Rhodes you beauty!

Before I begin, I would like to apologise for not updating over the weekend as per usual. I am trying to keep my posts consistent to one post per week; unfortunately, I had some problems with my internet this weekend and had to postpone my post to today; luckily, every cloud has a silver lining. Today, as it so happens, is my fathers birthday, so not only will I be updating my blog today, but I will also be taking the opportunity to wish my father a very very happy birthday. I am sorry that I can't be with you now to celebrate it, but I hope you enjoy it and know that I love you very much, happy birthday, God bless you and watch over you for many years to come =)

Now...

Hopefully, those of you that have read my posts know that I am currently residing in South Africa at the Rhodes University where I am studying to become a journalist one day, a photo journalist specifically.

Last week I was able to indulge in my photographic passion when a glorious opportunity presented itself to me.

The weather was slightly overcast, but I took the opportunity to venture out into the area surrounding the campus to take some photos of the beautiful nature that we have the pleasure of living with. This photo in particular was taken with the intention of putting into perspective the fact that we live amongst nature and that we should appreciate it for it's beauty.

I believe that you have to look closely to find the beauty in something, take this succulent for example, it is a tiny rose amongst a sea of rock and dried grass. We don't always have to look for something big like an elephant or a large rock bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun in order to capture the beauty of our world that we tend to take for granted.

Have you ever noticed that, sometimes, you just need the right kind of light to bring out the beauty in something? This photo was taken in the late afternoon as the sun was setting. The mixture of the orange colours of the sun with the red and green of the plant made for an absolutely stunning picture (in my opinion at least). I sometimes ask myself if the photos I take would look as beautiful to someone else as they do to me, but then I realise that:

A: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and

B: I shouldn't care what others think of my photos, if they don't like 'em, they can simply move along.

I take photos because I like it, it's something I want to do one day. I want to travel the world and view it through the lens of my camera and at the same time, write about it. I understand that not everyone likes the same thing, (if everyone did, we wouldn't really be human, now would we?) but if I can get just one person to appreciate at least one of my photos, then I would feel like I have made a difference in the world.

This is a close up shot I took of an old spiders web in a burnt log that I found while ambling along through the knee-high grass (stubbing my toe's every three meters). The contrasting colours are what drew my attention to it. Personally I think that this was the best photo that I took that day.

I feel that I have been truly blessed to grow up on a continent as beautiful as Africa. To be able to see all the wonderful things that it has to offer us. I am only sorry that it is being torn apart by war, famine and various political issues. 

I want to end off with one more apology before I go. I know that there are some of you out there that were expecting a post over the weekend and were a little disheartened when there were no new posts for your eyes to feast off of; I promise that I will try my absolute best to try and keep my posts as consistent as possible, I am a journalist (in training) after all; if I can't keep to deadlines (one of the FIRST things they teach you about) then I wouldn't be a very good journalist now would I??? 

Sleep? What is this sleep you speak of?

I decided to make the theme for my post this week about sleep. Not only is it something we need on a daily basis, but it is something that I sorely need personally.

"Until the 1950s, most people thought of sleep as a passive, dormant part of our daily lives. We now know that our brains are very active during sleep. Moreover, sleep affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health in many ways that we are just beginning to understand.

Nerve-signaling chemicals called neurotransmitters control whether we are asleep or awake by acting on different groups of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain. Neurons in the brainstem, which connects the brain with the spinal cord, produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine that keep some parts of the brain active while we are awake. Other neurons at the base of the brain begin signaling when we fall asleep. These neurons appear to "switch off" the signals that keep us awake. Research also suggests that a chemical called adenosine builds up in our blood while we are awake and causes drowsiness. This chemical gradually breaks down while we sleep.

During sleep, we usually pass through five phases of sleep: stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages progress in a cycle from stage 1 to REM sleep, then the cycle starts over again with stage 1. We spend almost 50 percent of our total sleep time in stage 2 sleep, about 20 percent in REM sleep, and the remaining 30 percent in the other stages. Infants, by contrast, spend about half of their sleep time in REM sleep.

