Back at the Uni

Today I am celebrating being connected to the internet!  After ten days and countless phone calls and visits to computer shops - all of which yielded nil, except to learn that a Mac is a rare thing in Africa, even in Johannesburg - I stumbled upon some international wifi hotspot thingamy, started an account, loaded it up and away I go!  It is a huge relief, and somewhat disturbing to realise how paralysing it can feel to be disconnected from the world wide web.

In the meantime I have been cramming as much email and research as I can into time spent at the University.  It could have been much worse really - my supervisor here at Wits University, Jonathan, has been kind enough to let me use his 'academic office' (as opposed to the 'head of school office' he now inhabits) which is basically in the attic of the Law School.  It is a wonderful place to work.  Immersed in a sea of books - legal, historical and sociological texts grace every shelf, desk, chair and much of the floor - it is kind of office I aspire to have one day.  The Law School Building is separate to the Wits Law Clinic, where I was based on my last visit (see here), so it has been good to meet some new people in the corridors.  It also has a lovely staff room, with a balcony overlooking the gardens and a fabulous coffee machine.

It is an interesting time at the University, where the academic staff are on partial, but indefinite, strike over wages and research funding (read an article on the strike here).  A few single day strikes have failed to resolve the issues so, while teaching continues, academic staff university-wide are boycotting all non-teaching related meetings and work.  On the sofas of the Law School staff room I learned that there is a very real possibility that the stalemate could continue until next year.  The current Deputy Vice-Chancellor and his so-called 'Henchmen' have been voted out of their positions but remain in them until next May - with nothing to lose and everything to prove.

Nevertheless, the University is a very pleasant place to be.  The grounds are beautiful and much more secure than much of Jo'burg, so that you can quite happily sit on the grass in the sun without watching your back.  The staff are mostly very open and friendly.  Despite the massive inequality that exists in South Africa generally - last year South Africa took the place of Brazil as the most unequal society in the world - there is a certain solidarity that expresses itself at the University, at least on the surface.  In the Law School, for example, the Head of School greets the cleaning staff by name, something I suspect would be unlikely in most Australian universities.

The students, like students everywhere, have great energy and bring a lively feeling to the campus.  Last week I traipsed the length of the Uni to get my staff card, accompanied by Nice, who works as a casual administrator at the University while studying to be a fashion designer.  She explained to me that when she first left school she started a nursing course, because that's what her mother wanted her to do.  But after two years, she realised she hated it and decided to get out.  She tells me emphatically: 'You have to be true to yourself, you have to do what you love.  My heart was not in nursing, I had to get out before I killed someone.  Fashion in my heart, so that's what I must do.'  How could you disagree with that?

My temporary office/ library/attic retreat...

My staff card - not that I am 'staff' as such, but I gather
it's much easier to get this than a student card!

Strike notices - these are dotted around the campus.  There have been a few staff demonstrations
but, apart from that, these are really the only overt sign that anything is going on.