Welcoming Winter

Forget everything you thought you knew about the weather in South Africa.

If you thought you knew anything about it in the first place, that is. While most of the photos I've taken during my stay in Cape Town have been riddled with sunshine, sand, and palm trees, the weather has taken an abrupt turn... for winter.

A damp, rainy Monday in Cape Town. Typical winter day.

Since I arrived in warm and sunny January, people have said ominous things like "just wait until winter" and "winter is coming" with a dreadful tone. Others have assured me that it's really not so bad, especially compared to the winter weather one experiences in the USA.

Yesterday, however, lived up to all of those horrifying tales of Cape Town's winter. I spent the day at the V&A Waterfront, which is a nice mall in town. While most trips to the mall end in shopping bags of new outfits, this one was a bit unconventional. I was on a mission for a few things, but at the top of the list was my winter readiness: a heated blanket and a winter coat.

Seems ridiculous, doesn't it, to think that I'd need a heater in Cape Town, South Africa? While the actual temperature doesn't drop terribly low, the weather conditions and the buildings make winter hard to handle. When rain and wind join forces, you're left soggy and damp. And when your house isn't insulated and your windows are single paned, you find little refuge indoors.

So, off to the mall to prepare for the winter that had already seeped into our bones. As if the damp and chilly day hadn't already propelled my purchasing enough, the skies decided to applaud... with hail.

A picture Kelly's sister sent. No big deal.

Photos of the hail posted at
https://www.facebook.com/passionateaboutcapetown

Yes, hail. Lots of hail. It sounded like the building was going to collapse, and the people in the mall were acting like school children do on their first snow day of the year, buzzing with jubilant awe. One customer's children were exclaiming that they held the hail, and that it was "sooooo cold!" Then my phone buzzed with an automated email from Gap about the summer styles and sales.

I couldn't help but smile. Because this experience was exceptional. Because snow doesn't happen here, but hail does. Because I was buying an electric blanket and a winter coat in June.

And, I must admit, I bought a space heater today, too. As soon as I find a new umbrella (since the wind blew my last one inside out), I'll be all set for a blustery and wet winter in Cape Town. Now, snuggled up in my newly toasty bed with a hot cup of rooibos tea, it doesn't seem so miserable.

Cape Town, you're full of surprises.


Check out this video for a taste of a South African accent... and a hail-covered beachfront.