A moment lost in time February 20, 2008
Posted by faranaaz in Life.Tags: St Joseph's College, tai chi, Wolfson College
5 comments
I finally decided to drop in to the Tai Chi class that they have here at Wolfson. I’ve been meaning to go since I first saw the posters in the corridors at Bredon House but I was also apprehensive because I know that there are many different forms of Tai Chi and many different styles. I knew there was slim chance that they’d be doing Yang Style Tai Chi that looked anything like what I’d been taught.
Tonight we meant to go to the little TV room to watch the Arsenal/Milan match but when I got there it was already crowded with people and smelling strongly of sweat and dinner breath. So I thought, well, the Lee Seng Tee hall is just around here and the Tai Chi class must just have started, so I might as well drop in and see what it’s like.
When I got there, there were two guys doing some co-operative movements together. I’d seen this in books and on TV before but we’d never actually done it in our class. The teacher, a man called Dan, came over to speak to me and told me about his teacher who was from Venezuela, and who had learned from a Tai Chi master who’s name I can’t remember. He explained that following the paired exercise, they’d be doing a short 36 step form and then a longer 124 form. Well, we did a 24 and a 48 form for starters so I knew there was going to be some new stuff here.
After a brief tea break (with little handle-less Chinese cups) they started the 36 form. The movements looked familiar and I recognized the names that Dan was calling out – Single Whip, Part the Horses Mane, Wave Hands Like Cloud. All of this was familiar and yet put together in combinations that I had never seen. I found myself taking note of the way they held their bodies, the fluidity of their hand movements, checking to see if their heads moved in the same direction as their bodies.
I realize that I was being critical, perhaps too harshly. But my Sifu, Xia Ke Hxiong, was a hard act to follow. You’d have to be, to become Jet Li’s stunt double. He’d been training since he was a small child, done all sorts of marshall arts, and he moved with such grace. We would sometimes ask him to do Chen Style moves for us and he would smile and start the slow, liquid moves that exploded into kicks, punches. It was like watching a movie. We were sometimes frustrated with his lack of English but after watching this class I realized there’s only so much instruction anyone can really give on how to do what needs to be done. Even Dan here, who is British, went about saying things like “Slowly”, “Prepare for the Whip”, and “Guard your neck”. Sifu was the same, except for every form he named, he said “Slow” five times.
I also realized that there was something more to the way I was feeling. Even if I took this class, it would never give me what I got from my Saturday morning classes at St Joseph’s. I felt a great sadness for the Saturday mornings that I used to have, driving to St Joseph’s alone, waiting outside the hall for the rest of the class to arrive, the yellow, morning light filtering in through the high windows at the hall, with it’s dusty and worn wooden floors. I remember the music from Sifu’s cassette player coming through softly, calming us all, setting the tempo of our movements, the way we would all move together concentrating on our movements and positioning, the shifting of our weight, yet at the same time feeling our minds relax and wander. You would notice a movement to one side and realize that yes, you were centered within yourself but were also surrounded by others. I always left Tai Chi with a great sense of peace. And that is something that I can never have again. Any other class and I would probably criticize their lack of style and grace, the music (if there even is music), or if not that, find that there are too few people or too many, it’s too cold, it’s not bright enough, it’s at the wrong time of day. Really what I want is to return to that moment in time, which was always perfect. The classes at St Joseph’s stopped running before I even left Cape Town cause it had too few students, but there are still classes in Athlone, Sea Point, and Durbanville. But this is moot, since I’m now moving to Johannesburg. So those lovely, peaceful Saturday mornings are something that will be consigned to memory, lost in time forever.
My kingdom for a kitchen February 19, 2008
Posted by faranaaz in Food.Tags: cooking, food, Wolfson College
4 comments
I had to go to the dining hall tonight to get dinner. Sameer went to Enterprise Tuesday so he at least was saved.
You know, I’ve gotten over my initial reactions to Wolfson food. First it was alright, then it was bad, then – surpisingly – it actually got to be pretty good. For the past two weeks or so it’s been generally alright. Downright tasty at times. I just figure, well you know – every cook has their ups and downs. It’s no reflection on the overall quality of the food. But today. People, today was just scraping the bottom of the barrel.
