Czerina Patel:
My friend Fabienne told me that her nephew Byron was coming to Cape Town and bringing someone who worked for his family with him. It was to be this man (Enoch)’s first time ever seeing the ocean. I told her I wanted to do a radio piece on it, recording the first time Enoch saw the ocean, but unfortunately for me, Enoch got to Natal and saw the ocean before he arrived in Cape Town. This past weekend, I joined Fabienne, her daughter, and her nephew Byron – all White South Africans, and Enoch – a Black South African – at a restaurant in Hout Bay. We sat right next to the ocean, and I learned that Enoch was still in shock about the amount of water he had already seen in Cape Town – how could there be so much? Enoch was born in Limpopo, and was working in Johannesburg. The whole natural landscape of Cape Town was entirely new to him, and very enticing. Enoch was experiencing much that was new and was traveling outside his comfort zone. He took his first plane trip that morning, and though we encouraged him to take a small boat trip from the dock in Hout Bay, he made it clear that he wasn’t ready for that. Seeing the water and putting his feet in the ocean was enough for him that day.
Enoch, Byron and Fabienne will be blogging here about this past weekend, about Enoch’s first time seeing the ocean, about why Byron wanted to take Enoch on this trip, and what they learned, experienced and encountered. They’ll post some photos and we’ll try to get deeper into what they learned about themselves and South Africa through spending the weekend in this way…
Byron will type for Enoch word for word so we can hear Enoch in his own voice. To get the conversation started, I’ll ask Byron to tell us about your relationship with Enoch – how long have you known him, describe your relationship, and what were the events that led you up to the trip this past weekend?
