Gastronomic Experiences in Cape Town

While I continue to slave away at my trip report recounting my ten days in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, I feel I should provide an update on the readjustment to civilisation, including hot water and a warm bed.

I arrived home in Rondebosch at a decent hour on Monday the 13th, permitting me to buy fresh milk and bread before the stores closed at 22h00 (10 p.m.). After a wonderful sleep, I went back to class at UCT on Tuesday morning. My Feasts and Famine class began our consideration of Zimbabwe's economic meltdown -- entirely appropriate as I had flown out of Zimbabwe just the day before.

The autumn has just arrived in the Southern world -- the leaves are changing colours along the main avenues of Cape Town's Southern Suburbs. It appears the shorts are done for the season too, but they will reappear before I return to the sweltering U.S. in July. Cape Town experiences mild winters, I am told. The main cause for concern is the rain, which will bring grey skies and much gloom to this part of the country until the end of August. I stocked up more Five Roses rooibos tea -- South Africa's national hot drink made from red bushes in the Northern Cape.

For the most part, I've used this week to get to know some acquaintances at UCT better. Reetu, a semester study abroad student from UC-Berkeley, and I had coffee and croissants on Wednesday afternoon at Cocoa Wah Wah, a beloved destination for semester study abroad students in Rondebosch. I invited a South African friend named Kwajo over for dinner just yesterday (Sunday). I prepared matzah ball soup, breadcrumb chicken and fresh broccoli with sliced watermelon for dessert. Kwajo has many Jewish friends at home in Johannesburg and felt comfortable with the soup.

Sunday afternoon before dinner, I shopped at the fancy Pick n Pay supermarket in nearby Newlands and found some wonderful favorites from home: Manischewitz Passover fruit slices (imported from Secaucus, N.J.), Israeli Elite Mikupelet milk chocolate, sliced deli-fresh roast beef, baking parchment paper and red horseradish and matzah. As I missed a seder this year, the horseradish, fruit slices and matzah ball soup provided the basics!

I ate dinner tonight with Elisabeth, a Norwegian student completing her full degree at UCT. We ate at a nice sushi, pasta and pizza restaurant (quite a hybrid!) in Claremont near the Cavendish Mall. Claremont is a 30-minute walk from my apartment in Rondebosch along the Main Road (the M4). [As I side note: wherever I travel, Claremont (sometimes spelled Clairmont) is always a very nice place. I have lived on the desirable Clairmont Campus at Emory, Claremont in Cape Town hosts a trendy shopping mall called Cavendish and Claremont in Oakland, Calif., includes a golf club and banquet halls.]

Elisabeth and I have the exact same class schedule -- all classes and tutorials are the same every day of the week. This came in handy when Elisabeth printed my midterm essay for me after I departed for Botswana.

Technically an "international student" like me, Elisabeth is based at UCT and studies here all semesters of college. Her parents come from Norway and Tanzania, so her mixed heritage provides her with a special vantage point to observe South Africa. She explained how her treatment improves at restaurants or clubs when waiters and waitresses hear her foreign accent. Once they identify her as "international," their attitude completely changes and service usually improves. The Western Cape is home to many people of mixed white and black heritage -- legally classified as "coloureds." They account for more than 50% of the Western Cape's population and their unique English/Afrikaans accent fills the air around the taxis. Nowhere else in the world does coloured culture thrive like in Cape Town.

Coloureds found slightly preferential treatment compared to blacks during Apartheid, leading to continued resentment and bad feelings between the two groups even after the end of the Apartheid system. I have learned that it is not unusual for a black waiter to offer poor service to a coloured table or vice versa. To South Africa's detriment, the Apartheid programme masterfully succeeded at driving a wedge between these two communities.

Several of my friends on Ida Cooper's study abroad programme and I screened 101 Dalmatians at the Charltan House in Mowbry last Friday. After Pongo rescued the puppies from Cruella de Ville's evil plot (with help from the Twilight Bark), we began to plan our upcoming weekend excursion (more in a later post).

The Lodge (my apartment) hosted a UCT professor and several students for dinner on Saturday. We may have an opportunity to take a trip up the West Coast with the professor in the not too distant future.

Finally, we are celebrating Lanre's birthday tomorrow at the Hussar Grill. (Danny and Sarah highly recommend this restaurant, and I look forward to trying the flesh.) Lanre is a friend in the Ida programme from UC-Berkeley.

I'd love to hear what is new with you in the States. Please leave a comment!