My favourite (that was my sarcastic voice) Spaghetti Vegenaise. The other option was Thai Pork Curry so there wasn’t really an alternative. Now, as anyone who’s randomly dropped into our house may know, I make Spaghetti Blogonaise at least once a week. This is because you can cook it in 15 minutes flat and its really, really hard to screw up. All you need is tin of tomato and onion mix, a bit of fresh garlic, some coriander, and chillies. All other spices, strictly optional. And it always satisfies.
So I get my Venegaise and sit down. It looks alright, nice red color. I won’t deny it, I was fooled by the color. You see lovely rich colors and you think “Hmmm, spicey!” Well…
The Vegenaise consists of tomato and (I presume) onion but the bulk of it is made up by red lentils and soya mince. No train smash there. I myself have cooked tomato based vegetarian pasta with red lentils before. It does serve to bulk up your sauce.
But people, there is simply no excuse for the sheer lack of flavour that I encountered. I sat down and tasted – nothing. Well, salt tends to bring out the flavour in food, so I sprinkled on some salt. Nothing. More salt. Still nothing. Well, then I went the whole hog and sprinkled liberally with salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Of course, that just made it taste like salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce.
Mystified, I bent my head down to the plate to inhale the food smell, try to get the aroma. Aroma is the litmus test of food. Food – good or bad – can be tasted simply by leaning forward and taking a good, long sniff through the nostrils. I know this is a horrible thing to say but when I was working at HomeChoice on a Saturday morning, fasting, and everyone around me was eating McDonalds, people would say “Aren’t you getting lus?” and I’d say “No, I’m tasting it right now.” You know it’s true! How many of you have come home from work or campus during Ramadaan, gone into the kitchen, opened up the pots, leaned forward and ….. inhaled the food. It’s either just enough to satisfy you or to drive you absolutely mad.
When I leaned over my plate of food at dinner tonight I smelled absolutely nothing. Nothing!
“How?” I ask you. How on earth do you cook a meal that smells like nothing, tastes like nothing?!
I was sitting there, pushing bits of lentils and soy around thinking “By G_D I bet I can cook a Vegenaise better than this!”
Some braised onions, green peppers, mushrooms and the secret ingredient GARLIC!!! It is not so hard! What do people here have against garlic? Some fresh, crushed garlic would breath life into that food.
Oh Lord! I’m on a mission. It has never occurred to me to cook a vegetarian bolognese. I like my beef mince. I enjoy it so much I cook it every week! But now I have to do it. I have to cook a meatless bolognese because I have to prove that it can be done! Prove that there is nothing inherently tasteless about Vegenaise, about red lentils and soya. It is not impossible!
Look Out, Look Out, Jack Frost is about February 12, 2008
Posted by faranaaz in Uncategorized.Tags: frost, Wolfson College
1 comment so far
Across the grass
He’ll merrily pass,
And change all its greenness to white;
Then home he will go,
And laugh, “Ho-ho-ho!
What fun I have had in the night!”
Noticed that there was frost on the grass as I scurried off to breakfast this morning and decided to come back for a closer look. Frost makes the grass look grey and dull when you look at it at first. But when the light catches it, you can see the sun glinting off the crystals on blades of grass. It is beautiful.
By the time I managed to get back with my camera most of it had already thawed. But I spotted a patch that hadn’t yet warmed sufficiently, interestingly because it was in the shadow of the pillar that holds up the main gate at Wolfson. Got down on my knees, face to the grass, and managed to get this shot. (Someone walked by and politely passed around me, probably thinking I was a bit daft.) It’s not great but if you enlarge it (click it) and look properly, you can see all the lovely, frosty flakes on each blade of grass. It’s beautiful. I could have knelt there until it melted, except for the crick in my back.
So I suppose I could leave it there because the only other thing I did today was answer email and chat to friends. Oh, I did look over Celiwe’s literature review so that at least was one constructive thing. Kudos to myself. 
