Monash South Africa

The view from the library, picturesque isn't it?

.. is actually very much a Monash campus. Within the walls of the uni (which isn't actually allowed to be called a 'uni' here, possibly because it's not South African, I'm not sure) you would be forgiven for forgetting that you are in Africa. I know that South Africa is very Western and we are clearly not living in Third World conditions, but it's still a shock that things aren't that different. Obviously, the people look a bit different, but even then the general feeling on res is pretty much the same as at halls. The same idea of a dodgy little room to yourself, the hideous r'n'b and house music (argh!!!!), a bit of drinking and a general feeling of laziness and not doing very much. But don't get me wrong, like Howitt, I love the atmosphere here and the fact that friends are not far away. We have been taking it in turns to cook and had dinner and bevs on eachothers balconies. It's quite nice. The campus is beautiful! Mostly because it is a lot newer than Clayton, and makes the Menzies building look absolutely hideous! Oh wait, Menzies actually is hideous! MSA is getting a bit too big for its boots though, and the ginormous Res 6 that I am in was only just built a bit over a year ago, and there is still a lot of building going on, as you can see in the left of the picture above.

Until yesterday, I hadn't got out of the campus other than to go to the mall and was feeling like there wasn't much point being here. But we went to the botanical gardens and saw a waterfall and some tortoises which was really cool! My first sign of wildlife!

Toitle! We also saw some mating :p

Elsa and I in front of Witpoortjie Falls

at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens

At Monash, it would be nice if things were a bit different, and to be honest I did feel a bit ripped off when I first got here! Where is Africa?? It is still an experience in itself though, especially when it comes to the politics of the students here. We sometimes have to drive past the settlement (a crowded block of land with dilapidated shacks and people with the most terrible stories- the slums) when we go places from uni. It's such a stark contrast to the lives of those who I live with, Africa's elite. Monash is the most expensive university in the continent for local students, and the students here are all unbelievably rich. One of the Zim students who is really nice but has slightly iffy views on some things has 6 cars! Another that I met gets more pocket money per month than most of you could expect in a year's work (and yes, I mean my parents too!). The least wealthy students are some of those from Botswana, who have to get sponsorship and actually good grades to come, but other than that there are only 15% South African students and the others come from wealthy African families.

What I've gathered from talking to students from Zim & Bots (get up with the lingo guys!) is that many of the families the students come from have gained from the corrupt governments of surrounding countries. Not to be too specific, Zimbabwe is totally messed up, and their money is basically so worthless that they have even created trillion dollar bills! It's such a joke that people are selling them on ebay to people who just want to see one! Ignoring that fact, there are definitely ways to gain from the dire situation there. It's absolutely fascinating to hear inside stories of people from there, and what doesn't get out because of the media. Ten generals or something all went 'missing' (read that word with suspicion) recently because of dodgy relations. In saying this, I should now not plan on entering that country (not that I planned to anyway!) for safety reasons. Much like the guys I was talking to about it, who don't want to go shouting out anti-gov things for fear they won't be allowed back home. Apparently there are students here who would be sponsored by the government to study and in turn have to report things like that back to Zim. Crazy huh? For those of you who just a panic about the internet and the fact that anyone could be reading this: there's no need to worry about my safety in South Africa, but I wouldn't want to try my luck there, not that I would anyway. Obviously I have a lot more to learn about politics and the like, but it's still super interesting to listen to the conversations and arguments here, and definitely broaden my perspective on things. I would actually be really interested to know what many of the students here think their reasons are for coming here and if they just paid their way in. It certainly wouldn't surprise me.

My room, a bit dingy but still nicer than halls

That's me for today! This actually became quite a long post with the photos in between, and I have many more things I would like to tell you about how it is here, but we shall have to wait for next time. It'll all come out in the wash eventually. On Monday and Tuesday, Monash Abroad have organised for all of us Aussies to meet some of the staff here and go to Soweto. Finally something cultural! Looking forward to it :)

~Y

TIA: This Is Africa

Finally, connection to civilisation! I know, the youth these days and their World Wide Web.. but what would we do without it?!?? It is has been a bit of an experience settling in, and with the good old Beatles spurring me on, I will try to recount my first days in South Africa. It will be a long one but push on! They will not all be like this!

