"At least when it happened to us," she muttered to Gramsci, "we didn't have to worry aboutsaving computers with our work files. Our work was in paper files, which added nicely to the glow of the bonfire."
Gramsci couldn't picture the computers of those days fitting into a res, never mind a res room, but wisely refrained from saying so.
"I gather they've referred to Huis ten Bosch as the 'Women of Fire' res since", he remarked.
"Gmf!" spluttered the Cow. "I'll bet none of the current students have the faintest idea why. Unless, of course, there are musty newsclippings up on some noticeboard somewhere!"
And given the rigours of doop, the Cow could quite easily picture the HK making Boschluisememorise the contents until word-perfect. Probably in the form of a song. With appropriate sound effects. While dressed in funny clothes, with a raisin on the nose. Clutching a rotten egg in a plastic bag. She shuddered.
"The irony is, though," she continued, "that recently Huis ten Bosch and Eendrag had to pair up for jool. And the theme of their float? 1dragonfire. Eendrag on fire, geddit?"
Gramsci flinched. But if the Cow had seen it on the internet, it had to be true...
For those not fluent in Afrikaans, or familiar with live behind the grape curtain:
doop = initiation - officially banned, as it probably was in the Cow's day too, but likely still to be continuing underground
HK / Huiskom = house committee, to whom Boschluise must abase themselves during doop
Boschluise - bosluise are ticks; Boschluise is the name given to incoming first years in Huis ten Bosch during doop
jool = RAG. Only with Tassies instead of beer.
Huis ten Bosch is a woman's res, named after one of the Dutch palaces
Eendrag, meaning unity, is a men's res