Knysna

When a long weekend arrives, one cannot simply waste it working. And so with this in my mind I took a trip to Knysna this past weekend with two of my friends from university. I can now tick off 'go on a road trip' from my anti-bucket list.

Knysna is a stunning town in South Africa and it is conveniently close to where I study. The weekend began with a surprise party for Shivani's 21st at Tapas, and ended with a trip to the Garden Route Wolf Sanctuary where actual wolves roamed (this made me very happy!) In between, we squeezed in as much of the pretty sights of Knysna as we could, most of which involved water, whether it was the Knysna Heads, two cliffs facing each other at the entrance to the lagoon (seen in the photo above) or Leisure Isle or Thesen Island or the Red Bridge overlooking the Knysna River.

The beautiful birthday girl

Kelina and Shivani after a few cocktails

Birthday shots!

Shiv and I at the Knysna Heads viewpoint

Overlooking Leisure Isle

Missioning to find the prettiest shells

The Knysna Waterfront

Some of the boats lined up

Adding popcorn to my coffee ice-cream was a genius idea

The Red Bridge, an out of use iron bridge overlooking the Knysna river

They're actually quite normal, I promise

Admiring the sunset at the Red Bridge

One of the wolves at the sanctuary

World Cat Day

Today is World Cat Day. Yes, there is an entire day for the world to celebrate cats, as if they needed an excuse to be worshipped! I may be a little cat obsessed and on my way to becoming a crazy cat lady, I realise this. 

On Sunday, after talking about how much we really didn't feel like working, a friend and I decided on a spontaneous trip to the Grahamstown SPCA to visit the cats. Until then, I’d forgotten just how much happiness stroking a cat could bring. These are some of the gorgeous fluffballs that we met. 

Photos of the cats are credited to the Instagram skills of Tristam Riordan

I used to have three cats at home until we learnt that my sister was allergic to most animals and so the cats had to go. I still wish we could have given the sister away instead but the SPCA wouldn't take her. 

This is my sister, Annelisa, with one of the cats, named... well... I called her something different every day. Not that she ever responded to my calls unless food was involved.

As I no longer have a pet at home or at university because I live in res, I've been thinking about ways to help animals even when I don't own one. Here's what I have so far:

1) Volunteer to walk the dogs regularly at your local SPCA, or if you have limited time, then visit when you can and play with the animals. They will show you more love than your own mother ever will. True story. 

2) Every time you do your grocery shopping, add a tin of dog/cat food to your trolley to donate.

3) Support the Animal Anti-Cruelty League. They work in areas where poverty and ignorance lead to animal cruelty, not by prosecuting people but by advising and educating them. They give talks on animal cruelty and also provide mobile animal clinics in townships. 

I've supported them this year by buying their personalised diary, which is not only very pretty but also packed with useful advice and tips. Inside there are basic first aid instructions, energy saving information, pet care advice, cooking and baking info, and even recession fighting tips to save money. Not that I know how to cook or save energy or money but hey, with this diary I'm a step closer to getting there. 

4) Encourage people to adopt pets from the SPCA instead of buying them. 

5) Support local groups that care for feral cats. If you're a Rhodes student like me, that would be the Grahamstown Feral Cat Project that traps, neuters or spays and then releases feral cats. For more info, click here. 

6) Got an old blanket or two? Donate it to the SPCA or an animal shelter.

7) As for fireworks, if you're near animals, just don't.

On a lighter note...

The Anti-Bucket List

While procrastinating, I like to write lists; shopping lists, to do lists, hot guys at uni lists, DIY idea lists, bucket lists... See, even this sentence turned into a list!

I think that a bucket list is the biggest deal though. It’s like saying ‘I cannot possibly die without doing this first’ and so it can range from the extremely batshit crazy like swimming with sharks to the more heartfelt  like helping starving kids in Africa. Ok that last bit was a joke, who actually says that?

Don’t say Americans.  

My problem with writing a bucket list is that I make it so unrealistic that I never do anything. Run a marathon? Ha! I can’t even walk across the road without being out of breath. I’m also impatient.  If I want to do something, I want to have a plan and I want to do it now. I studied French for six years and would like to be able to go to France and put it to good use, but writing that down and not being able to do that any time soon is discouraging.

So my solution to my bucket list dilemma? Don’t have one! Instead, I’m going to list things I’d like to do/achieve specifically in the next six months or so. It’s purposeful, immediate and more of a reality than an idea. And then after that time has passed, I’ll make a new list for more things I want to do. I also won’t call it a bucket list because if I’m going to kick the bucket it better not be in the next six months.

So here it is, my anti-bucket list of things I’d like to do (so far). I’ve already started planning for some and as for the others, I'll get there.

