I miss South Africa today. Typically I never think about places I have been. Not in their truest form at least; sometimes I will think about memories or feelings attached to things done or seen in that place, but never the place.
In my mind, once gone, there should be no looking back. But I find myself thinking about South Africa a lot. This morning when I was doing yoga I was envisioning my runs through the Cape Town historical district: the government gardens and the old parliament buildings. With the homeless camped out on the edges, beautiful flowers blooming everywhere, the birds singing, and table mountain hovering in the background as glorious as ever. I miss the humidity. I miss the adventure. I miss being in the city. Cape Town is like no where I have been before. So much history, tradition, and even suffering all processed into the good and bad that is Cape Town. When I think about South Africa as a whole I always process the good and bad combined. There is poverty, and townships, and problems, but there is also beauty. Natural beauty and man made beauty. The lay of the land with all of its complications and people is fascinating. Many people speak all 11 national languages. ... How do they keep up when I can barely learn one? I pride myself in spending time there, but I yearn to go back. I would love to live there. To wake up every morning as I did almost a year ago and run. Run and then write and then read. I could work. I would find something to do. I would get frustrated with culture and traditions, but I would love every second of it. Cape Town is a place unlike any other. If you have not gone, I suggest putting it on the top of your list. You will not be disappointed. If you open yourself up, you will learn more about people and their attachment to place than anything before (#justgeographythings). I crave the air and the feeling of living in a new place. I am craving a change of destination.
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Author: Allyson DitizioGeographer, yogi and occasionally creative writer. Archives
September 2016
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