Capetonian ways

Time to tuck away the Christmas decorations. They felt out of place either way. I didn’t get the point of putting up decorated trees and lighting window sills when we had the longest day in the South African summer. That shows how much is geared at the northern hemisphere still. But these happy habits die hard, don’t they? If it were up to certain political parties, they would have scrapped Christmas as a national holiday, because it is mainly a white man’s holiday. But too many people oppose that.

Latest developments included me getting a nice laundry machine, a power blender and a whole set of sofas. Yes, yes, I am steadily gathering all the household stuff I need. Every item adding a bit of luxury or independence. Which is good and necessary because I was getting accustomed to camping out in my own apartment, and that’s not really good is it?
Now as the saying goes, when you’re in Rome, do as the Romans do. Replace Rome with Cape Town etc… and that would mean I try to do what people do here, and in the way they do it.

One of such attempts included standing in a long traffic jam along the coastline to find a place at the beach on the 1st of January. It is something all Capetonians do. From townships and inland cities, people make their way to all the different beaches along the coast. And for the first time I felt the demographic numbers were represented correctly: I was the only white dude around. Whites are the minority in SA, with only 10% of the population. But where I have been so far, whites are by far the majority so it was nice to see it turned around for once.

Second attempt was a visit to the festival called “Tweede Nuwejaar” (second New Year). It was not very spectacular, but a good deal of fun. Seeing all the people dressed up in colorful clothes and playing catchy rhythms under the scorching sun was quite entertaining for a while.

A third step in the process of acting like the Capetonians was getting a house maid. Most people have a maid coming once or twice per week, and she does all kinds of chores. At first I didn’t want to do that. But the idea grew on me, and I’d be employing someone, right? I’d enjoy it and the lady would be helped as well. In a country with 48% unemployment and no welfare system I think that is a valid argument. Plus it sounds quite posh and it would be very comfortable, wouldn’t it? Ironing done, kitchen cleaned, that kind of stuff. So she came for the first time this week. And to prove that it is an interesting exercise in integration (as well as luxury won’t deny that) is that I’ve found out that you have to provide a meal for everyone you employ for an entire day. So next to the wage I pay I have to make sure there are sandwiches for the lady. I’ve heard South Africans telling stories about how their maid raided the fridge at every chance the got. From now on, if that occurs, I can put on a serious face and engage in the conversation with stories about "my maid" :-)