A Resident Tourist

Sorry for the delay in writing this post, but I have been busy exploring the city for the past two days. Since I don't have class on Fridays due to an awesome Sociology professor who decided to cut back the number of lectures for our class, I spent the day in Cape Town at the Castle of Good Hope. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is rare to find time to be alone here, so it was a treat to be able to wander through the castle by myself and to get a somewhat topographical view of the city. While the military history of the castle is interesting, what I enjoyed most about my visit was discovering a working art studio/gallery in which about a dozen local artists gather to create modern artwork, mostly in the form of paintings, with the exception of one artist who creates shapes out of wire and beads - I bought an elephant with Tufts in mind. I spoke with one of the artists whose paintings I like a lot, and he told me that the space is rented to aspiring local artists that cannot afford to rent space elsewhere in the city to paint and sell their work. While the workspace is rented to the artists by the government at a very inexpensive rate, they must commit to spending at least three days per week in the studio. 

As a result, the government ensures that its artists will produce artwork and bring culture to the city, so it is a win-win situation. I really liked hearing this story, especially now that I am taking an art history course with a focus on South African artwork.

Continuing with my city exploration, my roommate and I devoted yesterday to experiencing some of the museums in Cape Town, most of which are situated around the Company's Garden (a not-so-nice public park). We started at the Slave Lodge, a slavery museum located in the building that originally housed the Cape slaves in the mid-1600s. While this museum was interesting, we were hoping that the others would be less dry and more interactive. We walked through the park (a little sketchy, but safe nonetheless) until we reached the South African National Gallery, which houses both South African and European artwork. The collection had a few great pieces, but by and large, we were unimpressed. We ate lunch afterwards at an authentic Ethiopian restaurant called Addis in Cape, which came highly recommended by a friend who studied here last year (thanks Marisa!). The food was delicious, and seeing as it was my first time eating Ethiopian food, the whole meal was quite an experience! After lunch, we walked through the market at Greenmarket Square, in which we stumbled upon another museum called the Michaelis Collection at Old Town House. The building itself is a beautiful Cape Rococo-style house built in 1755. The artwork inside was

largely unimpressive, though. We began to think that museums are not the focal of Capetonian culture, but nonetheless we gave the South African Museum a try. Not surprisingly, this natural history museum was not very good, so we gave up on museums for the day. There are few others around the city, which I hope to visit at some point, but I'm in no hurry as I do not have overly high hopes for them.

Last night, we went out to the clubs on Long Street. I realize I have not written anything about our evening activities, which comprise some of the most fun I have had in Cape Town. Unfortunately, last night was not a good example of my fun nights on the town in that I was forced to deal with some drunken drama at the end of the night. While the details of the story are not important, I felt uncomfortable leaving some of the girls I was with alone on Long Street as they seemed vulnerable in my estimation. I have noticed that South African men that choose to take advantage of women, foreigners or not, seek out women that are alone. As soon as a man arrives on the scene, no matter how intimidating he may or may not be, the potential predator will back off. I am not sure how race factors into this equation, but I do know that white American girls are quite conspicuous on Long Street at 1 AM, and it is important for them to remain vigilant, even when out drinking. I fear that Americans, myself included, have a sense of invisibility when abroad, which can lead to serious problems. As a result, it is important for us to watch out for one another. No one should have to be the martyr for us all to realize that Cape Town is not like the safe American cities that we are all accustomed to. That said, most nights out here have been a blast, and everyone has returned home safe and sound without any drama. Cape Town has amazing nightlife, and I can't wait to take advantage of it throughout the semester.

On a more positive note, today has been the perfect lazy Sunday. I slept in, did some of my work for class tomorrow, and ate lunch at a great place called Mimi's in Observatory (aka "Obs"), which is just down the Main Road from my house. Tonight, my roommate and I are going to see a show at the Artscape theater in town, which should be fun. Looking forward to another week of classes and experiences. More soon...