It’s been almost two years since I was last in Grahamstown for the National Arts Festival and it was a lot colder then. Frankly I didn’t think Grahamstown was capable of temperatures higher than 22°C and found myself pleasantly surprised at my ability to roam around in a t-shirt and shorts without becoming hypothermic. Quite the contrary really, as we approached Grahamstown last Saturday the sun just seemed to get brighter and hotter with every kilometre till it eventually reached a torturous 31°C.
Eventually we arrived, and I got off the bus with a bag full of assignments and partially done laundry. My mind however had been depleted by the journey here from Cape Town, which is partially why I had such difficulty introducing myself and constructing complete sentences that morning. In what would seem a cruel twist of fate we still had to get on another bus and head to our campsite outside Umlambo. What was estimated to be an hour and a half drive became a three hour pre-Easter Egg hunt as the driver made a series of missed and wrong turns in search the campsite. I actually consider this as our first teambuilding exercise, once we realised the driver was lost we all started making calls and working together to get out of Kirkwood and to the campsite (approximately 40 minutes away). Not only that, but we managed a have a wide variety of conversations in all that time ranging from where we’re from, what uni we’re at, to who’d be at the ANC rally we just stumbled upon.
After many a windy and dusty road we eventually found our way to the campsite but that's one for another time
9 comments:
Your was not the only one that was drained, trust me the whole one and a half hour ride only happened after the camp, UNFAIR HEY. Enjoyed myself far too much.
ja collin, what can you say that's the nature of life. you can never be sure of predicting the wearther hey. enjoy
Yes Mr Daggers! Lol! But my how you have softened. Guess it was the exhaustion and being surrounded by a gang of strangers ne. Nothing like a little chit chat and bonding to kill off any apprehension.
I could not agree more with the Mothership lol... I mean Mo obviously. Yho brother but you was scary at first but i think all those forced episodes of days of lives and generations, and not to mention the mindless girl talk, really did you good.
Its bin a pleasure having you "Mr Its complicated" around. have a safe trip back to the city.
Hmmm I wonder if you run half as fast for meals down there...hahahaha. Adios
You know what Colin I think that was a South African version of the wrong turn hey! Luckily we all survived and learn something from it.
It was nice being with you guys and I just cannot to come back again. Say hi for me to Hellen Zille when you bump up into her
The word 'wait 'is missing on my previous comment
I am glad we all appear to have had fun. It can't be a bad thing. Now the real work begins.
Seriously, to keep a network going requires laser-beam dedication and a bit of sacrifice. You have to be willing to get your hands dirty and do some of the dirty work.
It's not easy to keep in touch with people--even our friends.
The FJP 2009 Autumn School Network is about to discover just how hard.
I am hopeful that things will look up. As the English saying goes, if you have no hope, you die.
yeah we were all tired. but i guess u were even more tired when we were leaving Umlambo coz u were sleeping and snoring like a tractor at the back in the bus.
Post a Comment