The Academia Post

Hello again! I apologize for the delay in updates; I've been sick most of the week with a stomach flu so I haven't had the energy to do much. I'm almost back to normal now though so not to worry!

The next few posts I think will feature the campus and I thought I would start with Academia which is the name of my residence.

This is the Academia commonsblock/offices. On the lower floor are the nice, air-conditioned offices for the staff that run Academia. I also pick up my post here. The office is only open during the week from 8 - 4:30 though so I'm working when its open. On the second floor is the laundry facility which is open from 8-5 every day, but again, since I work, I can only do laundry on the weekend.

On interesting thing here is that for 50 Rand you can pay to have 8 kg (they say around one weeks worth) of laundry done for you by the laundry ladies. I haven't used this service because I have to book in advance at the office which is only open when I work and secondly because I'm very particular about how I wash my clothes. But the service is available and I have heard used regularly by most students.

Here you can see the one main entry into Academia, the security gate. This is monitored 24/7 and all cars have to be checked through. If you're on foot though, they pretty much just let anyone wander in and out. One of the jokes about Academia is that the gate and fence around the complex is to protect the rest of Stellenbosch from the anarchy that goes on inside here. Some nights I actually wonder if that is true.

And here is what Academia itself look like. There are blocks as you can somewhat see in the photo, right on the top right hand side is half of block 22. Each block has around 24 apartments, most 2 bedroom but some are 4 bedroom and some are even bachelor. I think there are 25 blocks in total. My block is to the right, although you can't see it in this photo.

And here is my little kitchen! I share a two bedroom flat on the ground floor with my roommate who is wonderful. We have a little fridge in the far corner and a little stovetop/mini oven. There is also a kitchen sink. I've heard some of the newer blocks come with microwaves, but we just have our "mini-kitchen" as the thing is called.

And this is my bedroom. It's nice and bright which is great because I like the light. It also gets very hot though with the morning sun.

And that's essentially where I live. In some ways, we joke, it looks like a cross between a prison and a mental institution because all the blocks look the same and most have security bars on their windows.

The thing about Academia is that it is the only co-ed residence, first year, residence provided by the university and it's more expensive than the traditional dorm-style single gender halls. So most of the first years who apply to live here come here to party. Wednesday night, students from UCT (University of Cape Town) will also come out to Academia and party here. I heard a rumor the other night that the pass rate in Academia is lower than the pregnancy rate, but I think that might be a bit exaggerated. It's certainly a happening place to be a lot of the time!

Concordia residence is also within the walls of Academia, but Concordia also has another set of walls around it. We also joke that's to keep the Academia crazyness out. Concordia is smaller though and more for older students so its much quieter.

Anyways, that's the Academia complex. Later this week will be the Forestry building and my Office. Woo!