Sunday

So on Saturday, my lovely hosts allowed me to sleep late ... until 3:00 PM. Well, I thought 3 PM. It was actually 4 PM because my phone had the wrong time. I did not realize this for a few hours. I simply went and picked up some lunch and then returned to the house. I spent the evening reading and watching a few movies.

The next morning I went to church with Rene and Clive.  The service was at the Anglican Cathedral. It was an over 100-year-old building, stoned with a beautiful stained glass window at the back. Clive is one of the associate priests. This is where Desmond Tutu served as Archbishop. Indeed, his message of acceptance and equality came out in the priest’s sermon. I enjoyed the service as I think it is inspiring to see spiritual people. I was particularly moved by the diversity of the crowd. There were people of all races and ages in addition to sexual orientation. Rene took me outside where there was a labyrinth - a bricked patterned path to follow. It was a strangely relaxing exercise.

Once we returned from church, we had a quick breakfast then I departed with the intention of going to Robben Island. The weather was beautiful, and I had heard from numerous friends that their opportunities to go to Robben Island had been delayed or canceled by weather. I took a "taxi," which like in Kampala and also Zanzibar actually, are mini busses that stop on the side of the road for whoever wants in. The taxis go to town center. From there, I walked to the port where the ferry to Robben Island departs. Unfortunately this story has an extremely anti-climatic ending. The 1PM ferry was sold out and there was no 3 PM ferry due to the season. Lame.

The good news was that this gave me time to walk around and explore. First, I walked around the waterfront. The water was beautiful and blue, for a lack of a better description.  I love how mountain and sea are so near each other. It is truly delightful and a sight to be seen.  There was tons of shopping and places to eat. I saw people walking around carrying shopping bags with the big designer names. The area had It had a real touristy feel as I heard all sorts of languages from Italian to Spanish to English and unidentifiable. There was a beautiful view of the Cape Town Stadium, which was close by. This reminded me of all the wonderful times I had watching the World Cup in Kampala two years ago. I vividly remember thinking to myself , "I really want to go there."

I walked from the sea to the "city" as signs to guide tourist identified downtown Cape Town. For the next few hours, I roamed around. In a strange way, I was reminded of Glasgow, Scotland’s city center (where I studied in the fall) as I strolled. This surprised me. I think this feeling can be linked to the number of shopping areas and squares. One of the major differences, among many, is that there are beautiful views of mountains from most places in Cape Town. In Glasgow, I would have had to drive to see that. The bottom line is that Cape Town and Glasgow, while extremely different cities, share a sense of being a bit touristy yet confident in their roots, and increasingly hip. Interestingly, I think that there is probably a relationship between the fact that both cities have experienced great struggles in their past that still effect their social frameworks. While I doubt that many others would sense this similarity, I did. Seriously, for some reason I kept having these moments of thinking about Glasgow. This was not a bad thing as I have extremely fond feelings toward Glasgow, an underrated gem.  In fact, these thoughts caused me to feel comfortable and at home in Cape Town.

I was proud of myself for finding my way to Long Street where Katie had taken me. This was a major accomplishment. I knew I was in the right place when I saw a shirt in a window that I had jokingly told Katie to buy on Friday. I stopped by a sandwich shop she suggested. Then, I wandered around before returning home to Mowbray. Those who know me well know that I love to walk around new places so it was a successful day.

Before I conclude, I want to express how blessed I feel to be living where I am living. Not only is the location great, but also the family I am staying with is delightful. Rene reminds me of my mom in so many ways. She exudes happiness and a love of people that is infectious. In addition to making me feel part of the family, the Caesar family has given me guidance. They have a true understanding of the need to assist people with disabilities. Thus, they have provided me some great “connections.”

Finally, I have something very exciting to report. Tonight, I had dinner with the nephew of one of my mom’s friends. This in itself is worth writing about; however, I am only going to share one aspect … He took me to a great frozen yogurt place. If I was not convinced by Cape Town already, I surely am now!

- Feldman