Western Cape, South Africa

Approaching the end of my first week in South Africa, and it is proving to be very much what I had expected.

Stellenbosch, my home town, is really more of an outer suburb of Cape Town. It is South Africa’s second oldest city, dating back to the 1600s and is remarkably well preserved -  many of the building are original or date back to the 1700/1800s. Stellenbosch is essentially a larger, hipper version of Napa or Sonoma, only the town itself is far nicer. It is literally surrounded on all sides by vineyards and mountains, and there are even a number of vineyards in the town itself. The buildings (in the nice – read ‘white’ – areas) are all white washed and immaculate, with green or brown trim… some even sport thatched roofs. From what I gather, this is the area where South Africa’s wealthy come to play and drink lots good wine. There are a number of beaches nearby, though none within walking distance. The closest is the Strand. In and around Cape Town there is also Clifton and Camps Bay – both with white sand, icy turquoise waters and large sharks.

The people here are generally a good looking bunch – think Aryan in the extreme. Blond hair, dark tans, blue eyes, all fit and really tall– you don’t see anyone overweight or out of shape. And the accent is obviously kryptonite (for me at least). Focusing on school might be difficult - I'm finding the men very distracting. They dress differently to back home – more relaxed and preppy. In fact, it is so casual that half the time people don’t bother wearing shoes in the city. In restaurants, in grocery stores, walking down the city street, at the Uni…apparently shoes are not a requirement here – no shoes, no worries – you will still receive service.

There is a black population as well, though their area of town is a township called Kayamandi. I believe it has around 40,000 residents, and looks exactly as they do in movies. Think tin shacks, crushing poverty, filthy. After traveling through the Middle East I have to confess that it does not shock me like it might had I just left Canada. I hate to admit that if I am walking down a street and I am the only white person, it does make me feel a little nervous. The tension that one can feel is actually accentuated in Cape Town more so than here. But nonetheless, it does exist. On my very first day, a black man tried to follow me into the house. Luckily I got our gate locked quickly. All the houses feature electric or barbed wire fencing, jail bar style gates on the doors and windows and alarm systems. Apparently the police are completely useless and corrupt so private security is a must, and many people know special men to call should they need 'help' with crime situations.

The main language is actually Afrikaans, which is a Dutch hybrid of sorts. Thankfully, because I know a fair amount of German I can often read Afrikaans. But speaking it, especially the pronunciations, will be tough. They use that guttural throat sound that Canadians struggle with. I have picked up a few phrases already and hope to have a decent command of the language within six months. In the meantime, luckily Stellenbosch University is bilingual. My old German habits are coming back quickly – I already find myself saying “ja” instead of yes thanks to the years spent in Germany growing up.

There are some other differences as well. Sleeping with mosquito nets in a must for me.  Having a ‘domestic” or as we would say ‘a maid’ is taking some getting used to. I’m scared I’m going to develop some filthy habits once I adapt to someone always cleaning up after me. The quality of things such as food – especially produce – is much lower, and for somewhere that is supposed to have so much seafood, there is no fish at the grocery store. This makes me sad. Also bank fees, cell phones and internet are WAY more expensive than in Canada. Contrary to popular belief, and to my great disappointment, the cost of living isn’t really much cheaper. I had expected it to be so much less. But then again, I think Stellenbosch is a special bubble where things cost five times as much as everywhere else in ZA.

The weather is for the most part spectacular. Sunny, blue skies and hot. Though the sun is perhaps a little too intense a times. Lots of sunscreen, sunhats and even a sun umbrella Asian-style are de rigeur. One thing that is surprising is the wind – it’s actually hard to wear sunhats because they generally get blown off your head. The wind is intense, as in it can blow a full grown person over. Apparently in winter it rains solidly for two months straight, even more so then in Vancouver. But I think I can live with that if it only lasts for a brief spell. All of the streets here feature deep gutters with streams (which make getting out of the passenger side of car doors dangerous – you can easily fall right in), so I expect the rains must be fierce.

I have made some new friends – only a few South Africans, but that is starting to change. I’ve also hooked up with some really nice Germans. I’m trying to avoid too many foreign students as the whole purpose of me being here is to experience ZA culture. There are a ton of Americans at the Uni, which is disappointing… but no Canadians to be found anywhere. I have to say, South Africans love Canadians. I'm mobbed by people when they hear me speak. I haven't had this much attention since I lived in Australia. Secretly, I kind of like it *blush*.  And contrary to the rest of my travels, no one has asked if I'm Chinese, Japanese or Jordanian. I’ve joined a few societies, including photography, the UN, dance and wine, so expect to meet more locals through those. I've also met up with a friend of my former CEO Ron, who's family owns a game reserve north of Johannesburg. I'm planning a trip up there to meet the animals and play with the baby lions. I can't wait! We went for dinner last week with some friends of his that own wineries out in Somerset West. After a fantastic dinner at one of the local vineyards we went to their house on top of the mountain. There was a full moon and the house was set on a vineyard. You could see the lights of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, and the two oceans spread out below. It was...basically...magical. Yes, I like it here very, very much.