Campus revisited

Master's
In my previous post I gloried in overcoming the injured knee to consult Unisa's library. On Monday, I made my way to the library at Tukkies (the University of Pretoria). My friend Anja of Coram publico is often to be found there (which is part of the attraction). She is also a Master's student.

Tuks's campus is mainly level and offers pleasant walks. No crutches needed. I know the library and its lifts well. The main benefit of working in the library and in the general area of another Master's student is that I concentrated and got some work done. With work I mean actual dissertation writing instead of taking notes, thinking or creatively procrastinating. Anja was similarly productive.

I rediscovered the joys of being at Tuks while the students are (mostly) away. The library is quiet, no herds of students stampede building entrances every ten minutes before the hour and, since no-one seems in a hurry to get in and out of the library, my access card functioned perfectly. And let's be honest, it is also less depressing not to have to face droves of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and inescapably juvenile students. I hate to admit it, but they remind me that I'm older.

There are also other advantages of being on campus and fraternising with other post graduates. As usual, I didn't plan ahead and inform people that I would be on campus so instead of having lunch or coffee I got to see very cute critters and surprise another friend of mine.

A cute elephant shrew - photo by Sasha Hoffman

She is doing a study on the little things. It was great fun to explore a new building and see the arena where the shrews run around. I also had a giggle at the notice which asks researchers not to put the animals on the floor since the basement sometimes floods. (I'm sure that it's a serious matter for the animals, but the note amused me.) Asking questions led to an interesting piece of information: these shrews can be kept as pets.

Guess what I want?