Friday, 27 August 2010
Saturday, 21 August 2010
So what about Fridays' Orientation .....
Dear Diary
Today was another orientation class, and Shanty was there. I decided to sit closer to the front of the class to avoid her. Only one of my mad professor types showed today and we broke up into groups to do a presentation on what we thought the degree entailed.
I saw the same girls from yesterday and as I thought, they were more willing to invite me into their group without Shanty attached. I say hi and introduce myself. The group had five girls and one guy. The guy was kinda cute but kinda young I think maybe 22. Everyone starts talking about the other orientation classes they attended and start putting together a presentation. Because this is basically my first class I don’t have much to add and I begin to feel like I am wasting space. When the 10 minutes are up everyone then turns to me, I am guessing this is where I am gonna contribute to the group ... their idea is for me to do the presentation. I am thinking in my head HELL NO am I getting up in front of a group of strangers on my second day and presenting on something I have very little knowledge on. I decide to put on my strongest Trini accent with broken English and Trini slang, ‘Meh nah know nuthin bout de course yet, Ah go mess up, allyuh do it.’ I know they would not understand and no way would they send me up talking like that. I know it is devious but a girl has to do what a girl has to do to get by right? In the end we didn’t have to present because everyone was shy, did not want to present so we ended class early.
The girls in the group decided to head to the other city campus so we could pick up some discount cards (NUS, Met cards and travel cards) and I fell into the group on the way. I talked with two of the them, Alisa an Asian girl with long black hair and the biggest puppy dog eyes I have ever seen, and Sharkya a pretty light skinned South African. (In London Asians refers to Indians, Pakistans, Bengalese and so on and Africans are what we Trinis would call blacks)They were nice, and were both British. I have to get accustom to characterising people since I am up here, cause that is one of the first things people ask you..... ‘Where are you from?’ This is a little strange to me since everyone in Trinidad whether white, black, Chinese or Indian is a Trini ... and where you from means where you living. So when they ask where I am from I resist the urge to say I am staying on halls of residence. Sharkya says she thought I was Jamaican. It is the usually response most of the world thinks the Caribbean is only Jamaica some know about Barbados. I say no and give my best fake smile thinking she should know better since she is of African heritage. We all chat, I even chat with Leo the guy from class but he turns out to be so vain, and loves the sound of his voice that I decide to chat with Alisa. After a while, I realise that our five-minute walk to the campus has been fifteen minutes! I ask ‘Does anyone know where we are going?’ Then we realise we’ve been following each other... here I was thinking I was following them. But it turns out that no one in our group is from London. We are all tourists! ‘No one gets really lost in London’ I say. 'I mean it is somewhat big, but it is like a large circular maze you get where you’re going eventually.' We reach fifteen minutes later and get all our cards – which will be sent to our addresses but we get the Met card, which is the university’s (uni) discount card for parties and such.
I decide no more getting lost and wandering around London, so I get on the tube, a straight forward ride home. I get some groceries on the way home, prepare dinner and in the middle of it, I hear a knock on my door. Like Biggie I think – who the £$%^ calling me at ... well its only 830pm at night. When I open the door I see the guy I met at the bar a few days ago. He gives me his best player smile, but I am not impressed. He says he's been trying to get me to last few days, but I seem never to be home. ‘Hi’ I say wondering why he’s here.' I've just been settling in' I say. 'What you doing' he asks, with his Caribbean accent, and ask if I wanna head down to the bar that is in our hall to lime (this is a Caribbean word for hanging out). Hummmm he knows I am Trini I think cause only really Trinis use this slang or people who hang out with Trinis and I still can’t place his accent. I am just in the middle of eating, I say how bout I meet you at your room and when I am finished and we can head down. He says ok gives me his room number and goes.
