SAYAS BLOG

Earlier in the year I made a video narrating ‘a day in the life of a Masters student’. This is a similar video, but with some significant changes worth sharing. I am not a Masters student anymore; I am sure you have seen that already in my blogs. Upon getting my Masters with a distinction, I was appointed as a part-time junior lecturer in the Department of English, Media Studies and Linguistics at the University of Venda. Yes! Quite exciting, especially because I happen to be the youngest in the department. I teach English Studies. It is not a fancy contract, but it pays the bills and keeps me going. The experience will come in handy in the future of course, and it give me the opportunity to be properly positioned and grounded for a full-time career in academia.

Well, although a few things have changed, some things will always stay the same. I still put so many hours into work, just as I did with my Masters research. I have so much to prove to myself and my senior colleagues. My days are still as exciting. By 05:30 AM I am up because the by then the sun is already out here in Thohoyandou, and it is the perfect time for a morning jog in spring and summer. The early breeze is both refreshing and strengthening. It makes you look forward to the rest of the day. On a normal summer day, here the temperature sits at 37°C, it even gets above 40°C at times. But we get used to it.

I had taken some time off from postgraduate studies to focus on my job, and I am happy that I eased in to it with no difficulties. This break also allowed me to think critically of what I would want to do for my PhD. I focused on crime fiction for my Masters and it has been both enlightening and exciting but I feel it is time to focus on something else, Cultural Studies perhaps. I would have the opportunity to examine contemporary culture in South Africa, looking at how it emerges, how it sells and sustains itself. This is a critical study in South Africa right now given the influence of the film and telenovela industry in the country and abroad.

Well this has been my year in a nutshell. The year is not yet over and so many exciting things could still happen and I am looking forward to it all just as I look forward to life beyond this year into my PhD project and beyond.

Remote based work has taken on a whole new level and flavour for me since June 2021. After much deliberation, I decided to complicate my life somewhat and visit my family in Portugal. In preparation for this journey, I bought myself a new laptop for remote based work and set out to continue with my PhD as if I were back in South Africa.

If I go back to the early stages of my PhD at the beginning of 2020, I had learnt that I would have the opportunity to work with members of National Geographic’s Okavango Wilderness Project and The Wild Bird Trust in the Angolan Highlands. Unfortunately, the global pandemic placed our fieldwork in Angola on hold. Planning international field trips for extended periods of time has become challenging in the current climate. This created an issue for me; I had limited data to work with and I was no closer to getting to my study site. I discovered Google Earth Engine (GEE) and was able to teach myself how to code during 2020.

GEE is a platform that allows me to collect open-access geospatial data from my study site, only needing my laptop and a stable internet connection. With this added advantage of remote data collection, and with guidance from my supervisors, we had agreed that my PhD would be completed by publication using GEE. I have since used GEE to map extensive peatland deposits, provide drought assessments since 1981, and will assess vegetation response to fire since 2000 in my study site.

Working remotely in Portugal has been a great experience thus far. I am surrounded by family members, which has meant that I have not felt alone in the entire time I have been here. Communication with my supervisors has continued as normal on online platforms and my work continues to progress.

Some difficulties have come in, I do miss my parents and brother. As always, family members that have not seen you in some time want to spoil you. Much to my delight, I have visited some beautiful places all over Portugal, but this does distract from my PhD work. This requires me to become more disciplined and set out stricter schedules.

Coming to Portugal has given me a sense of freedom. As much as it pains me to say, in South Africa I usually did not have the opportunity to come and go with absolute ease. I often find myself walking the streets late into the night, simply because I can. But I do miss SA, I miss watching live rugby, eating red meat, Robinsons spices and the bush.

During February 2021, the SAYAS blogging team were encouraged to create our “Day in the Life” video, sharing a day in our PhD lives in South Africa during lockdown Level 3. It was a great way to showcase what a typical workday is like for us all at home. For this month, we were encouraged to make version 2 of our “Day in the Life” video. This version showcases a typical day for me here in Portugal. The video showcases quaint street views, a short guide on how to deal with the results section of a publication and a live tasting of some delicious pastry.