Second Semester in Monash

I decided to start a series about my life in Monash University, South Africa.

Thursday 21st February 2013 (Journey to Johannesburg)

Although I was glad to finally be leaving for school, I had a most intense feeling of melancholy when I arrived in Lagos International Airport, Nigeria.

Okay let me begin from the start. At 6:30 am on Wednesday the 20th of February 2013, I was up from bed to get my things prepared completely for my travel. I met my mum who was about to drive to her office and she prayed for me (as is the norm of most African christian mothers). She then proceeded to give me a summary of her usual advices: read your books, stay away from bad friends, don't follow women...and the list goes on.

My dad was also preparing his things for the trip. He was accompanying me to Lagos state, for he had some professional business of his own to take care of. I'm delighted to know that he has found a new job since his involuntary retirement. At least he won't be home 24/7 anymore to fill the our ears with trivial complaints, corrections and jibber jabber.
Dad got ready and prayed for me (many Nigerian fathers get religious only when their child is going on a journey, or starting a business). Soon we were off to Kaduna state domestic airport to board an aircraft to Lagos state.

My dad and I were the only ones in the car, and you can imagine how boring that was. He would occasionally begin his jibber jabber, and I would frequently say 'Ok' or 'Oookaay'. Now there's a strong difference between the two: 'Ok' is a reply to an ordinary statement such as 'don't be extravagant with your money'; while 'Oookaay' is a Nigerian way of replying statements that should be surprising, for instance 'That was Mr Abba, he was my headmaster while I was in grade 5'.

With those two replies I made him think I was actually paying attention to his tales of the past; when I was really just thinking about anything else.
There's one great advantage of having a retired military man accompanying you to an airport. It's that the numerous boys (what the elderly military personell call junior staff) which he trained while he was an officer are called upon to handle your check in, baggage and all that. I felt like some VIP as the camouflage laden officers walked in front of my dad and I, carrying our luggage and handling the processes for us which the civilians queued up to pass through.

I flew to Lagos and we spent sometime in the Air Force base to freshen up and have some refreshments before we proceeded to the Lagos international airport. We had the same preferential treatment there with the help of the air force boys my father trained in the past. The flight of 7 hours from Nigeria to South Africa was a quiet one. I watched two movies - Pitch Perfect and The Dark Knight Rises (The Dark Knoght Rises was very disappointing...just saying).

The guy sitting next to me kept bugging me with questions of both necessary and unnecessary nature.
"Why is the cooling system not cooling?" (cos I looked like a member of the cabin crew);
"Will they serve food?" (dude, they just announced the menu 30 seconds ago!)
Of course those weren't my actual responses. I'm not that rude.

At 5:15 am we landed in O R Tambo International airport, Johannesburg, South Africa.
That was when things got tough...with my bowel. On top of that I discovered that the school transportation I book was accidentally book for the previous day, which made the driver go to pick me up with no avail.
I called the driver and was informed that the vehicle would be going to the airport by 9:00 am to pick ip some other students. It was a relief to hear the news, but heartbreaking that I had to wait in the cold airport, with a vibrating bowel, with many farts pushed back in, for 3 hours. I sat down and waited till I began to feel sleepy. I stood up, grabbed the trolley which held my luggage, and walked aimlessly. It was a good idea because I came into an open space where I could fart without anyone to gaze suspiciously at me.
While I sat in wait I repeatedly dozed, and once I think I began to drool. The experience was terrible.

I was finally picked up and conveyed to the university grounds along with three other students who were also picked up at the airport. I alighted the bus and paid my fare to the driver, or rather, the Transport Officer. He was such a jolly old man who usually made everything seem so cheerful and merry; hence his name 'Gladwin' fitted his character. A security guard once told me that he didn't like Gladwin because he usually flaunted his post in their faces. They think he's only an ordinary driver with a fancy title.

The university was scanty of students, but not empty. That was because I had resumed 11 days before the start of lectures. It was a crazy idea, but also necessary. I couldn't stay home incessantly running errands, being cooked by the hot Nigerian sun, and being sucked dry by those seemingly immortal Northern Nigerian mosquitoes. I swear it's like the mosquitoes have become faster and smarter these days. To kill a mosquito now isn't as easy as it were before.

I met with my Nigerian friend Julius. He had stayed in South Africa for the holiday instead of going home to spend it. He's a yoruba guy residing in Lagos state of Nigeria. Sometimes he could be a bit too loud in speech; but that's typical of people of Lagos.

I couldn't go for my shopping that same day because I couldn't find someone to hand me an extra padlock to lock my room with before I return with a newly bought one (I still wonder why the two shops in the school do not sell padlocks when they are aware that students need it). Besides, I felt too tired to go shopping and so I ate an evening meal of hamburger and chips - which I bought from the school snack joint - and then I turned to my laptop to use the internet.

In the evening I got to meet some of my friends from last semester. I met them at the basketball court, where a game of 5-aside football was being played. Many students were around the area playing and talking. I wasn't quite feeling for long conversations; so when Julius returned to his residence (which is off-campus), I returned to mine (on-campus). I planned to shop the next day and visit my pals for the rest of the day.

I heard that there would be a party next Friday. Everyone was excited because it would be the first party of the semester. Time to get my groove planned ;)