When I knock on his door a little later, he tells me that it too late and the bar is closed. He’s watching a movie and asks if I wanna stay to watch. I think that’s cool and I turn looking for somewhere to sit. There is only the bed. I stand thinking it’s way too soon to be sharing a bed with this guy. Plus I don’t even remember his name. He laughs and asks if I’m afraid. He looks like a wolf in for the kill but I decide to show no fear saying ‘NO, afraid of what!’ I say but stay at the far end of the bed. ‘You’re a small guy and I could take you’ we both smile ‘Plus’ I say ‘I have an action plan if you try anything.’ Don’t mind that my plan has never been put into action, he does not need to know this. But looking at him he’s only a few inches taller than me, dark and honestly he’s skinny and I have always had boyfriends much bigger than me ... so I think I could really take him. As we watch the movie and it gets later, it gets chilly and I tug the duvet away from him and snuggle up on the bed. He moves over and ask if he could hug me through the duvet cause he’s kind of chilly too. Lame move player I say and we both laugh. When the movie finished, I head back to my room and as I leave he holds my hand as if asking me to stay. I look at him like please... and then look at his hand like if it’s gonna break if it stays where it is. He lets go and asks what I’m up to the next evening. It’s Saturday, I have nothing to do and I wanna be sociable, so I agree to met up.
Well I am off for now. catch yuh tomorrow.... I must say although Caribbean boy isn't my type .... hearing his accent reminds me of home and makes me feel comfortable. At least he gets me and those smiles and eye contact is kinda nice. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
N
Dear Diary
Today was another orientation class, and Shanty was there. I decided to sit closer to the front of the class to avoid her. Only one of my mad professor types showed today and we broke up into groups to do a presentation on what we thought the degree entailed.
I saw the same girls from yesterday and as I thought, they were more willing to invite me into their group without Shanty attached. I say hi and introduce myself. The group had five girls and one guy. The guy was kinda cute but kinda young I think maybe 22. Everyone starts talking about the other orientation classes they attended and start putting together a presentation. Because this is basically my first class I don’t have much to add and I begin to feel like I am wasting space. When the 10 minutes are up everyone then turns to me, I am guessing this is where I am gonna contribute to the group ... their idea is for me to do the presentation. I am thinking in my head HELL NO am I getting up in front of a group of strangers on my second day and presenting on something I have very little knowledge on. I decide to put on my strongest Trini accent with broken English and Trini slang, ‘Meh nah know nuthin bout de course yet, Ah go mess up, allyuh do it.’ I know they would not understand and no way would they send me up talking like that. I know it is devious but a girl has to do what a girl has to do to get by right? In the end we didn’t have to present because everyone was shy, did not want to present so we ended class early.
The girls in the group decided to head to the other city campus so we could pick up some discount cards (NUS, Met cards and travel cards) and I fell into the group on the way. I talked with two of the them, Alisa an Asian girl with long black hair and the biggest puppy dog eyes I have ever seen, and Sharkya a pretty light skinned South African. (In London Asians refers to Indians, Pakistans, Bengalese and so on and Africans are what we Trinis would call blacks)They were nice, and were both British. I have to get accustom to characterising people since I am up here, cause that is one of the first things people ask you..... ‘Where are you from?’ This is a little strange to me since everyone in Trinidad whether white, black, Chinese or Indian is a Trini ... and where you from means where you living. So when they ask where I am from I resist the urge to say I am staying on halls of residence. Sharkya says she thought I was Jamaican. It is the usually response most of the world thinks the Caribbean is only Jamaica some know about Barbados. I say no and give my best fake smile thinking she should know better since she is of African heritage. We all chat, I even chat with Leo the guy from class but he turns out to be so vain, and loves the sound of his voice that I decide to chat with Alisa. After a while, I realise that our five-minute walk to the campus has been fifteen minutes! I ask ‘Does anyone know where we are going?’ Then we realise we’ve been following each other... here I was thinking I was following them. But it turns out that no one in our group is from London. We are all tourists! ‘No one gets really lost in London’ I say. 'I mean it is somewhat big, but it is like a large circular maze you get where you’re going eventually.' We reach fifteen minutes later and get all our cards – which will be sent to our addresses but we get the Met card, which is the university’s (uni) discount card for parties and such.
