group mates.

they can be annoying. they can be unserious. they can be female. they can be male. they can have problems with english that bring you all to a standstill when you're all trying to compile work. or they can be good at english. they can love english even. and sometimes when you put all those things together, they can be lovely. so lovely.

the lecturer, after having gloated forever about his time in netherlands doing his masters, decided that ugandan universities need a revolution, and so instead of giving us notes like any other normal lecturer, made us group ourselves up into twos and threes. and he didn't stop there, he went ahead to distribute a topic to each group. as if that wasnt enuf, he said each group was to research on the topic; as in compile the topic;-do it ourselves. then adding to the horror, he said each group would actually hav to present their topic to the class, as in teach that topic to the rest. then, like topping the ice cream with (nice caramel, a berry, watever u like), he said that he would set the exam questions on each topic basing on what the group had to present. (as in so if we did crap he'd have to set lousy or easy qustions, ryt? that's got to be caramel). then he took a nice big bite off the icecream cone and gave us a month. 4 weeks only. to have it printed out, neat in his office. like i didnt have a test in one week, two course works to hand in in two weeks, and a 30-50 page report on my numerous class trips to hand in in about the same time.

back to my group mates. i was stuck with them because the serious (oops, read more serious) students were taken. and besides, they are my friends. we understand each other. we all know what it feels like to not want to start the work immediately, like in that very week. i was even in the same field trip group as the he. the she is a good friend to my hostel mate so we meet a lot. we walk down to hostel together a lot. that means we laugh and talk a lot. thus we probably share a lot, just like friends getting to know each other more. see? so why wouldnt we group up?

so three weeks later the lecturer reminds us on monday that he wants the work in his office the next monday. so we commit to meeting in the evening. but i was tired by evening, and my groupies understood. after all, they were tired too. (i told u we understood each other.) so we commit to doing individual research and comparing and compiling notes on wednesday evening (our most hectic class day).
by wednesday evening, i had not understood the new system of borrowing books using the library cards that were given to us in first year (in september of 2004, to be more exact), wherever those cards were. and i was tired. it was after all, the most hectic day. The she had come accross some websites that had something to do with the topic, but had the list in her book which was at her hostel because we did not have that lecture that day. i was too tired to ask her if she actually compiled some notes from those websites. and anyway she wouldnt have told me coz she was too tired to explain then, so we'd meet friday at midday after lectures. The he was nowhere to be seen. is this another football season? or do couples go out on wednesdays? but anyway, it was a tiring day, we understood.
friday at midday:- i had photocopied a handout from someone that had some of the tourism sustainability principles(our topic). yay! something done. The he had found some random paragraphs on internet that resembled tourism sustainability principles. yay! The she had a novel to return soon and wasnt able to do anything else before friday. or something like that. but watever, that didnt matter, i just wanted to get done with the work and get back to my hostel and relax;- no more lectures for me after midday on fridays! yay! so i grab a book to start writing an essay, after thirty minutes or so of catching up.

so i write. one paragraph gets done. i remind the he that he would do the typing and printing, since he's a he. and i would do the writing out of the essay, since i wasnt typing or printing. the she would finish her novel. or was arguing with someone. or daydreaming. or something like that.

two paragraphs done. i am still writing the sentence '....the three sustainability dimensions are easier understood when broken down into their principles...' (or something like that), when the she buts in and says "Change that 'their' to 'there' ". the he and i look at her in shock for a moment. or two. so i am starting to explain why it is 'their' principles and not 'there' principles, when the he interrupts and asks the she which primary school she goes to. after twenty minutes of an argument, i remind them that it is a friday and i intend to be back at hostel before 2pm so that i can have at least four hours (official school hours) of not having lectures. i have attracted their attention for only but a moment during which i have written five or so more words, before my pen is grabbed by the he and is being pointed at the she, and the book grabbed by the she and being wagged at the he. all this is amidst a re-heated up argument of course, complete with offensive statements, struggles to avoid foul language, and egotism that will allow neither to back down on their views;- and extra emotion as the he goes on to give a heart warming speech of how after over fifteen years of studying english and two years of studying A-level literature, his love for english can not allow him watch as it's being murdered and ruthlessly distorted by products of uncaring, child-beating, poor-english-speaking primary school english teachers. he then launches into a lecture on how 'their' is an article of possession whether the thing possesing is living or non-living.
the she retaliates with a mighty speech of how one must stand for watever they beleive in and never back down no matter wat the rest of the world says, and she beleives 'their' can only be used with people, and 'there' with non-living things like tourism sustainability dimensions have 'there' principles.
i am getting impatient and scratching my head looking for peace talks techniques. in vain of course. i finally yell and succeed in commanding silence. and remind them that i'd like to be out by two and it is already past one. in silence, the he grabs the paper, and writes two statements;
a. the cars are in their garages.
b. the cars are in there garages.
he then orders the she to take the paper round class and ask everyone for the the correct statement. everyone chooses a until the fourth guy or so chooses b. then the she strengthens her argument about how it doesnt matter if only one in five people beleive in something, she beleives b is right because cars are non-living.

dont get me wrong. i was hurt and heated up too. i really wanted the she to learn the right thing. but then i also wanted to be reading a nice book in hostel more than teaching english. my few interjections to correct her were futile. and my pleas for them to stop arguing and get back to work were not even being heard. my desire for my hostel room was getting stronger all the while. so i yell again. and remind them for the last time, again, that it is almost two and they will do the work alone if they dont stop.

