Living in //Hui !Gaeb

For those confused about the post title, read this article about the new Khoisan name for Cape Town. 

 
I have been in Cape Town for almost a month, and what a month it has been. Most of my time and energy has gone into settling into my new job, and the rest has been spent on searching for permanent accommodation. With regards to the first, I love my job, though it has been an intense few weeks and the people I work with are highly intelligent and driven.

Apartment hunting, on the other hand, has been nothing short of a nightmare. Never mind the fact that places never do their advertised photographs justice, for the most part, agents do not seem to care one nanometer about potential tenants since there is such a high demand for places to rent. In my recent experience, given the following, choose none.

 

 

However, tenacity and perseverance have paid off, and if all things go as planned (which they never seem to do, so touch wood), I will be moving into the new apartment this weekend. And not a moment too soon, either. Anyone living out of suitcases and showering with cold, damp towels should not expect to be in a pleasant mood, no matter how beautiful the city they live in. There also has not been much time left over for exploring, so I cannot wait to get settled so that I can better acquaint myself with the Mother City.

To distract myself from the inevitable disgruntledness resulting from wet towels, wrinkled clothes and cabin fever, I made a checklist of sorts of peculiar things I have spotted in Cape Town thus far. These include:

• A real-life Zooey Deschanel hipster lookalike shopping in Woolworths food
• A man pushing his transportable market stall on a trolley down a main road, being followed by a police car blaring "GET OUT OF THE ROAD!" through a loudspeaker
• One chilly Thursday morning, we had a great view from our kitchen windows at work of some guys relaxing in their rooftop jacuzzi
• A whole family arrived for dinner at an Indian restaurant, all packed into a bus
• An Asian mother teaching her toddler daughter how to walk backwards
• In a restaurant, a little girl came and deposited fresh seaweed on the table  

 

And a few for which I have photographic evidence, in case I hear "pics or it didn't happen".

• An almost indecipherable message left on my car window from an inconvenienced passive-aggressive neighbour:

• A rainbow which lasted for nearly an hour:

 

• A Bos vending machine giving out free Bos drinks for tweets:

 

• A house in the street my aunt lives in caught fire, billowing clouds of smoke, spotted from work:

As the weather continues to behave like a heartbroken teenager, my to-do list is being filled with items that involve indoor activities. Mostly this includes visiting museums, doing lots of baking, becoming a patron of local restaurants and eating banana bread baked by a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Once the new apartment has been furnished, I will get right on that.

Becoming Capetonian

I arrived in Cape Town a week ago, and it's been a pretty crazy awesome time so far. I was in Cape Town on holiday in February and my expectation was framed mostly by my memories of holidaying, which is unfortunate, as there seem to be certain quirks and idiosyncrasies of the Mother City that became apparent to me only once I moved here.

It is not difficult to see why Cape Town made it onto CNN's top 10 most loved cities in the world [link]. My eyes feast daily on stunning views of the mountains and the Cape archipelago. My taste buds delight in the variety of restaurants serving various cuisines. I have been warned that Capetonians are notoriously clique-y, but I've found everyone to be very friendly. There are a few things about this city that I'm still getting used to, though.


Driving in Cape Town is horrific. This might seem like an exaggeration after driving in Gauteng, but it is atrocious in a wholly different way. Not only does it appear as if a drunkard was employed as town planner, but completely different road rules apply. It also doesn't help that the streets tend to be narrow and congested with parallel parked cars which block visibility when attempting to turn or cross a road. Generally, this means Capetonians on the road drive by blind faith and you'll find cars coming at you from all directions. Pedestrians will run across intersections despite the flow of traffic not being in their favour. There are also numerous accidents, usually resulting from attempting to park in tight situations. There would probably be many more if people did not insist on driving at a snail's pace.


Finding parking in Cape Town is a divine gift. There are parking arcades hidden in secret locations known only to a few, with expensive rates and obnoxious ticket booth attendants. Often only street parking is available (even at certain residential addresses) so a refresher course in parallel parking is recommended. It's also best to have a map book when driving because the GPS can often fail you here.


Capetonians are oddly clued up on weather forecasts. Ask anyone and they will be able to tell you when the rain will be taking over and for how long. They also refer to tv forecasters on the news channels as if they are old friends. Knowing the moods of the weather is also fortunate, as everyone assures me the metro police will not be found setting up roadblocks and writing parking tickets when it's wet.


Punctuality seems to be a foreign concept to Capetonians. They are too busy relaxing and enjoying life to notice the time. I arrived an hour and a half too early on my first day of work, despite being on time in terms of my contract. Do not expect anyone to be in the office before 9 am. 


Shopping centres in Cape Town have generally been replaced by "lifestyle centres", characterised by the presence of a Woolworths Food, and are perilously difficult to locate, even with the help of Google. Little unobtrusive cafés selling delicious gourmet sandwiches nestle between car repair shops on quiet streets and would remain largely undiscovered if it were not for the locals leading the way.


Cape Town is a place where cultures converge. All colours and creeds are represented, and there doesn't seem to be any group in the minority here. "Expect the unexpected" doesn't apply, because that which determines what is to be expected appears fluid in a place where societal rules seem to be as elemental as the weather. Instead, "expect nothing" is rather fitting; leave your assumptions behind, and you'll love this vibrant city.