I decide no more getting lost and wandering around London, so I get on the tube, a straight forward ride home. I get some groceries on the way home, prepare dinner and in the middle of it, I hear a knock on my door. Like Biggie I think – who the £$%^ calling me at ... well its only 830pm at night. When I open the door I see the guy I met at the bar a few days ago. He gives me his best player smile, but I am not impressed. He says he's been trying to get me to last few days, but I seem never to be home. ‘Hi’ I say wondering why he’s here.' I've just been settling in' I say. 'What you doing' he asks, with his Caribbean accent, and ask if I wanna head down to the bar that is in our hall to lime (this is a Caribbean word for hanging out). Hummmm he knows I am Trini I think cause only really Trinis use this slang or people who hang out with Trinis and I still can’t place his accent. I am just in the middle of eating, I say how bout I meet you at your room and when I am finished and we can head down. He says ok gives me his room number and goes.
When I knock on his door a little later, he tells me that it too late and the bar is closed. He’s watching a movie and asks if I wanna stay to watch. I think that’s cool and I turn looking for somewhere to sit. There is only the bed. I stand thinking it’s way too soon to be sharing a bed with this guy. Plus I don’t even remember his name. He laughs and asks if I’m afraid. He looks like a wolf in for the kill but I decide to show no fear saying ‘NO, afraid of what!’ I say but stay at the far end of the bed. ‘You’re a small guy and I could take you’ we both smile ‘Plus’ I say ‘I have an action plan if you try anything.’ Don’t mind that my plan has never been put into action, he does not need to know this. But looking at him he’s only a few inches taller than me, dark and honestly he’s skinny and I have always had boyfriends much bigger than me ... so I think I could really take him. As we watch the movie and it gets later, it gets chilly and I tug the duvet away from him and snuggle up on the bed. He moves over and ask if he could hug me through the duvet cause he’s kind of chilly too. Lame move player I say and we both laugh. When the movie finished, I head back to my room and as I leave he holds my hand as if asking me to stay. I look at him like please... and then look at his hand like if it’s gonna break if it stays where it is. He lets go and asks what I’m up to the next evening. It’s Saturday, I have nothing to do and I wanna be sociable, so I agree to met up.
Well I am off for now. catch yuh tomorrow.... I must say although Caribbean boy isn't my type .... hearing his accent reminds me of home and makes me feel comfortable. At least he gets me and those smiles and eye contact is kinda nice. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
N
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
What Happens with Litter
Today I saw something abnormal as I was walking home. I was quietly enjoying the damp, grey, rainy day and there was a lady walking some distance in front of me. She was white, had waist length blonde hair high in a ponytail that was greying at the roots, all I remember of her clothes was that it was a blue jacket. As she was walking along she bent down in a sweep and picked up a discarded sandwich cardboard wrapping and then a Coke Cola bottle emptying it contents into the drain in the same sweep. The wrapping and bottle were left in some roots at the bottom of a tree, something which annoys me regularly on my way home. Walking further still she then straightens up some garage bags lower down the road near a lamppost. She did it with the ease of someone walking through their living room picking up dirty clothes. She didn’t seem to be a mad or deluded person wondering the street without something better to do, her movement seemed normal.
Intrigued by her actions and my reaction to what was done I walked up to her as she deposited the wrapping and bottle into the bin nearby. Cocking my head to one side I said ‘Why did you do that?’ She looked surprised at my bold question, smiled from her mouth to her blue eyes showing her laughing lines, and said ‘I am a cleaner’. What she said after I believed instantly because I felt it in my heart, it is what I feel every time I see garbage on the road especially close to where I maybe living at the point in time. Or the anger I feel when I see someone lazily drop paper or wrappings when a bin is clearly in site. ‘I am a cleaner and it bothers me when I see litter so I do something about’ – a clear answer one as simple as you have a problem you do something to solve it instead of just grumbling. She had the same sense of wanting the area in which she lived to be clean and by extension beautiful. ‘I do it when I am waiting on the bus or not in a hurry, if I see garbage and a bin is in view’. ‘I get various reactions’ she goes on a friendly voice, ‘Older ladies watch me with distaste’ I stopped her ‘It’s admirable’ I said. She smiled again ‘Someone riding by on a bike said that once to me, he was black too like you, a black guy he said it was admirable. Hum says something’ she said looking off as though remembering, even seeing the moment. I was a little uncomfortable with this interjection of race as I am with any unknown person, as I have become wary. I am never sure what they mean or are referring to. I am never sure if to feel offended, if I have missed something in my innocence of being new to a different culture. But this is going off point.
