Telecommunications in South Africa

Telkom is under increasingly public criticism for overpricing its services, though the real issue is, of course, lack of competition. I am glad to see that more public voices are being raised. So when is something going to happen? After only three weeks in South Africa, I must say that the expense and unreliability of internet services there really are my biggest frustration, and one of the biggest hinderances to the higher education system, and public intellectual life of the country.

Start of the new semester

I'm back in New York! I had the most wonderful holiday, very relaxing, and I had a fabulous time seeing my parents, and a few friends, and in some ways it felt like it came to an end too quickly. But in other ways, I'm glad to be back. I am very excited for the new semester, partly because I have some very exciting classes, and an ensemble and some choir auditions to look forward to, and partly because of some of the exciting activities due to happen this semester. I found out yesterday that my friend Ben Tausig and I have had a joint proposal accepted for a conference at the Experience Music Project in Seattle in April! What a great way to start the semester. We have a lot of work to do before then, but I can't wait to travel to the west coast, and I am very excited about the joint project itself. More details will follow as I have them, so keep an eye on the blog.
It is also nice to be back in New York, despite the cold and grey at the present time. I am very grateful to have had a really warm, sunny (mostly) holiday, because I feel like the cold is less daunting now. And the weather forecast is predicting snow on Friday (there hasn't been any here this season, yet), so I am excited for that. It was also really lovely to see so many of my new friends again. There really are a lot of great people here, and they are such an important part of this whole experience. I cried when I left Johannesburg, and a whole lot on the plane, and when I unpacked my bag this morning, and when I ate a rusk my mom made, and put a map of South Africa on my wall, and found a spot for a mouse (called Alexandra) my friend gave me on Sunday, but a little home-sickness doesn't detract from my enjoyment at being back.
The view from the street outside my res building. The empire state building is all lit up in white

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, from a beautiful, wet Johannesburg. I am home from the holidays, and having a wonderful time. Posting may be a bit infrequent, but I'll be back in NY from the 16th of January, so have great holidays, and I hope the New Year is great for everyone.

South African spaces in New York

I was walking between lines on the subway today when I came upon this poster
















It was in a whole corridor of similar posters















As I had been writing about South African space outside of South Africa, it was a slightly surreal experience to encounter such a markedly South African space in such a definitively New York environment. There was busked jazz audible in the background, and everyone, including me, was bundled up in their winter coats, sweltering in the subway’s muggy, acrid heat.

The website listed on the posters is here. I haven’t had time to explore it yet.

While I am posting photos, though, I thought I'd post this one of a shop display on 10th street near 5th avenue

Manhattan Sunrise

I saw the sun rise over Manhattan this morning. As it is rising around 07:00 at present, that in itself may not be particularly remarkable, but the fact that I saw it not because I got up early enough, but because I went to sleep that late, is the real point of all of this. Finals are upon me in every way. I am having real fun, BUT I have never worked this hard for this long, in my life. It is a lifestyle that suits me, though. I get more productive the more intense the work gets, because my brain just seems to switch into overdrive. It makes me happy to know that I can do that. It also makes me happy to know that by this time next week, I will be soaking up the sun and the attentions of my wonderful family in South Africa, for a whole month! Yippee for a long winter break.

It's beginning to sound like Christmas.

I had such a wonderful day yesterday. After an early afternoon class, my new supervisor took me up town to Columbia University to meet some of her colleagues in our field. In particular, I have wanted to meet another South African ethnomusicologist who I corresponded with around the time I was applying to graduate schools. She was visiting Columbia for the day, and so Ana had arranged for us to meet. She is lovely, as are the other people I met, and I felt that it was a very productive afternoon. I was also thrilled to see the Columbia campus, which is just like the big beautiful space one would expect from an IV league school. I may land up taking a class or two there at some point. We also went to visit Labyrinth Books, a wonderful, enormous and very atmospheric book store that people have been telling me about since before I came to NY. I sometimes think I should feel guilty for “fetishizing” books the way that I do, particularly with my passion for paperless and digital publication, but when I am surrounded by so many fresh-smelling, colourfully covered books that are just waiting to open up whole new worlds of ideas to me, I lose my mind a little.

