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November 22, 2005 - Experiencing Cape Town Thorough the Eyes of Benny's Cousins Merylin and Morris Goldberg


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To experience Cape Town through the eyes of Merilyn Goldberg is a real treat. She loves her town and South Africa. It’s her town, her people, both black and white, and she tries to take care of them all.

She has been in real estate for thirty years and is still actively working. She knows every street and every building and drives the same way that she walks and talks. With speed, passion, excitement and lots of confidence. She is full of mischief and humor and it is easy to forget that she deals with severe health issues, is hard of hearing and already celebrated her 66 birthday. In the market, she kicks an empty coke can to a small black boy, he kicks it back and there is a mini soccer game going on. With other kids who sell beaded letters she is playing spelling games and advising their parents to keep their kids motivated. She is buying local art from the local artists. She admires their work of sculpting with strips cut from aluminum cans, beads and wire. "They are so creative and talented."

She drives us across the cape to the other side, to the warm water of the Indian Ocean and all along she is being a great tour guide. Merilyn used to be a great teacher. However, because of her hearing aid, she learned to adapt and has become a great lecturer. It is hard for her to carry a conversation while she is driving. We enjoyed the flow of words and her cleverness and humor. Melilyn and Morris have been married for 46 years and also work in real estate together. I love the interaction between them, as they are a great balance for each other.

Merilyn starts her day at 5:00 am. After watering her garden, she is off to the kitchen to prepare food for her helpers and their families. She can do most of the work herself, but employs a small staff so that they have work. Malphina is in the house, Elliot works in the garden, Danny comes to walk the dogs and there are men who deliver the paper and the people in the office. She feeds them all. "I cannot save the whole world, but I can do a little bit at a time."

With 40% unemployment among South African blacks, Merilyn sees it as her obligation to feed the poor.

"Our black people are deprived", she sadly said. "One chief has 7000 people working for him and so many wives. AIDS is killing our people. So many orphans, there is a real catastrophe and many South Africans aren’t interested in helping their own people.” She speaks with so much passion.

You are told not to hand money to children but instead to reward them for work, so in the market place group of young children sing and perform and the locals are putting coins in the can to support the work effort.

On Friday night we went with Morris to the Garden Shul. It is the oldest synagogue in town. Brian, their son, with his wife and two children come to supper every Friday and Jana, his daughter recited the Kiddush.

Cape Town is home to 2.6 million residents, it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain (1073 meters), Signal Hill and other sheer cliffs. The city is surrounded by beaches. There are many areas to hike with rugged wilderness and unique flora. The locals are very proud of their indigenous plants.

The city center is called City Bowl, and when you are there, you understand the reason. The city center lies to the north of Table Mountain and east of Signal Hill. You are in a bowl, surrounded by mountains. It is a blend of first and third world, where the elegance of rich suburbs lies next to the sprawl of the townships. City Bowl and the Waterfront have an aura of a European city with open-air cafes, great shopping, interesting architecture, wide streets, nice gardens and lots of entertainment. The local artists with their beaded dolls and patterned shirts add character and color to the city. People seem very friendly and they want you to have good time in their town.

Cape Town is the parliamentary capital of South Africa.
South Africa has 44.8 million people; 40 million black, about 4 million white.
The country has eleven official languages. English, African and nine others I have never heard of: isiNdebele, isiXhosa etc.

Merilyn and Morris’ grand kids learn African in the Jewish day school.

Racism is less inbred here and progress in relationships between black and white people can be witnessed.

We spent two days driving around the cape with Merilyn and Morris, we have done a lot of walking around town and it is all recorded in our photos.

We spend a lot of time planning our trip. Since public transportation is not a good choice in South Africa, we are renting a car and Benny will have to adapt to driving on the wrong side of the road. We decided that since we are renting a car, we will try to use camp grounds whenever possible. We got a tent, sleeping bags, a mattress and we are leaving on Wednesday, November 23 for our two month trip in Southern Africa. We are very excited about all the sites that we are going to see.

We will try to do our best to communicate from the road. Hope that we will be able to find places to charge the battery for the camera.

Our relatives gave us a phone, so there is a phone on us 073-923-1538



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