Her reaction seems like the logical thing someone would do if something really annoyed them. This leads me to wonder ‘How annoyed am I at the garbage I see in the street?’ ‘What am I willing to do about it?’ ‘And why she feels so empowered doing this logical response and I would feel taken advantage of?’ As I walked on praising her good deeds with good thoughts, doubts and excuses quickly came to my mind. I think ‘Oh it is totally insanitary’, I think this comes from the constant mantra of ‘Don’t touch, you don’t know where it’s been’ we all hear as children. I see it on the tube; someone sneezes and then holds on to the rail. But won’t the easiest thing be not to throw litter around keep it in your bag because you know where it has been. Another excuse I hear is ‘But you’d be making someone lose a job.’ But honestly I think this is a lazy cop out, firstly the person has not even made an attempt to make a proper excuse and secondly it shows a little into their mindset ‘why should it be someone else’s job to pick up after you?’ It’s the same as saying I should kill someone so police officers have a job.
It is amazing the little things one can do to change life around you, to change your area. And why would you not want to. Your community is an extension of your home. I am not saying we should all go around picking up others litter, but let’s get at the source and not throw it there in the first place, giving the responsibility to someone else to make it better. It is so simple throw your litter in the bin or, keep it in your bag until you see one. In the meantime little heroes like my friend will have to keep her unpaid job and try to make it into something positive.
Some Facts about litter
Litter is expensive – nationally it costs around £370 million a year to remove litter from our streets, waterways and open spaces and a further £5 million to remove shopping trolleys dumped in rivers and ponds.”
The most commonly-found litter is cigarette ends, followed by sweet and food wrappers.
Litter endangers wildlife Exmaples include Yoghurt cartons that trap hedgehogs, plastic loops that catch and kill diving birds in waterways and the sea and floating plastic bags that appear as food to marine life but kill if swallowed by them.
An estimated 122 tons of cigarette butts and cigarette-related litter is dropped every day across the UK.
Littering" is a criminal offence. You can be fined up to £2,500, though not jailed. The average fine is around £90, plus court costs. Cases are tried in magistrates' courts.
If every smoker dropped one cigarette end a week in the UK, we would be knee deep in 624 million dog ends within a year
This fast food litter helped swell the rat population in Britain to 60 million in 2002
Litter takes a long time to degrade here is a short list:
Plastic bottles – indefinitely
Aluminium cans 80–100 years
Tin cans 50 years
Glass indefinitely
Plastic bags 10–20 years
Cigarette butts up to 2 years
Orange peel/banana skins up to 2 years
References
http://www.fusionweb.co.uk/tidycheltenham/pages/fact.html
© 2010 Perth & Kinross Council http://www.pkc.gov.uk/Planning+and+the+environment/Waste+and+recycling/Litter+and+flytipping/Litter/Litter.htm
Today I saw something abnormal as I was walking home. I was quietly enjoying the damp, grey, rainy day and there was a lady walking some distance in front of me. She was white, had waist length blonde hair high in a ponytail that was greying at the roots, all I remember of her clothes was that it was a blue jacket. As she was walking along she bent down in a sweep and picked up a discarded sandwich cardboard wrapping and then a Coke Cola bottle emptying it contents into the drain in the same sweep. The wrapping and bottle were left in some roots at the bottom of a tree, something which annoys me regularly on my way home. Walking further still she then straightens up some garage bags lower down the road near a lamppost. She did it with the ease of someone walking through their living room picking up dirty clothes. She didn’t seem to be a mad or deluded person wondering the street without something better to do, her movement seemed normal.
