The evening was filled with story-telling (and ghost story telling), soccer matches on TV, and even a few songs on the slightly-out-of-tune piano. But it didn’t conclude until we’d finished a lively round of karaoke by way of the video game Rock Band, which someone set up in the back room. Overall, it was a fun evening with great company, and the atmosphere seemed to capture the sense of comfort and familiarity we’ve developed over the past few weeks in this new country and amongst the people we’ve met here.
On Sunday, half of our group opted to spend the day at Muizenberg beach, while the other six of us decided to see a movie at a nearby cinema. While some of the group has readily adapted to the novelties of “authentic” South African living by avoiding activities that they generally associate with home, I saw no harm in catching a good American film that afternoon, so three of us chose to see Revolutionary Road.The nearest theater, however, is the Nu Metro at Canal Walk, a giant mall incorporated in an impossibly large, on-going development project that began in 2000, and thus bears the name Century City.
We’d passed the flashy, modern mini-city a few times as we traveled the Western Cape during our first week of orientation, so we’d already been introduced to the concept – and sheer size – of the development. We’d also been warned about this Consumer Mecca, which rises in all its rampant commercialism amidst a sea of otherwise unremarkable suburbs. The vastness of the complex, as we approached in our metered cab, evoked the same overwhelming feeling as driving into Las Vegas after traversing miles of flat, unperturbed desert. There was even a rollercoaster weaving around some of the gleaming structures on the left. It was easy to see how Century City is the biggest commercial center in southern Africa, containing the most specialty shops of any place in the southern hemisphere.The six of us spent a few hours walking up and down the massive mall, getting lost in the lights and glitz of familiar brand names that jumped off the signs of the 400+ stores. Some people bought a few items, but mostly we were just venturing around in a bit of a stupor, trying to make sense of the brazen atmosphere of consumerism, against the backdrop of poverty and the socioeconomic struggles we’ve seen here in Cape Town over the last few weeks.
We ate a hurried lunch/dinner at a small restaurant on the lower level of the mall, and then split up either to see the movie or continue walking around. Those of us who chose the movie were treated to a 33 Rand ($3.30) viewing of a compelling film, from the comfort of a spacious, pre-selected armchair. The familiar (if not far more comfortable) theater environment made the experience feel a bit like traveling home to Connecticut for a couple of hours.We finished the evening with a few more stops at interesting-looking shops and an enticing Gelato stand. Then we called a cab around 9:00, and headed home to prepare for our second week of internships. We’ve become familiar enough with transportation into Rondebosch that we noted our cab driver chose a very indirect route on the way back to the house, so before we paid, one particularly outspoken member of the group haggled the too-high metered fare down to a price that was comparable to the one we’d paid for the earlier ride. Her success was a testament to our steady assimilation into the life in Cape Town, as well as our increasing confidence as temporary residents of South Africa.
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