I spent my first month in Waterloo starting in mid-January, and came back to the UK for 10 days in February. On the Saturday before I left, for the first time, the temperature climbed to 0°C. It has been as cold as -25°C. The town was covered by a white blanket. This is beautiful and has the effect of muffling sound; it makes everything seem very peaceful. There is a downside; it took me at least half an hour to dig the snow off the drive so I could get the car on the road. There is a snow plough that comes down the cul-de-sac where I am living that clears the road, leaving banks of snow across the driveway. The snow shovel is large and, although snow is light, I was sweating by the time it was cleared.
Category Archives: Film Reviews
New Beginnings
The past month has been hectic but rather fun. I left Durban, as promised, on 19 December 2013. That was sad. The last days involved clearing out my office, deciding what needed to be shipped to Canada, stored in the flat, put in the suitcase, or given away. I know that to some extent, I keep my life in boxes. The University of KwaZulu-Natal box is now closed, and, hopefully, the important residual parts are in transit. There is a lot to reflect on, of course. How could there not be after 30 years?
I am extremely lucky to have had the opportunities I did, to connect with people, to build an organisation and support my team’s contribution to knowledge and science which, hopefully, makes a positive difference. I am proud of my own substantial publishing record.
Lakes and leaves
Most of the postings on my website get started or finished on aircraft. This is no exception. It was started on the flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Unfortunately I was sitting in economy (well to be honest, premium economy, right at the front, with enough room to do yoga poses should I want to). The reason it was a problem is that there is no power at these seats which meant I had a limited amount of computer time.
I left Durban towards the end of August and went to Norwich to be home for Rowan’s birthday. My proud boast, until last year, was that I had never been away on a child’s birthday, although the footnote is that sometimes I left or arrived on the day. I hope I am back on track now.
Pirates and Snow
I was invited to give a plenary presentation at the Caribbean AIDS conference in Nassau in the Bahamas in November 2011. I had never been there, reason enough. An additional incentive was that Roger MacLean, of the University of the West Indies, who invited me, is someone we have worked with in the past and he is a really solid academic. It was too good a chance to pass up. Of course it fitted in very well with other travel plans – invitations to New York and Boston and a meeting HEARD was hosting in Washington. I had a week between meetings and was wondering what to do with the time, as I did not want to travel back to either the UK or Durban. It takes about six days for me to get over the jet lag, and then it would be time to set off again.
Alan Whiteside 