Oh wait, nearly forgot! I met Naseema’s friend Ihsan very briefly. Alas, Intrepid Hubby was not comfortable meeting total strangers from the internet (fancy that Rabia) and managed to cut our visit short. But he was very warm and friendly, and really interesting and I do hope we get to meet up again.
On a final note, here’s a picture of a little statue I stumbled upon today. I don’t know what it is or where it’s from but it was standing underneath a little bush in a dark corner off one of the squares I was walking through on my way to the Lee Library, and I thought I’d take a picture of it. It really is quite beautiful.
Workaday-Naaz February 6, 2008
Posted by faranaaz in Uncategorized.Tags: Cambridge, round church, Wolfson College
add a comment
Here’s just a quick quick post for the day, since I haven’t had lunch yet and I’m starving.
I worked at the Legal Services Office today. I don’t know if it was just that department or if all of the university runs this way but it was fantastic. I think Laragh, Eskom, and a host of companies could take a leaf out of their book.
I was temping – for FIVE hours – and I got the person who’s post I was filling take me on a tour of the building and give me a detailed booklet on exactly what I was supposed to do. It was a handover document that had been compiled by previous temps in the position. It was about 12 pages long and separated into headings like “Communication”, “Ordering Office Supplies” and “Filing”. It told me exactly what to do. Like answering the phone, it said “Press this button, then punch in this extension, then press this button.” It told you where to save your documents and exactly how to navigate there. It was so useful and I know it would be indispensable to anyone filling a post for short periods of time.
Then the Health and Safety Officer for the building came to introduce herself and she took me around the building to show me the main exits, the emergency exits, the muster point in case of a fire, the best route to it, and the locations of the First Aid kits. Then she gave me a sheet with a list of emergency numbers, including hers, the numbers of the Safety Officers in the surrounding buildings, and the details of each of the First Aid providers in the building. (Sharon, Ethne, you’re probably both shaking your heads and making tsk-tsk sounds at this point, I know!) They were so organized!
Anyway, then I signed a confidentiality form and the IT Help desk sent me my username and password. Sorted! Sharon, the woman I was filling in for, even showed me how to use the fancy coffee machine. Let me reiterate people – five hours!
For those five hours my main responsibility was answering the phones and taking messages, which I did. I kept having this panicky moment because everyone’s phone sounds the same but not everyone was in, and not all the workstations where in line of site, so I kept having to think “Who’s phone is it? Should I pick up the call?” and then I just felt silly for letting it ring while I was thinking this. Six phone calls later, my supervisor signed my timesheet and I left.
I cannot stress enough how great everyone was. They all smiled, said hello, and made me feel welcome. (five hours) They set me up with a computer, access to the network, and detailed instructions on what to do. (five hours) They gave me a full tour concerning the safety procedures for the building. (five hours) Did I mention that they did all this for someone who came in to fill in for only five hours? It was phenomenally professional.
Also, can I just say that it was the least work for the most work I ever did? Okay, I was slightly bored and would have liked to have done more but I figure that the lawyers who worked there wouldn’t have wanted someone who just came in to file their important documents and such. They mainly wanted to ensure that they didn’t have phones ringing on end or miss any important calls.
Anyway, so yes. I hope I get more work soon. And that’s about it for me. Now I must have food. Oh, I have a few pictures.
These pictures were taken Wolfson College. The first is taken from a path that leads to the Lee Library and the second is just standing at the beginning of that path looking out towards the garden, where there are a number of benches in shady spots. It’s very pretty, even in the winter! I can only imagine what it must look like in spring, when the flowers start to come up. (The groundsmen have been busy planting and pruning and doing all sorts of creative things.)
Then a picture of the Round Church, actually the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was really pretty. I didn’t go in coz I was supposed to be meeting Sameer soonish but I was wandering around the town and came across it so I took this picture. I’m hoping to go back for a closer look.
And then I went further down that road and the street looks like this, which was quite pretty. I think it’s the bottom end of Sidney Street, though I’m not sure. Anyway, I hadn’t been there before and it had a couple of interesting looking food places that I’d like to visit again. You know, try to escape the monotony of college food. 
Speaking of college food, I must have some asap! Laterz people!
