. What I can’t stand is the insecurity. (And, I can’t stress this enough, the weather.)

It starts when I leave our place in the morning. I have to lock the door to my bedroom, then the door to our apartment, then the gate to our apartment, then the door to our apartment building, then the gate to our apartment complex. Needless to say, being in a hurry sucks and realizing that you’ve left your umbrella in your room after you’ve made it all the way outside sucks even more.

For that matter, walking doesn’t get me very far because, unlike McGill, the University of Cape Town is not in the centre of the city, but in a more suburban area. I fear that I’ll never know the city well, because I can’t walk around most of it.

It gets worse after dark. Going out then involves calling one of the drivers that has been recommended to us and requesting to be picked up. He will work us into his own busy schedule and we will be picked up, dropped off, and retrieved at a time that is possible for him. Walking at night is just not smart, so whether we want to go to a dance club downtown or just down the road to visit friends, we are required to wait, sometimes up to an hour, for a driver.

Having gotten that all off my chest…

There are elements about life here that I adore. I love the view from my window, which boasts a lemon tree and Devil’s Peak, part of Table Mountain, pictured below. I love UCT’s massive, green, beautifully architected campus at the foot of Table Mountain. I love the view of the ocean from the top of campus. I love Sundays, which are still a ‘day of rest’ with almost all shops closed and the roads and sidewalks void of crowds. I love the ‘cultural experiences’ of hailing a crowded mini-bus for a lift, being assigned a seat at the movie theatre, and realizing just how little rhythm I have compared to the predominantly black African crowd at the clubs.

I love how closely my living conditions resemble the set-up on Friends. The apartment building I’m living in is a four-plex, with four sets of roommates living in separate apartments of the two-story building. My roommate Alberta (so very Rachel) and I have our own rooms and share a kitchen, bathroom, common room, and balcony. Our neighbours, guys and girls, all gather at a nearby coffee shop on a regular basis. Pre-arranging it is not necessary.

And there are awesome benefits to living in a city, like finally seeing the new Harry Potter movie and going to see a professional soccer game between a South African and an English team at the nearby stadium. (We lost; I loved it anyway.)

I’m furthermore really excited for school to start tomorrow. I’m registered for a beginner’s Afrikaans course, two sociology courses, and a political science one. I hope to be able to start some volunteer work this week as well. I feel reasonably well prepared for the semester after spending all week participating in UCT’s orientation (far more practical and tame than McGill’s).

The best part of orientation – and the least serious – was on the first day when we took a bus tour of the greater Cape Town region, stretching out to the Cape of Good Hope where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. I’m posting pictures of our hike along the Peninsula below.

So Cape Town is home, because I’ve chosen it, and instinct tells me that I’m going to like it better with each passing week.

Table Mountain and Devil's Peak as seen from the top of our road.

Some of the UCT orientation crowd pose at the Cape of Good Hope.

Neil, Luke, and I pause during our hike.