Any dwelling with 17 people living in it is bound to be hectic. Though our house is always a good for a laugh, a new recipe, or proximity to someone else who will appreciate a Missy Elliot lyric, places of quiet reflection are hard to come by. When the entropy gets too much and my productivity becomes non-existent, I take a quick jaunt across the commons to the oasis known as Marita’s flat. First off, the walk to get there is breath taking. As soon as you exit Loch Road and pass below the balcony of trees you’re put in your place by the mammoth and all-encompassing beauty that is Table Mountain. The walk through the serene desert that is the Commons goes faster than you’d like as the silhouettes of those tress which I once thought of as mere kitschy and pan-African are really are a marvel to behold.
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| Table Mountain and Devil's Peak across the Rondebosch Commons |
The moment you step off of the ancient and teleportal elevator you’re greeted by the smell that can only mean one thing: Marita has been cooking. Since we do all of our own cooking, often exhausted from a busy day at work or in class, and sharing a kitchen is far from a peaceful experience, it’s really special to be treated to a warm, free, and home-cooked meal. Sitting at her kitchen table, surrounded by great food and even better conversation really makes you feel at home.
On my most recent visit to her flat, Marita fed me a delicious squash soup with some of her famous cheddar biscuits. It was a cold and rainy Autumn day and her food and trademark coffee really warmed my spirits. Even in the dreary weather, my favorite place at her flat is her balcony. To say that it has a great view is an understatement. It’s spectacular. Table Mountain looms overhead with UCT and Rhodes Memorial illuminated on it’s slope. A mammoth palm tree is at eye level in the neighboring complex. The top of it’s trunk looks like a giant pine-cone painted with ivy, one piece of bark has been tantalizingly hanging off a vine, swaying in tune with the leaves in the breeze.
The mountain truly demands your full attention, if it’s sheer size wasn’t enough, it has so many playful details that make gazing at it a totally legitimate afternoon activity. I don’t want to spoil the fun of spotting these things for yourself the first time, but amongst my favorites are how the blue Jammie bus pops out of the tree line on the strips of highway, how the birds soar and dip at different levels of the mountain giving you a sense of it’s scale, or the moment when you spot a face in the rock formation towards the top.
The conversations that unfold on the balcony are of the highest caliber. Sitting in comfortable plastic chairs, with our feet alternating between the coffee table and banister, the conversation just flows. It spans from tales of her kids, mortality, family, travel, regrets, or lack there of, and inevitably comes back to music. The only way to tell that time has passed is that you keep finding yourself reaching the bottom of the coffee mug. Right at the end of the day your face grows hot from the sun receding, and then it tucks it's head behind the mountain and suddenly the light shifts and UCT, all of the trees, everything, comes into view. Birds fly into the last beams of sunlight. The leaves of the palm tree dip in the breeze. We sit with our feet up sipping coffee and just taking in the Cape Town air.
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| View from Marita's balcony |
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