house hopping

Here I come again with another one of those tales about parastatal inefficiencies in my country. As with the last time, this was in my uni. Since I'm doing professional exams in a month's time and I have no clue what the course is about, I decided this time that when we close for long hols I wouldn't go home and would instead stay on in school to at least keep the mood going. This way, even if I myself dont per se read anything, maybe some of what my industrious friends read will rub off on me and I won't be totally green, thought I.

The groups that are currently in session are actually fewer than the school was made to handle, so it would appear that we are actually running at below capacity. So si I thought I would just show up, say I want a room, get charged to heaven and back but get the room anyhow. Boy was I wrong! I did show up, I did say I wanted a room, I did get charged to heaven and back [this government, all incompetencies aside, has never been known to shy away from a chance to make a quick buck, which quick buck is of course never ploughed back into bettering the infrastructure - but that is another story for another day], but did I get the room? Of course not. "Why allocate people rooms that are still empty just because those people have applied and paid for the rooms?" thinks our administration. "It would be so much more fun if they were made to sweat for a week or two, so here's what we're gonna do: we're gonna tell that boy to come tomorrow, and to write an essay explaining how he thinks loud music in matatus affects the current status of greenhouse gases." [or some such other tosh, anything to make sure nothing happens on time like it's supposed to.]

And so here I am. In between residences. I have survived thus far by visiting different friends and/or relatives in a round so that none of them feels as though I am infringing, meanwhile conducting research on my upcoming essay on presentation of which I expect I shall be given a room that shall just happen to not have a door, so I can give them another week to repair it and bring it up to standards. I am well aware that this is what I shall be told when I raise a complaint, "You see kijana, this system of ours - [they recently got computerised] - once it has allocated you a room it's impossible to change that allocation for another without it appearing as though you have two rooms. So please just allow us to refurbish this one for you. We apologise for inconveniences" with a smiling face. And so I find myself in the run-up to exams, yet again, house hopping and not spending any considerable amount of time studying for them. This one looks like it'll have to be on me and God. But, He has seen me through before, and He never changes so...

END

a trip i took

So si we've now officially closed school, and this being the end of a year [also one of those holidays that last till you drop - five months no less!] we decide, some friends of mine and I, that we are going out with a bang. So what do we do, we step up some cash each, two of us get cars from their parents and off we go to Naivasha to see stuff and to hog. The drive over was pretty uneventful, we just talked and the two cars raced kidogo, we stopped over at the Rift Valley to enjoy the scenery [of course no trip is complete unless something important has been forgotten, and in our case it was film for the camera, so we couldnt take any pictures. Ok, we could, just mental ones though]. Then we got there at 5[!-we still havent had lunch by the way - chicks and their rollers and showers we ended up leaving at four rather than at twelve] so we straight away head off to the restaurant. Roast meat, nothing but roast meat. And it was survival for the fittest. Have you ever seen three kilos disappear in ten minutes? I hadnt before, now I have. And then there was more meat, roast and fried. Twas a really gr8 lunch. Between the eight of us we ate like seven kilos, and sodas on top. Then after that we decided to go see the lake, we went and found there apparently is an entrance fee, so we told we'd be right back, of course we weren't right back. So now on our way from the lake [it was about 30kms off town] mayhem kicked in. We noticed in our car that the battery light was one, the one that usually indicates that the  battery is draining but not getting recharged. At the time we dint think anythign of it. We just went right on to Lord Delamere's estate, and I think at the time we ere the only ones. By now it's 6.30 going on seven and already dark. When we were through with the estate, now thinking ati we head back to Nairobi, the radio in the car went off. Then the lights went off. Then the car itself. By now it's of course dark, really dark. What to do? New town, dont know anyone, cant see anything, obviously dint do Power Mechanics in high school. Anyways, we drove back into town following the other car in darkness and found a petrol station then parked in it. Then started the search for a mechaninc. Luckily there was one of those 911-like services in Naivasha that came to our assistance, and it turned out the problem was a missing belt that must have fallen out, hence the battery wasnt recharging. They start looking and everywhere is closed. Naivasha is I think a ghost town or somethign, it was only 7.45 on a Friday eve and even the bars were closed! So six hours later, the finally found a belt that could almost fit our car, and when I say almost I mean they had to take out AC for it to fit. At this point we really dint care, we just wanted to come back home coz no one had any plans of swatching over there. After all was said and done, were down a further 2K for all the repairs. Thank God for contingency money, Im just thinking what would have been had we all had exact on us :( Now on our way back [it's midnight by the way] it starts raining, and Limuru goes down to 2 degrees sometimes. So there is fog! Real fog, as in now you're on the road now the road has turned right and you havent so you're in the bushes. It was terror! But we made it finally, and at 1.30 in town we decided since we no longer had anything to lose [those who hadnt to ld their parents where the cars were going thinking we'd be back in time and they wouldnt have to had been forced to during the Naivasha debacle so the worst was over] we went for pizzas, then communed and reminisced the day that had been, went to some other restaurant for burgers and finally at 2.30 went back to school to sleep. Those hours between 7.00 and 11.30 when the cars were being repaired were the longest in my recent past, but they made the night all the more interesting, and like they say, what won't kill you can only make you stronger

END