1. Read Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting 

2. Register myself as an organ donor. Not that I think anyone wants my liver but I’m sure the rest is useable.

3. Go bungee jumping.

4. Wear a bikini to the beach (and in doing so, get over my body issues)

5. Travel out of South Africa

6. Go on a road trip: I’ve done this many times before but one cannot go on too many road trips. If you watch a lot of movies you will know that the solution to everything is to go on a road trip where romance will occur, unforgettable experiences will be had, and eternal bonds of friendship will be formed.

7. Do something good for someone in the Grahamstown community outside Rhodes.

8. Go to a music festival

9. Cook an entire meal for someone special: This someone will obviously be my mother and I’ll make her curry and prove I'm a good Indian daughter. Also, here's what I would look like as a good Indian daughter.

10. Learn how to make decent coffee: A beginner’s barista course is offered by The Factory Cafe in Durban, but comes at a price of R4500. So I’ll start hinting to my mother after I cook that curry.

11. Have my writing published

12. Get fit: note, I did not say lose loads of weight and look like a stick.

13. Learn how to drive

14. Watch the sunrise at the Monument in Grahamstown

15. Camp outdoors

Any other ideas of doable things to do? 

Oh the working life (and failed attempts to cook)

Reason to smile for this week? I have my first paying job as a writer! Well, sort of. I'm working for Cue media which is the official paper for the National Arts Festival. It's not a proper job, but I'm getting paid fairly well to do what I love, write. And in between I get to explore the wonders of the Festival and attempt to live as a proper working grown up.

We produce a newspaper every single day, so things get a little crazy as we rush around trying to get in content within a few hours of pitching a story. I viewed a show today that involved learners from a school for the blind and deaf. They were incredible. Despite difficulties in bringing things together (the learners were not trained actors and the director did not know sign language and had to use an interpretor to explain everything), they still delivered a show filled with enthusiasm and a heartfelt message. It was such a pleasure to cover their play, and I even learnt how to sign the word 'hope', which is the title of their play.

Today was only my second day of reporting and I think I'm slowly getting into it. Since we started I've been doing a lot of walking around, and not a lot of eating. I wish I could say that the only reason for this is a lack of time, but that would be lying.

I'm not too sure how to cook and this is the first time I have neither my mom or the res kitchen to provide food for me. This has resulted in many bland meal attempts from me. I had nothing but tuna rolls on one day and I don't think I can eat tuna ever again. The following day I planned on warming up some delicious butternut soup. Unfortunately, I forgot to take it out the freezer early enough. Trying to get the right amount of soup out of the packaging when it's just a frozen block was nearly impossible.

Today I decided to be slightly more ambitious and make microwave macaroni and cheese. To be honest I don't quite know what I eventually made. It looked like watery mush mixed with milk and chunks of floating cheese and bacon. I don't know what's worse, the fact that I managed to mess up one of the simplest microwave meals, or the fact that I still ate it. 

I think that after the successes and disasters of today, a drink is in order. In a few minutes I'll be off to the Long Table, something many experienced festival goers have spoken of. Will post updates on Fest and life at Cue if there's time in between the madness of the newsroom! 

Quick travels in the Eastern Cape

After finishing exams last week > insert HUGE sigh of relief< I was finally able to take a break. In between finally watching The Great Gatsby and Spud 2, I went to some of the touristy places nearby (anything to get away from the place I associate with studying). First stop: Hogsback.

These are the three waterfalls that we saw. The top left one was the smallest, but possibly the most beautiful to me. I liked that it didn't need to be large, loud and fierce to display its beauty. That's kinda how I feel about people too. The waterfall on the right is named the Madonna and Child waterfall for its resemblance to the painting (which needs a lot of imagination as I didn't see it). Hogsback is famed for its mountains, forests, hiking trails and being the inspiration for the setting of Tolkien's The Hobbit.

A labyrinth that drove me a little crazy after all that walking around in circles

The sun shining through the tangled tree branches above us; and the leaves that have fallen below.

The variety of trees alongside the pathway to the forest; and the forest itself.

The pathway through the forest was a bit scary at times, especially when the decks like the one above had boards broken or were slanted steeply to one side. I ignored the comfortable walking shoes rule and wore boots instead, because being sensible is just not something I do. 

Cath and her sister Tam were my fellow Hogsbackers for the day. 

While I enjoyed going away for the day and exploring the hiking trails, I think that Hogsback has so much more to offer, from the many craft stores to the fairy meander and quaint restaurants. This can only be fully experienced by spending more than a day there. Hopefully I can do this soon!

And then we went to the beach...

Three days after Hogsback, I set off on a rather spontaneous beach trip with Dave and Laura. We went to Port Alfred which is roughly 60km away and one of the closest beach towns. Content was the word Laura used to describe how she felt and I couldn't agree more after walking along the beach, lying in the sun and having delicious pizza for lunch.

