I Heart Obz

For those of you that don't know I live in Obz (Observatory) which is a suburb about 10 minutes from Cape Town City Centre, and I love Obz. It's a student mecca with a Bohemian type vibe (or so they say), I couldn't have found a better place to stay. But like anything Obz can get a little moody on occasion, most of the time it is in a happy go lucky place but it was in a mood last night when I was awoken on numerous occasions, Obz was in a crazy mood. Once Obz gets in a mood everyone whose around will pick up on it and exacerbate the mood, sometimes good sometimes not so good. The not so good is the crazy mood times because really the last thing you need is all of the people around to get a little bit crazier. Take Wednesday night, there was a few berkies who were a little drunk sitting across the road from my flat and they thought that a singing competition at 3am was a great idea. I've heard many of them break into song on occasion but an organised (4 drunks guys on a corner) idol competition was a new thing for me. Never did find out who won as they were deciding in Afrikaans but my vote was for the 2nd guy I don't think he even knew he could reach some of those notes.



A couple of weeks ago I went out at 8 in the evening to run to the grocery store and the moment I walked out the door I was surrounded by bad energy, Obz was in a creepy mood. The creepy mood doesn't happen very often I've only notice it 2 or 3 times in the last year and a half. Everything was quiet and you could just feel something wasn't right. So I walk to the store and watch behind me the entire time you could tell that everyone was on edge. I get home with no problems and a friend comes over a bit later and first thing I say is Obz is creepy tonight and she completely agrees. Later we go out and meet up with another friend who again agreed with us, he was coming in from the highway going to get cash and meet us at the bar, but as soon as he came off the highway decided to go to another banking machine because the bad energy was that intense. How weird is that, three people all feeling the same vibe and so much so that you change your plans? Nothing bad was reported happening that night but there was something around. I can walk home alone at 4am and not have a worry (still know whose around and watch behind me) but this was so strong I was edgy at 8pm.



When Obz is in a happy mood there's nothing stopping it. If you come home after a long day and I'm walking down the street and everyone is happy and joking around even the berkies are happy and will start walking with you just chatting (and not asking for money) it will automatically put you in a good mood. If if I don't talk to anyone on the way home its the energy in the air it just wakes you up and makes you happy.



I have never been in a place that has moods how does a suburb get moods, and how does it affect everyone else around? Just doesn't make sense. I've included a picture taken from my lounge window, so you can get a small taste of Obz....