Thursday in a nutshell- 3am start, dreaded goodbyes, airports, take offs, flights and landings.
I felt that I had done this so many times, just never alone- which made me both anxious and excited at the same time. My fruit juice on my Melb-Syd Qanatas flight had the same use by date as my trip (18 July 09) which I thought a wonderful coincidence! We were over half an hour late into Sydney, but I'd left heaps of time there for duty free and customs business so there was no need to stress, although I did a bit anyway! If you're reading this, you know me! From Sydney, it was a 14 hour Qantas flight to Jo'burg. Other than the entertainment system being a bit on the blink it was a fairly good flight. I was sitting next to a guy called Brent (read Brint) from New Zealand who grew up in South Africa but his family used to live in Zimbabwe and his mum is Irish. Think that's messed up? You should have heard his accent!!! At Jo'burg I had the most lazy customs search I have ever seen, and was greeted by a guy with a Monash South Africa sign. He said he had been there since 10am (it was now 4pm) and often just hangs around waiting for students to arrive and calls the drivers. As we sat for quite a while, seemingly for no reason, he offered me a used padlock which I thought a bit suss and even though he seemed upset when I didn't trust him, I thought it best to pass on it. Weird I know, but eventually a driver turned up and some other students who needed driving back so it was ok. By the time we finally got to the uni through the peak hour traffic, I was a zombie and ready to go to bed. I had to go to some meeting about rules (don't ask me what the rules are, that was a bit of a blur!) and then there were ginormous issues about finding me a room. At times it seems like noone here is in charge- driver calls someone, RA shows up, RA calls someone, someone shows up with no key.. etc etc. It was frustrating, but I've come to learn that that's just how it is here. Sitting around, standing around, what's the hurry? TIA: this is Africa, and you should never expect anything to happen immediately. The local speakers even have just now meaning 'soon/in the next little while' and now now meaning 'very soon'. I found my room with no pillow, sheets or blanket but by 11pm I had some bedding (some 3 hours or so later). Zzzzz..

On Friday I met Will, an Aussie who came on exchange at the start of last year and loves it so much he has come back twice.. he doesn't ever want to leave and considers himself South African! He was great help though, and with another of this year's Aussies took me to get some shopping. We went to Woolworths, which is like the place to get swanky gourmet foods, and Pick'n'Pay for your regular bits and bots. The shops are uncannily like in Australia, down to the Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Curves Gym on the corner. Everything in the shops here has a plastic container. There is so much packaging that it is hard to imagine how we manage to recycle so much at home. But they also haven't heard of recycling here, not even at the uni. And the only reason you pay for plastic bags here is because they need to pay the wages of the extra person who stands at the end of the checkout to fill them!! That night we had a 'braai' (not 'bry') and to cut a long story short- jetlagged, cooking in the dark for 2 hours on hardly hot coals, meat red and so decided to just go to bed.. hungry, but bed! Zzzz...

Saturday I woke up at 4am a little hungry, and polished off a tin of pringles, yum! Found out that the library was closed, apparently just this weekend, not the one before or the next, just the one I needed it on. No reason, they just didn't feel like opening. Fair enough.
That night we went to a place called Montecasino, which is an incredibly tacky casino with restuarants and novelty stores. The place is Italian themed to the finest detail, to the point that you come to appreciate how imaginative they've been! It was a bit creepy to realise when eating 'outdoors' that it wasn't real- we were under the pretend night sky with a pretend river running alongside us when outside it was hot and still daytime! Must be a complete head spin for the gamblers though, not knowing where they are or what time it is. I had a fantastic night drinking cocktails and eating good food with Kath & Larissa, two Aussies who have been here two weeks already. We were loving the fact that it cost us under $30 AUD for 2 cocktails, 2 ciders and a big dinner!!!!

Sunday and Monday involved a bit more shopping and the arrival of a few more from Clayton. There are now 9 of us here, but 5 have gone to Durban for the week. It's on the coast and would have been awesome, but us others needed some time to settle in and will have time to do great stuff later!! The list of places to go has already exceeded the time we have though! Lucky it looks like I only have uni on Mondays and Tuesdays for now :) :)

I'm still yet to get a security pass and do anything of any real cultural significance, but it will happen. Hopefully in the next few days we will take a trip to the Apartheid Museum and Soweto, and eventually all that needs to be done will be. We just have to remember this is Africa, and here they run on a totally different schedule- or no schedule. And I'm getting used to it... TIA.

~Y