The day begins like another day, in fact better off than
most because unlike most of the days this day I wake up relatively earlier( at
7.30am )with no traces of sleep though I had slept late. With some remains of
Nissin noodles(manufactured in JKUAT) and two mandazis( acquired yesternight from two of my friends who saw it
well to share it with me, I seeing it as my service to reduce the number of
cold mandazis in their stomachs which could ultimately be of no great use) my breakfast is well set up. After a word of
prayer I remove my laptop so as to charge it but upon turning it on I find out
that it has 98% of power which is just as good as full. With that dealt with, I
now look towards warming my breakfast.
With no water in the room, I take the heater and jug and set
off in quest of the water. Upon return, I fix the two red and black wires of
the coil to the 13A extension which is also connected directly to the wires in
the wall. Ours is a life of no plugs and sockets after a terrible and
financially draining experience with them (having to buy sockets at the rate of
a socket per day isn’t so friendly to the shallow pockets of university
students operating in a meager budget). I set the sufuria of noodles on top of
the quickly heating heat- uncontrollable coil, cover it up, a little stirring
and I am done.
I serve it into a plate, leave some for my roommate who made
it and claimed that he didn’t like the taste and mark you it was chicken
flavor. I cut the mandazis into small
pieces, mix them with the noodles and I am ready to take my sumptuous
breakfast. The food is a little cold but I am not willing to repeat the process
of warming it up so I take it the way it is and anyway, I am going to wash it
down with some hot ‘strong’ tea which will definitely warm my stomach and body
up.
The day’s first lesson is at 10.00am so we are in no hurry
unlike some days that you wake up 10 minutes to the start of the lesson but still
make it despite the fact that about 12 minutes alone are for walking from the
halls to the school (Hall 1 is comparatively closer to the school unlike the
prefabs where most of our colleagues live in). Such an incident is only
possible if some compromises have to be made. The compromises include having no
breakfast (hard for me), not tap showering (ours are no showers but overhead
taps), or bathing. Combine the compromises with a willing heart and the
possibility that the lecturer will be late and your deal is done. Missing the
class can also be an option cause my a third is untouched and anyway you attend
some classes and come out after understanding nothing; which is just as good as copying the notes
later. My first attempt at utilizing my a third was very unsuccessful.
For me as stated above, it is unlikely that I will leave my
breakfast no matter what. At such a time one will find me seriously
multitasking, for instance putting on my clothes as I take my breakfast and at
the same time putting my books in order. 20 minutes to go and I will be seated
in the lecture hall as good as any other person.
But this day I am in no hurry. I take my time, do my stuff
and in no time it is 9.18am time to start readying up. By 9.45 I am almost late
but I am ready to go. I join the others as we walk to Chiromo but this day
though I walk fast I periodically fall behind. Anyway I don’t care because I
know I won’t be late. At about 9.58 I reach MH1 which is the venue for today’s
Programming Methodology class. I strangely (strange because it is different
from my sitting position in high school) prefer sitting back and so I take the
empty backseat. It is announced that the teacher will be late by 45 minutes and
so I have much time in my hands.
Therefore, I take out my laptop, check to see the signal
strength of the Chemiweb wifi which is unfortunately low and limited. I
therefore resort to trying out some basic c++ programming as I connect to the
internet. I am presented with a calculus question which I had promised to look it
up but I find out that I don’t have it in my notes. I therefore update my notes
and being in no mood to understand it presently, I promise to do it the next
day. The day is still fine and the mood great. In no time my friends join me
and the bench is soon occupied. At about 11.03 the lecturer arrives and the
lesson begins. We start writing notes accompanied with some explanations which
I don’t get. Most of the time, I have
had to take down the notes and hope that I will get to understand them later.
The lesson ends and I get to hear that we shall be having no
other lesson. With a download in mind, I decide to remain in Chiromo. Therefore
I head to Chiromo mase for my lunch. With the conspicuous absence of Chapatti (whose
presence would mean having rice, beans and chapatti) I decide to have the well
balanced filling mix of ugali, beans and cabbages. Unfortunately today I am
disappointed with the spice less Mamlaka like cabbages. Chiromo has always been
my favourite mase, followed by Kitchen One and Mamlaka respectively ranked
according to the quality and pricing of food.
At 12.57pm I am through with my lunch and set off to my
favourite bench where the network is comparatively good. I decide to go by the
rarely used, highly raised flyover to put my legs in a little practice and
avoid the hassle of crossing the busy road below. Before proceeding to the
bench, I first enter the Agriculture lab to charge my laptop. Unfortunately,
the network lets me down and I am unable to download the 200mb program.
Furthermore, my media players don’t play the songs well and so having nothing
else to I set off to my room.
My mood changed to one that is not favourable and my head
started feeling sleepy. But sleeping was not my option cause sleeping in the
day meant having to sleep at 4am; which is not only abnormal but also
unhealthy. I therefore set to thinking of finding a solution to my mental state
and a way of avoiding sleep. That is when I started the mental troubleshooting
of the cause of my present state. Could it have been some spice in the noodles,
not reading the Bible, a sense of misplacement, a promise not fulfilled but
brought into remembrance, a seemingly helpless configuration to somebody, the
disappointing lunch and network, need to take a bath or even a call of nature?
Definitely one of them could be the cause or they all made a contribution.
After drinking some
water, carrying out some of the above tasks, but refusing to resort to food, I
came to writing the events of the day as I listened to some selected music.
Though the bad feeling did reduce it was not yet over as at the completion of
this piece of writing. But definitely restoration will take place and all will
be alright. Unfortunately, thinking at such a moment is inclined to the
negativity and unnecessary self pity unless it is directed towards inner talks,
meditation, prayer and making of good resolutions.
