DO WE CALL IT HOSTEL OR HOSTILE LIVING?

Pearl Nicodemus


Passing matric and being accepted to University to further my studies was quite an achievement. What went though my mind is that university is thrilling, exhilarating and electrifying! Moving out of home to live either in res or alternative accommodation feels like the best experience one can have. But it’s also nerve-wrecking.

So it’s time to leave. I pack all my bags, get in the car with a look of glee on the thought of the soon to be experienced freedom.

I get there.

And then “tjo” comes out of my mouth which is when I realise things are bad. I look around and wonder where exactly three people are going to fit. As if the idea of sharing a room with two or three strangers is not traumatising enough. When I get there I find that my roommate have brought additional roommates.

Then I am greeted by the mother of all roommates - COCKROACHES! They are everywhere and then disappear when I whip out a can of ‘Doom All Purpose Insect Killer’

After complaining to self, parents and everyone else who cares to listen I then decide to pay my neighbours a visit. “Tjo” cannot come out this time. My jaw is too far down for me to even utter one word. The question that is in my head is, “do human beings really live here?”

I look up and and see a large hole in the ceiling. “Ok breathe it’s not that bad”, I say to self. Who am I kidding? There are potholes on the floor and the walls are not painted. The lockers are half the size of mine, the showers look as though one wouldn’t be able to turn around without hitting something and what really saddens my heart is seeing three running taps that are broken and unable to shut. They have since been fixed as there were thousands of complains.

After a long day of classes, you just want to go back to your room and jump on your bed even if it’s just for ten minutes - in silence. This is before you hit your books, cook and do all the other little bits. But that is not meant to be.When you open your door you find your room looking like a flee market in Ouagadougou as if all that is left are European tourists to come and buy some souvenirs.

I’m not making sense right. Well on this day I return to what should be the comfort of my space to find my 271 million roommates and their friends gathered on top of my bed like bees around honey. It doesn’t end there they are nosier than the Bree taxi rank in Johannesburg. That is when I realise that‘me time’ is declared null and void here. It is substituted with ‘we time’!

Most first years I have spoke to share the same sentiments but after a few weeks of hostel living it seems most have adjusted to the hustle and bustle of TUT Soshanguve. Most have confessed that hostel living in Sosh is not so hostile. I personally think that this is the best type of environment for a budding journalist - interesting, shocking and action packed!