One of the things I love most about Mempeasem is how varied my neighbourhood is.
This is the left-hand side of my street:
And this is the right-hand side of my street:
There are huge mansions in my street.
And there are little shacks in my street.
The house behind me has a 50 x 50-meter privacy screen with a big swimming pool behind it – which no one uses.
(Which I stare at longingly every morning at 6:15 when the sun hits my kitchen window just as I am I make A Nice Cup Of Tea ( See Day#4 ). One of these nights I am going to scale that privacy screen. Watch this space..)
And on the corner to the left of my apartment block, there is a water pump, for those without running water.
In the mornings I sit at my window, and I watch my beautiful neighbours walking down the road to collect water.
And, at the same time, I watch the mom, at the compound to the right, get into her luxury SUV to take her kids to school.
There are fancy cars and enormous satellite dishes in my street.
And there are chickens and goats and more chickens in my street. ( See Day#18 )
This is one of the (many) things ( See Day#43 ) I wish I could take home to South Africa.
Not the chickens. The mixed living.
Our apartheid history has robbed us of so much beauty.
Here there is no “us” and “them”. Only neighbours.
