Kaya's observations of Cape Town

A list of observations or notes about Cape Town:

1. Time is very flexible in Cape Town. I think this can be easily summed up into the fact that when Capetonians say “now” it means in about ten minutes, but when they say “now now” it actually means now. This has been something difficult for me to get used to because I’m typically the type of person who is at least fifteen minutes early.
2. As to be expected when visiting a foreign country, food is different. However, not necessarily in the way you’d expect there to be exotic dishes. More in the way that sweet potatoes here are much more like regular potatoes, mustard is much more like honey mustard, and milk is sweeter. In some instances, this can be annoying to deal with. But in others, it’s nice. I don’t put sugar in my coffee here usually anymore, bonus!
3. Speaking of coffee, iced coffee doesn’t really exist. That’s a bit dramatic. It does, but you have to really seek it out. When you order an iced coffee, you will usually get a blended coffee that is very similar to a milkshake. It’s delicious, but not always what you want.
4. Townships are loud. I don’t mean this in the way that they have cars zooming by or that construction is present. No, I mean “Sorry” by Justin Bieber is usually booming out of someone’s home. People are dancing in the street when they pass someone playing music they like. I love this.
5. We were warned about this before coming but it’s still shocking, people talk about race very openly. It can be very hard to adjust to. Sometimes it will be something like, “It’s horrible the conditions black people are facing in the townships.” Other times it will be something such as, “Black people are taking the jobs away from colored people.” Both statements are really sad, and show the deep scars apartheid has had on the country.
6. I haven’t had a single white server. The hosts and managers are almost always white, while the servers are almost always black or colored. This, again, shows the scars of apartheid and racial inequality in the country.
7. South Africa is often referred to as the “America” of Africa. Many locals have said this to me and they mean this in the way that many people dream of moving to South Africa in hopes of freedom or job opportunities.
8. Music is a huge part of the culture. I have never seen so many restaurants also playing at dinner in one place. If you love jazz, Cape Town is definitely the place to be.
9. For the most part, religious groups live very harmoniously together. I think it’s absolutely beautiful that so many stores and restaurants close for Islamic prayers, especially the FridayJumah prayer. This rarely happens in the U.S. It’s amazing that all religious groups are accepting of workers need to pray and understand that the store needs to close briefly for this to happen.
10. We have been able to do so many things here that Capetonians themselves have not been able to do. When speaking to women I work with from my internship, they are not able to hike Table Mountain, go on the Garden Route, or spend the day at Muizenburg Beach. I’m not incredibly surprised by this, but it does make me extremely thankful for the experiences I have been able to have in Cape Town.