Twenty eight degrees in New York City. Body-temperature breezes here in Cape Town. It’s 7:00 p.m. as I type this and golden sunshine covers the city.
Earlier my partner and I visited the beach at Camps Bay. “Grenadilla lollies,” called out vendors hawking frozen treats and cold drinks in the 90-degree heat. We played beach tennis, which we punctuated by dashing into the waves to cool off.
Our weekend started in the city’s Sea Point section, where we attended Shabbat services at Chabad of Cape Town. We arrived at 6:30 p.m., about a half hour early. While we waited we met one man, a local who looked to be in his early 30s. “I’m here because my friend in Joburg tells me that Chabad is the place to meet women,” he said. “There are only seven Jewish women my age in Cape Town, and I’ve dated four-and-a-half of them.”
The half remains a mystery. Upon hearing that the service didn’t start until 7:00 p.m. the man announced plans to scope out another shul, started his silver hatchback and drove off into the evening.
Some other images from the weekend…