The best part of the day, though, was just having an opportunity to talk openly to my new supervisor about everything and anything, as we traveled. My initial nervousness about my decision to come here (you never can tell before you actually get there) has evaporated, and I am just overwhelmingly happy to be here. Aside from the amazing privilege of being in this very exciting place (the city really is a big draw card for this university), I couldn’t have asked for better lecturers. My main supervisor and I are going to get along very well. Our intellectual concerns are very similar, as are our perspectives on life in general, and the differences are fascinating, and promise to keep me on my toes. I really have been very lucky with mentors throughout my academic career. I had an amazing choral music mentor when I was in the West Gauteng Youth Choir in Highschool, some incredible teachers in my final years of High school, a really special mentor during my undergraduate study, and some very strong mentoring to help me get into grad school. And now that I’m here, the cycle of great mentoring looks set to continue. If I ever wanted a sign that I was on the right career path, I have it.

I only had time for a very brief stop at Labyrinth Books as I had to dash off to catch the train to get to the warm-up for my first concert with my new choir. What a mad house! The number 1 train at 17:00 is absolutely insane. I had to let two trains pass, as they were literally filled to bursting point, and when I finally did squeeze myself into an over-stuffed carriage, it felt like the twilight zone. The sheer mass of bodies kept me upright, without the need to hang on to a hand-rail. We were squeezed so tight, I couldn’t lift my arms. And the New York subway is swelteringly hot at the best of times. At this time of year, though, when the outside temperature is below freezing in the middle of the day on occasion (and yesterday was one of those occasions. I am so grateful for my wonderful down coat and heavy boots), the temperature on the subway is pushed up pretty high, a fact which would be greatly welcomed if it were possible to remove one’s coat during the trip. Of course, that isn’t possible though, and so we all stood, noses to the back, or ear, or shoulder-blade of our neighbours, sweating profusely and determinedly holding our collective breath. And that wasn’t just because that was the only way we fitted into the carriage. I was so glad to get off in Grand Central. No time to watch the lights show tonight, though. I beat a hasty path to the church. After a bit of warm-up and lots of pinning of corsages (we all wore black, with corsages of red carnations backed with pine needles. Very festive), we headed out to the church, and there the sheer joy of singing took over. I really do love choral singing, and Christmas music is very high on my list of favourites. The concert went really well. The music was great, the choral sound was clean and well-blended, and we all had great fun. I am very excited about continuing this next year.

So now it’s nose back to the grind-stone until tomorrow night, and the carols party at church. I am as psyched for the work as for the singing, though, so today should be productive.

bits and pieces

My writing up of my Hawaii travel notes continues very slowly (I am in the middle of finals, and so that understandably takes precedence) but in the interim, I wanted to post a few additional notes….

First: On Friday night (8 December), I am singing in a Christmas concert with the New York Chamber Singers. The location is St. Agnes’ Catholic Church on 43rd street, between 3rd and Lexington. It is right by Grand Central, so very easy to get to. The concert starts at 19:30, so if you are in New York, please join us.




Map of
Church of St Agnes
143 E 43rd St
New York NY


Second: On Sunday night (10 December), I am singing in another Christmas concert with the NYU Canterbury Club and the Protestant Churches organization at NYU. This is a sing-along Carols concert, with a party following. The location is the Church of the Ascension on the corner of 5th Avenue and 10th Street. Again, a very central location, and easy to find, so if you are in NY on Sunday, please join us there.

Finally, purely by accident, I walked into the concourse at Grand Central Terminal yesterday just as the Holiday Lights Show started. What an amazing sight. There was a burst of music and colour, and the concourse was transformed. Snowflakes, New York City scenes and very creative Kaleidoscope type images turned an already beautiful space into a little bit of magic. I was rushing from class to a choir rehearsal, but the show stopped me in my tracks, and left me feeling very festive, and very happy to be in New York.