There's no Thirst like Bathurst

It is safe to say that Grahamstown is a small town. There is one very small and outdated movie house, many historical buildings, a couple of churches and chapels, one cathedral, extremely bad roads, and no McDonalds. Despite this there is usually something interesting happening and we students don't often find ourselves at a loss for something to do. During the week there isn't enough time as we are kept busy with lectures, tuts and various assignments. On Fridays and Saturdays there is always a party happening somewhere, usually many. However then we reach Sunday. On Sunday's there are no restaurants or shops open (with the exception of fast food, the BP, and Pick 'n Pay), and there is seldom a party. In general Sunday's are reserved for sleeping off the hangover or rushing through your procrastinated assignments. 
This past weekend my friends and I said no to the typical Sunday, and set out for Bathurst. Now if Grahamstown is a small town, then Bathurst is a small village. It's like one of those quaint places you see in movies, where everyone knows everyone else. The main road in Bathurst consists of a pub; the Pig and Whistle, a cafe or two, and a few vintage-craft type shops. There is no ATM. Bathurst may be a small town, but it is well known in the Eastern Cape as the venue for the annual Ox Braai. 
There is another thing that Bathurst is known for, and that is the Big Pineapple. Most of the farms around Bathurst are pineapple farms and on one of them stands the Big Pineapple. It is 16.7m high and has three floors with an observation deck at the top. The ground floor has been made into a gift shop where you can buy all sorts of pineapple-y stuff. It's R10 to go up, unless you're a child or student, then lucky you it's half price! Also on the farm is a restaurant and bar that serves an assortment of admittedly delicious pineapple cocktails.
I am aware that visiting the Big Pineapple sounds like a fairly random thing to do on a Sunday, but don't knock it before you try it. It really is kind of fun in an inner-child kind of way. 

So if you're ever in the area, I would definitely recommend you check it out. Not many people get to go inside a giant pineapple after all.

   

Boat Race 2013

Port Alfred once again played host to the annual Mutual and Federal Universities Boat Race last weekend from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th of September. The rowing teams of universities form all over South Africa meet in the coastal, Eastern Cape town to compete in the regatta. Final races, which were determined by heats on the Thursday, took place on Saturday the 7th. 

The men's race for gold and silver was won by the University of Pretoria, putting the University of Cape Town in second place. Third position was raced for between the University of Johannesburg and Rhodes University. This race was restarted after a clash between the teams which was reportedly a mutual fault. This was followed by a second restart after the University of Johannesburg caused a second clash in which the Rhodes University boat is rumored to have sustained damage. The bronze position was eventually taken by the University of Johannesburg, putting Rhodes University in fourth. The woman's final was won by the University of Cape Town with the University of Pretoria taking silver. The woman's B finals were won by the University of Johannesburg putting Rhodes University in second position with silver. 

Boat Race is not only about the regatta for the students of these universities, many of whom only come for the after parties. Students wearing the traditional overalls in their university colours set up camp on the side of of the river in anticipation of a weekend of drinking, dancing and socializing. Well known DJs and music acts play each night, this year performers included DJ Fresh, Niskerone, Guns n Lazers, P.H. Fat, and Das Kapital among others.     

 

Be a Rebel, Fight the Power

More Water Shortage Humor 

Note: image taken from Facebook

This Wouldn't Happen at Hogwarts

Rhodes University staff, students and employees took to the streets today in protest against the water shortage on campus and in other areas in Grahamstown. Eleven residences on campus have been without water for over a week, since August 6th 2013. Yesterday another 35 residences and facilities found that they had no water. 
The water shortage issue is not a new one. Earlier this year the University almost went to the extreme of temporarily closing due to residences and campus buildings being without water for such an extended period. 
The march that took place today from the Rhodes clock tower to City Hall, was organised and led by Rhodes University's Vice Chancellor, Dr Badat and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Dr Mabizela. The protesters varied from Lecturers in their academic caps and gowns, students; many of whom were wearing their Rhodes overalls, grounds and kitchen staff in their uniforms and many others, all carrying sign boards, banners and posters. Their signs displayed messages such as; "Makana Municipality You make me sick... literally!", "Running water now or running battles later", "ANC RDP 1994: Access to clean water, 19 years later: We're still waiting", "What are you doing with our rates and taxes?", as well as humorous ones such as; "This wouldn't happen at Hogwarts".
Shortly before the march began at 1pm, the office of the Vice Chancellor released an open letter (follow link to read) directed at the Mayor, the Municipal Manager and the Councillors of the Makana Municipality. The letter addressed the water shortage issues and outlined the university's intention and reasons for marching in protest. 