During stage 1, which is light sleep, we drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. Our eyes move very slowly and muscle activity slows. People awakened from stage 1 sleep often remember fragmented visual images. Many also experience sudden muscle contractions called hypnic myoclonia, often preceded by a sensation of starting to fall. These sudden movements are similar to the "jump" we make when startled. When we enter stage 2 sleep, our eye movements stop and our brain waves (fluctuations of electrical activity that can be measured by electrodes) become slower, with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. In stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves begin to appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves. By stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is very difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called deep sleep. There is no eye movement or muscle activity. People awakened during deep sleep do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes after they wake up. Some children experience bedwetting, night terrors, or sleepwalking during deep sleep.

When we switch into REM sleep, our breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, our eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and our limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Our heart rate increases, our blood pressure rises, and males develop penile erections. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales – dreams.

The first REM sleep period usually occurs about 70 to 90 minutes after we fall asleep. A complete sleep cycle takes 90 to 110 minutes on average. The first sleep cycles each night contain relatively short REM periods and long periods of deep sleep. As the night progresses, REM sleep periods increase in length while deep sleep decreases. By morning, people spend nearly all their sleep time in stages 1, 2, and REM" - (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm)

This is probably one of the only things that I miss from my school days. Sleep. For most of us, sleep is that state we go into after patiently waiting for it in our beds. We preoccupy our minds with the things we experienced during our days, plans for the future and so on and so forth; but for (most, not all) Rhodes students, this is something only heard about in  myth and legend. Many of us have very little time for sleep due to assignments and tests which is why many of us prefer to sit in the back of the lecture theater to catch up on those long lost Z's. Sometimes it's not the workload that gets to us, but the lack of work. When some students have nothing better to do, they will gather some of their friends together and head down to a local water hole to have a drink and be merry (as is tradition here).

I speak from experience when I say that quite a few of us only go to bed at about 02:00 AM (where's that curfew now mom?), which is why many of us choose to miss lectures in the mornings and preferably get the lecture slides later. Personally I have never missed a lecture, but it does take its toll on me from time to time which is why I absolutely love weekends (sleep until 13:00). When I decide to sleep in on weekends, I make it perfectly clear that I do not wish to be disturbed (and silently vow to take anyone's eye out should they even dare to try and get me out of bed before 10:00 AM).

I'll leave you with this small message: Sleep may not seem to be that important to us, but a merchant never realizes just how much the simplest of his wares are in value until he has already sold them.

Good night and sleep tight everyone.

The eight-legged wonder of the world.

    

Given that our University is within close proximity to the beauty that is nature, we often find ourselves coming into close contact with the local wildlife. We have birds, lizards, snakes, a wide variety of insects, and of course, the eight legged wonder of the world, the arachnid, or more commonly know as the spider. 

 

This cute critter in particular is known as a rain spider (or a Huntsman spider). They are called rain spiders in South Africa because they tend to be more active just before or just after rain, however, I believe this little fellow just wanted to get to know my friend a little better and decided to pay him a visit by crawling up next to his feet. I think little is an understatement, far from it in fact. As you can see from the photos that I bravely took, it is by no means small. I have to admit that I did make a hasty get away when my other friend picked it up and began walking with it in his hands to take it back outside.

I made sure that everyone in our residence was well aware that there was a wild animal (arachnid) being relocated by running down the corridor (camera in hand) yelling at the top of my voice (in as manly a manner as possible) so as to give them sufficient time to prepare themselves (barricade doors, arm themselves with shoes or grab our favourite bug exterminator, Doom).

 Thankfully the creature went along peacefully and we could all breathe a sigh of relief as it departed with fond memories of how it managed to terrify and absolutely petrify a bunch of young adolescent men  (I nearly had a heart attack at the sight of it.).

It will forever be a day to be remembered, the day an eight legged little friend came to visit. This is a story we will share amongst ourselves around the dinner table for many moons to come. I can honestly say though that I have never been more petrified of a spider before in my life. Granted I have arachnophobia, but I can normally control it to an extent, but this...this was something else. "Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold." - Helen Keller. If we wish to overcome our fears, we must face them head on or risk losing ourselves in the process.