BMWs and Donkey Carts

That's such a good point, James. I haven't visited Cape Town, and I've yet to see the contrast of the shanty towns next to highways, etc. What is so interesting about my village, which is considered rural but not deep rural, is that on the same street you will find a large house with fancy iron gates and a shack constructed from scraps of sheet metal. And as my post title alludes to, it's not unusual to see a BMW sharing the road with a donkey cart. The contrasts abound, in a broad sense as well as in the day-to-day details.

posted by Laura Portalupi on 7/18/2007 3:27 pm

thanks for this beautifully written vignette, Laura. I was in south Africa once, and only for about 48 hours. I was in Cape Town and managed to do a very quick tour of the wine country along the coast, which is so reminiscent of San Francisco, where I lived. I had far too little time to enjoy the pleasures--the wine, food, cheese, sea, sun--of the country. But i did see its poverty, too. Right there by the freeway, the endless expanse of the shanty towns. It seemed like, and was, a different world. The contrast was stark. As stark as some of the contrasts in the West--not between rich and poor really, but between affluence and subsistence. The contrasts are less visible here, because we all, rich and poor alike, have so much more stuff obstructing thew view.

posted by James Geary on 7/17/2007 1:51 pm

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