I love polka dots and yes I know it's just a Coke can but it is so pretty!
Also, behold, Laura's content face, which is also quite pretty.

And in keeping with the prettiness for the day, here is some festive bunting that adorned the entrances to many of the shops in Bathurst, which is where we stopped at after Port Alfred. Bathurst is tiny and so I'm going to say it's more like a village than a town. It has the oldest pub in South Africa, as well as many craft stores, nurseries and vintage stores (which is my idea of heaven). I've decided to make many of the things that I liked instead of buying them, which is probably cheaper and more satisfying to create. First on the list is making my own bunting of course, as it is so so simple. Will post photos when I do!

The writings on the wall

I am intrigued by what people write on the walls of bathrooms at clubs. Maybe I read them to beat the boredom of standing in the long lines that seem to form only at female bathrooms. Or maybe because among the usual "so-and-so was here" and "X loves Y", there are some genuinely interesting things on those walls. I found this at the MonAstery in Grahamstown, where the bathrooms are unisex and the scribblings a little more creative.

And then there is this, the most wonderful collection of music, literature, theatre and philosophy in the form of quotes scribbled down on an A4 page, stuck to the inside of a toilet door at the top floor of the Rhodes University English department. 

"If we shadows have offended,
 Think but this, and all is mended—
 That you have but slumbered here
 While these visions did appear.
 And this weak and idle theme,
 No more yielding but a dream"
- A Midsummer Night's Dream

"We read the world wrong, and say it deceives us" - Tagore

"Cloudlight
Floating in magically colorful pieces of sky
Pieces of skylight"
Cloudlight - Eskmo

“If only, if only…”
The moon speaks no reply,
Reflecting the sun and all that’s gone by.
Be strong, my weary wolf;
Turn around boldly.
Fly high, my baby bird—
My angel, my only.

If only, if only,”
The woodpecker sighs,
“The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies.”
While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely;
Crying to the moon,
“If only, if only…” - Holes

"It was only a kiss. How did it end up like this?"
Mr Brightside - The Killers

"It all started with a man who lost his cat" - Murakami

"I think I'll go home and mull this over before I cram it down my throat
At long last it's crashed, the colossal mass has broken up into bits in my moat."
Caring is Creepy - The Shins

National Arts Festival - 10 reasons to get keen

With just two weeks to go until the start of the National Arts Festival, my excitement levels are definitely on the increase!

I don't think anyone can study at Rhodes University and leave without going at least once, which is why in my third year of being here I have decided to finally attend. Why go to a festival dedicated to just music, visual art, theatre, comedy, dance or film anywhere else when you can have some of everything right here?

I'll be posting updates throughout the festival as well as taking photos of everything I experience. If you can't make it to fest this year, feel free to live vicariously through this blog.

There's just so much to look forward to this year, but here are my top 10.

1) Jane Raphaely, wonder woman of the magazine world, will be speaking at fest this year. She is the biggest inspiration for me as a journalist and I cannot wait to hear what she has to say.

2) The Brothers Streep are possibly the coolest ever, because among other things, they sing about Steri Stumpies and if there's one thing I cannot live without, it's a Steri Stumpie.

3) Chris Chameleon will be performing .
Swoon...

4) Zakes Mda's Madonna of Excelsior will be staged, as well as Athol Fugard's The Island. The English Literature student part of me is doing cartwheels and happy dances!

5) Dan Patlansky. Nibs van der Spuy. Guy Buttery.
Need I say more?

6) Pieter-Dirk Uys, always brutally honest, always hilarious, always a treat.

7) No Rhodes University orientation week is complete without the jazz evening, an event that even those with no prior interest in jazz rave about afterwards. This is why I see the Standard Bank Jazz Festival (which is incorporated into the National Arts Festival) turning many people into jazz lovers. I'm looking forward to seeing up-and-coming artists perform, as well as the Soweto String Quartet who, apart from being generally awesome, also play the opening tune for 7de Laan.

8) After following Angel Campey on Twitter and reading her blog regularly (now I sound like a stalker don't I?), I'm finally getting to see this comedian do her thing on stage. High five!

9) Quality yet affordable vintage clothing will be on sale to festival goers as Guard the Vintage, Lambley and Thrifty Magpie (all local online vintage stores) join to form Guard the Lamb Pie. Silly name, brilliant concept.

10) Among all the well-known names and faces at fest will be the works of Rhodes students themselves, who I'm even more excited to see. Watch me go around pointing at random things and saying "that's my friend's work!" while sounding like an overly proud parent.

There is still so much more to look forward to, so for the full programme of events, take a look here.

See you at fest!
xx