Thoughts on South Africa...

It occurred to me when I was in South Africa earlier this month that I actually had a lot of generalizations in my head about 'Africa' - as a continent, as a place, as an idea - that didn't become apparent until I was actually in Africa. The images in my head were primarily rural - sun drenched and sun baked landscapes, wide-eyed children, and women carrying baskets on their heads. So it was a bit of a (much-needed) shock to realize after being in Cape Town for a few days that there are cities in (South) Africa too. I suddenly wished I knew much more about urbanization on the continent in general. It's not all just bush and sun there. South Africa has big cities with tall buildings and lots of people and shops and noise and streets and things that I always associate with cities. And I wonder what urban areas in other African countries - like Mozambique or Kenya or Senegal - are like.

The rural image of Africa exists in Cape Town too though- or at least in tourist shops. A few days after getting there I found myself in a gift shop and drawn to this magnet of a woman balancing a baby on her back and some wood on her head, with a sun setting in the background. I instantly wanted to buy it, and then I thought, "Wait. That isn't the South Africa I've seen at all!"

However, when we left urban areas and went up to the Kruger National Park in the north-east part of the country, I did end up seeing parts of that idealized Africa I'd had in my head-- women with their babies strapped to their backs with cloth, brush and bush stretching for miles in every direction, and a bright red sun slowly dipping below the horizon. I realized, then, that in South Africa - like everywhere else - rural and urban both exist. And now, back in Toronto, I am left wondering (and will hopefully one day be able to investigate this more) about the millions of ways the two interact with, and compliment (or not) each other.

I did end up buying the magnet (currently and happily now stuck to my fridge) and while it may not be the best representation of the South Africa I saw, it reminds me that things aren't always as simple or straightforward as I sometimes think they are. For me, it's enough to know that yes, that Africa exists somewhere and I saw a little glimpse of it near Kruger. And just for good measure, I also bought a magnet that says 'Cape Town' to remind me of what I actually did see :)

Window to the World

I'm of the mind that windows can make or break a house or apartment. All the best houses or apartments that I've ever seen have always had one thing in common: large windows that let in lots of natural light. Rooms that don't get very much natural light usually seem somehow a bit gloomy. And while it can definitely be very cozy, especially in the wintertime, to be in a room warmly lit by lamps - in which case, who cares if the room has natural light or not? - naturally dark rooms seem preferable only in the winter. Big windows also have the added bonus that usually, if they let in lots of light, they also have great views.
Throughout the six months I spent living in my most favourite apt on rue des Batignolles, (the picture at the top of this post is the closest I could find to what the windows looked like in that apt) which was truly everything an apartment should be, I was convinced that street views were the ideal. The apt was a corner apt (the best possible type of apt I believe!) which meant (the reason for why I think they are the best) that the living room had windows on two different walls, affording two different (but equally) intriguing views. Rue des Batignolles was a very busy street and I used to stand in front of the window overlooking it for (what felt like) hours at a time, completely mesmerized by the goings on down below. I would watch the people disappear into the boulangerie only to reappear a few minutes later with one or two (or sometimes more!) baguettes tucked under their arms, I would watch people enter the pharmacy, the deli, talk on their cell phones, chat with their companions, walk their dogs, push their baby carriages, honk their car horns after their friends got married at the Mairie just down the street and on and on. From the second window - which I liked but not as much as the first, the second overlooked a sidestreet and so had a less interesting view - I would watch people in the small mysterious restaurant on the corner. I could never figure out when this restaurant was open - or the logic (there probably wasn't any) to its schedule. Some nights there would be people there until midnight and then for days at a time it would be closed. In any event, that living room, or more accurately those windows, were a highlight of my life for those six months, and thanks to them I became utterly devoted to windows and apts that overlook busy streets.
However, then C.'s apt in Montmartre came along and I am now torn as to what I think is the best type of set-up/window viewing. C.'s apt is long - it consists of three adjoining rooms (the first is the kitchen and then there are two more rooms) all in a row each with at least one (although I think both non-kitchen rooms have two) large windows that overlook this triangular shaped courtyard and look directly into other people's apts. I spent a good 15 minutes (and could have spent far longer, and if I lived there most undoubtedly would) staring out the window of C.'s bedroom into her neighbours' apts both to the left and straight across. I loved it -- even though I just caught minuscule fleeting glimpses of these people's lives I was totally captivated. C. hasn't lived there for long but I wonder if after she has, she'll develop any type of relationship with her across the courtyard neighbours? If I stared into someone's else window every day I'd want to at least be on waving terms - and possibly much more - with them. But how exactly do those types of relationships develop? Who makes the first move? The person who's braver? The one who stares more? Hopefully C. will find answers to all these questions and be able to tell me.
In closing, as much as I'd love to live in an apt like C.'s, I think, ultimately, that I'd still choose rue des Batignolles. There's something about observing busy city streets from the comfort of your own living room that I can't get enough of.