and then miracles of miracles. they heard. and climax of miracles; the he stands up, and says he is too hurt, cant stand it, loves english too much, cant go on when this unresolved thing is still hanging with the she not accepting her mistake. therefore he is taking all the work and will do it himself, after all, he's the one typing. we would meet saturday and do final touches after i had worked out the library card thing and confirmed our work approach with a few text books.
have you ever doubted miracles? i have. i doubted this one, but was not disappointed. he took the work and stormed out! double yays!!!! i was free! i did nothing and my work would be ready by monday! how lovely! i wish all my groupies were like that.

moral of the story? next time, make sure your group mates are annoying, as unserious as you (read as serious as you), are female, are male, have problems with english, are good at english and love english even. that way, they can be lovely. so lovely.!

about school,

wel, about being in third year, my final year, arent things supposed to be a bit more differrent? not in the sense of the workload, i'm already used to that after 7 weeks in third year. i mean, it's uganda's independence day today. normally, everyone is out, or in watching movies and chilling, wishing tomorrow doesnt come coz its tuesday tomorrow and that's a working day. or school day, to be more precise. now i, on the otherhand, am spending the day blogging because i am too angry to read for my test of tomorrow at 7am. i'm angry coz i have another test on wednesday aftanoon for a course unit i have never read before. so i have tonite and tomorrow nite. that would be enough time if it wasn't independence day today and if last thursday and friday weren't free because of graduation. if the tests were after any other weekend, i wouldn't be blogging complaints! but having two tests after a 5-day weekend! it doesnt help that

sun, 15th october, 2006. 1355hrs.
sorry to all my fans. i wasn't able to finish that blog on independence day coz i got caught up looking at some other site and my time ran out and couldn't get more time coz i realized that if i did, i'd never go back to school and get ready for my tests. i also realised that i was derailing from the main reason i was blogging. the issue was, and is; about my third year, arent things supposed to be a bit different? when i joined the university almost three years ago, i kind of thought that by my final year i'd be a bit, u know, different? like i'd somehow be ready for the working life. like i'd be ready to brave the independent life ahead of looking for my own place to stay, paying my own bills, and settling down for life. like maybe i'd have this steady boyfriend who i'd be planing our future with.(ok, that's not so true for me. i somehow wanted to be an independent woman for a while driving my own rav-4 before i got hooked for life.) i kind of thought that by third year i'd be ready to wear women's suits everyday, and that i'd have this sort of majesty and elegance about me that would tell the whole world that i am graduating as a being who is more than a conqueror, ready to take this life to the peak in this territory of mine called the world. the earth would be my playground and this bachelor's degree of mine would be a tool; a starting point for me to climb up the ladders of civil service or entrepreneurship, pushing all incompetent competitors out of the way. i would speak in a language foreign to the poor english and slang of freshmen campusers. goodness, i would even be a hero for all i know;- a fully fledged graduate.

ok, enough of that. the issue is, after three years of university, all i am is just me. i still write my essays the way i always did. i still wear jeans and ordinary long and short skirts. i still go to class using the waterloo hostel van, and havent even thought up a topic for my final dissertation yet. i'm too busy getting stressed by courseworks and test to think about what's going to happen to me after university. that goes to say that i have no idea what i'm going to do after campus. i mean, i know i'm going to look for a job or a scholarship for my master's studies (though i have no idea wat i want to do a master's in), but, all that doesn't really have much direction. i still miss Rita, i still speak slang, and still play with my younger brothers and sisters. wel, there are a few things that have changed, like i'm having a reality check on this independent-woman-driving-a-rav-4 thing, and my Christianity has become more personal, real and serious; but some(a lot) of things still havent changed. like i still don't have a boyfriend. (not that i'm complaining guys, so dont chase after me. i'm just acknowledging how not very conventional it is not to have one. ok, and i'm still kind of clinging on to the idea of conquering in the world and all, enjoying my singlehood before i venture into sharing my life with someone forever and etc.) in short, i'm still me. and at this rate, i just might be me forever. still nice(read all the nice things you can think of), still loving, still loving music, still loving my friends, still loving debating with my friends, still loving Jesus and still loving popcorn and crisps. and for some reason, i'm loving the idea of still being just me. so deal with it if u ever had any problem with that. good day to ya'll!

guys,

i'm proud to be female. happy even. thankful, grateful, blessed. i get to wear high heels. i get to wear make-up. i get to grow my hair without being stereotyped in any possible negative way. i can get away with being broke;(sometimes being broke is even convenient). i can live in my parents home till i get married even if my wedding was 30 years from now, and my parents would still never try to get me out. my wardrobe has much more than just trousers, shorts and jeans. i get free internet time offers at the cafe at home. and the list goes on. and on. and on, and most of all, i get to not be the one to have a big ego and try to prove a point.
i was walking into hospital one day with a friend of mine. for the sake of his privacy, he asked me to call him jack bauer the next time i try to blog about him.(but in case u took a gues, ya, yo ryt.) this hospital is like, the largest in the country, and i've only been there once before. jack had been there once too. so we both didn't know the location of the ward we were headed to. so being the natural female i am, i gave a naturally bright idea of asking someone for directions. and i received the masculine response, "how can i ask for directions?! i'm a guy!!!!!!!" and i rolled my eyes(would have if i could), and asked;- "so?"
so i get the masculine response that said something like a guy walking with a girl isn't supposed to ask for directions, he's supposed to know (everything).

moral of the story? well;- if you are a guy, and you are walking with me, do not, and i repeat, DO NOT risk making me walk round in a thousand circles looking for a place we both don't know, only to end up looking like a fool asking for directions from someone u've probably passed by 10 times already. coz u'll make me blog about it again and my list of nice things about being females will grow. not that that's a bad thing, but it's scary when u begin to love things u were not too excited about before, like the idea of possibly having to wear heels for the rest of your working life.

thank you.