and Thomas who we met up with, we are in a lovely little town called Fishhoek situated 30 minutes south of Capetown on False Bay, a wide sweeping bay that warms up sufficiently for good swimming. We have a wonderful room/suite in the home of a local artist with a great view of the mountains and sea. We are glad to be here for four days before heading back to Capetown for two nights before our final splurge – a 'luxury' 26 hour train trip all the way from Capetown to Johannesburg and a night there before flying out late on the 19th and arriving in Seattle on the 20th. And no our train is not the famed Blue Train or Rovos which can cost upwards of $2000 US per person for a trip – but we're hopeful it will be a nice way to end and celebrate our two and a half month South African odyssey. Capetown is Africa's most cosmopolitan city.
Coming from the stillness and peace of Amber Lagoon in the Karoo I was expecting some culture shock enter
ing the city – a city – but I was startled at the adjustment. (Even with two nights in Mossel Bay and one in Montagu on a farm – both nice places but mainly memorable for being kept awake by other loud guests – it was still a rapid compression.) After two and a half months we are back in a large humming metropolis with a proper downtown, a waterfront that rivals any other tourist waterfront in the world and the energy and urbanness is palpable. We stayed in a backpackers in the heart of it, minutes from the waterfront, minutes from swanky expensive stores and the rising stadium that will host the World Cup semifinals here in 500 days or so.
ing the city – a city – but I was startled at the adjustment. (Even with two nights in Mossel Bay and one in Montagu on a farm – both nice places but mainly memorable for being kept awake by other loud guests – it was still a rapid compression.) After two and a half months we are back in a large humming metropolis with a proper downtown, a waterfront that rivals any other tourist waterfront in the world and the energy and urbanness is palpable. We stayed in a backpackers in the heart of it, minutes from the waterfront, minutes from swanky expensive stores and the rising stadium that will host the World Cup semifinals here in 500 days or so.
We are back in trendy, consumer world.
It doesn't sit well.
We are also confronted with the issues of the city – the poor, the needy – the blind man stumbling toward us with hand outstretched, the two young drug addicted boys holding out their shaking hands, the angry young male shouting threats to female passersby.
The least, the last, the lost – whether poor and needy or the rich tourist or trendy local who is also lost and needy – all looking, trying to find something that will heal the ache and fill the loneliness.
Kathleen Norris writ
es in The Cloister Walk that “Cities remind us that the desire to escape from the problems of other people by FLEEING (emphasis mine) to a suburb, small town or a monastery for that matter, is an unholy thing, and ultimately self-defeating. We can no more escape from other people than we can escape from ourselves.” Wherever we are we are meant to “be a part of the city of the living God, and you're challenged to make something of it. Do you reflect Benedict's belief that “the divine presence is everywhere”? Do you work as Jeremiah reminds us to do, for the welfare of the city to which God has sent you? Can you say with Isaiah, “About Zion I will not be silent, about Jerusalem I will not rest, until her integrity shines out like the dawn, and her salvation flames like a torch?”
es in The Cloister Walk that “Cities remind us that the desire to escape from the problems of other people by FLEEING (emphasis mine) to a suburb, small town or a monastery for that matter, is an unholy thing, and ultimately self-defeating. We can no more escape from other people than we can escape from ourselves.” Wherever we are we are meant to “be a part of the city of the living God, and you're challenged to make something of it. Do you reflect Benedict's belief that “the divine presence is everywhere”? Do you work as Jeremiah reminds us to do, for the welfare of the city to which God has sent you? Can you say with Isaiah, “About Zion I will not be silent, about Jerusalem I will not rest, until her integrity shines out like the dawn, and her salvation flames like a torch?”
It is a good reminder of why we are on this journey.
Capetown has an amazing mountain. Without this instantly recognizable piece of sandstone
(I think) it would just be another beach town. Instead it is one of the most picturesque places in the world. We spent our days in Capetown exploring with Lilian and Thomas - the District Six museum which chronicles the desolation of the District Six area in the name of apartheid and now its resurrection, other downtown areas and then further afield venturing down to Cape Point – not the most southern point in Africa but where most people go who want to experience this. It is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet and where the sea continues on for 5000 kilometers before reaching Antarctica. On the way, we stopped to see the Penguins – yes Penguins in the hot sun
on the beach in Simonstown! We found many good eats and spent hours talking together about life here and where we come from respectively. Lilian and Thomas have been a gift to us to end ourtrip with. They are generous, fun, sensitive and both have a wonderful sense of humor. We have thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them, learning new words from each other, laughing much. We had both spent the past three plus months traveling although they had their first month in Namibia while we were in Europe. We took them to the airport yesterday for their flight back to Switzerland after enjoying one more good meal at Harrie's Pancakes.
Duncan
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