It’s been quite awhile. I suppose my ability to sit down and write these things has dwindled, possibly coinciding with a lack of reliable internet access and a pure inability to sit myself still for more than twenty minutes. Regardless, I figure I should utilize the burst of inspiration I received on this monday afternoon. I am sitting on my apartment balcony, listening to the familiar sounds emanating from Green Market Square, one of Cape Town’s many bustling areas of music, art, and people. While in my apartment, I can rely on the company of construction workers on the neighboring balcony. Their work creates a mechanical soundtrack of slamming hammers, high-pitch wood saws, and precarious knocking sounds that I often mistaken as the hands of a visitor at my door. I can’t say I have a positive relationship with the electric wood saw; the darn thing has morphed into an unwanted 8 AM alarm clock that can’t be snoozed. Nevertheless, I love the hustle and bustle of Green Market Square. I love that I can walk outside every day to look up at table mountain poking through the geometric lines of the buildings. I like that the yellow edifice directly across from my apartment has Corinthian pillars that highlight bold black letters proclaiming it as the “leadership house.” Whatever that means. I like that this area has roads made of grey cobblestone that weave through various venders and the feet of some little girls who dance and sing Xhosa songs to the beat of a drum on a daily basis. There’s always the regular street singers, my favorite being a blind man who sits on a dark blue crate while strumming his guitar as it sits vertically on his knees, strings facing in. I typically pass him on my way to the mini-bus station, but I never neglect to read the cardboard sign on the outfacing side of his instrument that informs each passerby of his 95 rand CDSs for sale. I have yet to see a tangible pile of his musical creations, but I fully intend on buying one before leaving this place.
Since I last wrote, I have completed two more home stays; a one-week stay in Stellenbosch, as well as a one-week stay in Bo-Kaap. Stellenbosch is a predominantly Afrikaaner area twenty minutes away from the city, and Bo-Kaap is a “coloured” community that sits on a hill overlooking the heart of Cape Town. The two home stays were completely different, and between the two I viewed vast wine country, attended a mosque in traditional Muslim dress, drove a tractor, listened to the call of prayer five times each day, developed an appreciation for hard-boiled eggs, road in the bed of a truck on multiple occasions (sorry mom), saw Elton John in concert (we were undoubtedly the only people under the age of 45), watched a rugby game between UCT and Stellenbosch, and learned how to cook some Malay food. Curry is fantastic. At the end of the last two home stays, however, I was ready to live on my own. I couldn’t wait to move into an apartment we had arranged in Cape Town.
So, the last month of this program is upon me. During this time, all SIT students live independently while completing independent study projects. So two weeks ago, I moved into the apartment with four other friends in the program. We reside above Baran’s, a Kurdish restaurant that emphasizes the art of Hookah and compliments any interior designer’s love of soft embroidered pillows and swooping silk curtains. Our two-bedroom apartment quickly felt like home, mostly due to valiant efforts to decorate it. Above my bed is a large mirror, and above it a proudly hung South African flag that involved quite a bit of physical stamina to hang. My five-foot-one-self could not muster the height to hang the flimsy thing, so my roommate Julie proceeded to hoist and support my behind as I balanced on top of the headboard to secure the flag’s four corners firmly on the wall. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that the flag was indeed placed upside-down....and upside-down it stays. Besides the acknowledgment of my lacking flag-hanging skills, life here is great. Most of the other SIT students live nearby, so our four block radius of residency has allowed us to see a lot of one another. More importantly, the close proximity has re-introduced “four square” into my life. This is due to my friends’ scotch tape creation on their common room carpet. That game can turn any dull night into an exciting one. Speaking of, I must get ready for a “birthday dinner” for two of my friends. Their birthdays fall in July and September. It’s April 26th, but who’s counting? Our goal is to get an abundance of free desserts at Spur, South Africa’s equivalent to Applebees. It’s completteelllllyyy politically correct theme of Native Americans dressed in feathers and animal skins will surely create a décor unlike any other party scene. I better snatch myself a free t-shirt or something. Until later,
Love across the world
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