See photos of the protest below:

    

       

40 Hours Hard(ish) Labour

Semester 1 is over, lectures have been missed, tuts have been LOA'ed, people have been hospitalised over last minute cramming and panic attacks, and finally exams have been written. For most this means a month of vacation bliss, of sleeping late, spending quality time with hometown family and friends and going on alcohol induced adventures. For a select few, however, this time of joy is dampened by the promise of course-required vac work. My own vacation has been put on hold while I complete my required 40hours or 1 week of intern work in a newsroom, in my case at the Algoa Sun. For those of you who have not been lucky enough to spend any time in the thriving metropolis that is Port Elizabeth, the Algoa Sun is made up of several publications that cover the different areas of PE, such as Walmer, the Western Suburbs, the Northern Areas, and Motherwell. I only started today so I can't say much about it yet, except that everyone has been the appropriate degree of friendly, I'm allowed to eat at my desk and, unlike at The Herald, they've given me my own computer. So having covered the most important aspects, I say thumbs up so far. 
Tomorrow the other intern and I are going walkabout in Greenacres and Walmer Park to do Vox Pops. Vox Pops are when you stop random people and ask them their opinion about a certain topic, and then you take their photo. We have to be politically correct in our choices so if you're the right colour and you say something vaguely interesting we might just put you in the paper. 'citing! 
We haven't decided what we will be asking people about yet so if anyone has any interesting ideas then feel free to drop a comment or an email.
I've gotta go call Amor Vittone now and ask her some questions about stuff.
Cheers      

Vac is here... aaaand it's gone.

Well Easter Vacation has come and gone and the 1st day of 2nd term has whipped by in a frenzy of left-till-the-last-minute vacation work. I for one got minimal sleep last night thanks to my incredibly interesting and not at all too long Linguistics assignment. It's too early in the term to be complaining says you? It's never too early says me. 
Vac, although twice as long as some of the other universities, has once again gone way to fast. I spent mine happily catching up on my sleep in my averagely interesting hometown of Port Elizabeth. Epic failures in PE during the Easter vac included the drowned out and very badly organized Splash Fest, a well organized but badly advertised music festival, and a less-than-impressive performance by Crazy White Boy that Panache grossly over-charged for. On the upside we did manage to get a decent amount of drinking done, including that of a home brewed Pineapple beer thanks to my friend Dylan. He's an instigator. 
Hope you all had a great vac, and good luck for term 2; may it be forgiving.
     
  

The Minor Domestic Trials of Student Life

It's almost end of our first term back at beloved RU, meaning it is also nearly the end of my first few months living in my own little flat. I was not worried about living in digs. My parents raised my brother and I to be pretty independent people. We can both cook and do the washing and drive bikes and generally take care of ourselves, even so there have been some rather comical moments and mishaps. 

Today I made burgers and chips for lunch. Usually I do my chips in the oven, but this time I decided to branch out and deep fry them in a pot of hot oil. This failed epically for several reasons. First, I made the oil far too hot, this led to problem number two. You know how these days you get these amazing plastic and rubber cooking utensils that can apparently withstand the heat of a thousand burning suns? Well I am here to call their bluff, because while using my supposedly magical and all-powerful heat resistant cooking utensil to make my chips... it melted. 

I feel betrayed, I may never trust again.

I will also admit to drunkenly trying out my can-opener on a wine glass (may it rest in peace). Why? I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time and honestly, I feel that I learned from the experience. Everyone listen up now while i share my wisdom; can-openers do not open wine glasses.

Now this next one, thankfully, doesn't involve me embarrassing myself in a moment of intoxication, or being let down by my scumbag, deceitful kitchen utensils. It involves two of my good friends stripping for the neighborhood. My Flat has amazing big windows and a sliding door in the lounge from floor-to-ceiling. It looks out onto one of Grahamstown's busiest streets. These two friends of mine crashed on my sleeper couch one weekend and for some reason kept forgetting about the previously mentioned big-ass, all-revealing windows. Needless to say there were some very happy high school boys who managed to catch a glimpse of their impromptu strip tease while walking past my building.

Embarrassing mishaps aside, I'm loving having my own place. I guess melting pasta spoons, breaking wine glasses and providing underage boys with unintentional peep shows are all part of the digs experience. Except maybe that last one.

That's all for now,
stay exceptional 


For your viewing pleasure, some pics of my now horribly disfigured pasta spoon: