Just a quick note before I head to a group meeting. Chilly weekend on the Bluff with lots of wind coming through the coast. I had to even pull out the sleeping bag to keep warm in the evening. I did more reading for class and Saturday evening found another side to Durban called Florida Road. My impression of Durban from my last visit was one of shops closing down at 5pm, everyone shutting down and heading home before dark. I went to meet some people from my class at a lounge place called Society on Saturday and there was this vibrant row of patio chairs filled with trendsters having dinner at 11:00pm or chatting over a latte... who would have thought!
I also thought that I would throw in a description of security at the university. It is not like a wide open campus where one can enter, student or non-student, into the grounds. You need to have a secured student card to swipe into the gates, then to get to the computer lab, you need to swipe again through a metal turnstile, very secure. If you want to get into the library, you must leave your bag in one of the lockers outside and you have only take your binders and pens. The university does not depict reality of the city or of South Africa at all. Here, it is very much a higher status place where only the select rich few can have the privilege to attend uni. Sure, there are a few students with refugee students or those on scholarships or bursaries from their goverments, but there are even more Einsteins out there who will not have the chance to reach their potential due to the reality of inequality. During apartheid, there was a university for Caucasian students, one for Indian students, one for Black students and I'm not sure where you would go if you do not fall under any of these classifications. They have definitely started to break through barriers by merging these campuses to one University of Kwazulu-Natal and not distinguishing schools by race.
Off shore winds (NW) made the waves look mighty fine this morning! Kathleen
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