Intrigued by her actions and my reaction to what was done I walked up to her as she deposited the wrapping and bottle into the bin nearby. Cocking my head to one side I said ‘Why did you do that?’ She looked surprised at my bold question, smiled from her mouth to her blue eyes showing her laughing lines, and said ‘I am a cleaner’. What she said after I believed instantly because I felt it in my heart, it is what I feel every time I see garbage on the road especially close to where I maybe living at the point in time. Or the anger I feel when I see someone lazily drop paper or wrappings when a bin is clearly in site. ‘I am a cleaner and it bothers me when I see litter so I do something about’ – a clear answer one as simple as you have a problem you do something to solve it instead of just grumbling. She had the same sense of wanting the area in which she lived to be clean and by extension beautiful. ‘I do it when I am waiting on the bus or not in a hurry, if I see garbage and a bin is in view’. ‘I get various reactions’ she goes on a friendly voice, ‘Older ladies watch me with distaste’ I stopped her ‘It’s admirable’ I said. She smiled again ‘Someone riding by on a bike said that once to me, he was black too like you, a black guy he said it was admirable. Hum says something’ she said looking off as though remembering, even seeing the moment. I was a little uncomfortable with this interjection of race as I am with any unknown person, as I have become wary. I am never sure what they mean or are referring to. I am never sure if to feel offended, if I have missed something in my innocence of being new to a different culture. But this is going off point.
Her reaction seems like the logical thing someone would do if something really annoyed them. This leads me to wonder ‘How annoyed am I at the garbage I see in the street?’ ‘What am I willing to do about it?’ ‘And why she feels so empowered doing this logical response and I would feel taken advantage of?’ As I walked on praising her good deeds with good thoughts, doubts and excuses quickly came to my mind. I think ‘Oh it is totally insanitary’, I think this comes from the constant mantra of ‘Don’t touch, you don’t know where it’s been’ we all hear as children. I see it on the tube; someone sneezes and then holds on to the rail. But won’t the easiest thing be not to throw litter around keep it in your bag because you know where it has been. Another excuse I hear is ‘But you’d be making someone lose a job.’ But honestly I think this is a lazy cop out, firstly the person has not even made an attempt to make a proper excuse and secondly it shows a little into their mindset ‘why should it be someone else’s job to pick up after you?’ It’s the same as saying I should kill someone so police officers have a job.
It is amazing the little things one can do to change life around you, to change your area. And why would you not want to. Your community is an extension of your home. I am not saying we should all go around picking up others litter, but let’s get at the source and not throw it there in the first place, giving the responsibility to someone else to make it better. It is so simple throw your litter in the bin or, keep it in your bag until you see one. In the meantime little heroes like my friend will have to keep her unpaid job and try to make it into something positive.
Some Facts about litter
Litter is expensive – nationally it costs around £370 million a year to remove litter from our streets, waterways and open spaces and a further £5 million to remove shopping trolleys dumped in rivers and ponds.”
The most commonly-found litter is cigarette ends, followed by sweet and food wrappers.
Litter endangers wildlife Exmaples include Yoghurt cartons that trap hedgehogs, plastic loops that catch and kill diving birds in waterways and the sea and floating plastic bags that appear as food to marine life but kill if swallowed by them.
An estimated 122 tons of cigarette butts and cigarette-related litter is dropped every day across the UK.
Littering" is a criminal offence. You can be fined up to £2,500, though not jailed. The average fine is around £90, plus court costs. Cases are tried in magistrates' courts.
If every smoker dropped one cigarette end a week in the UK, we would be knee deep in 624 million dog ends within a year
This fast food litter helped swell the rat population in Britain to 60 million in 2002
Litter takes a long time to degrade here is a short list:
Plastic bottles – indefinitely
Aluminium cans 80–100 years
Tin cans 50 years
Glass indefinitely
Plastic bags 10–20 years
Cigarette butts up to 2 years
Orange peel/banana skins up to 2 years
References
http://www.fusionweb.co.uk/tidycheltenham/pages/fact.html
© 2010 Perth & Kinross Council http://www.pkc.gov.uk/Planning+and+the+environment/Waste+and+recycling/Litter+and+flytipping/Litter/Litter.htm
Friday, 13 August 2010
Confession of an Ugly Stepsister is another book from Gregory Maguire. He goes back to his stronghold of weaving a beautiful tale from a well known and loved fairy tale i.e. Cinderella. As with his previous novel Wicked you fall for and empathise with the character that was original the 'bad person' as you realise they were misunderstood. It is told from the point of view of one of the ugly stepsisters and I would say explains what really happen ...’what if the fairy tale told only half the story?....' the summary states. This book is wonderfully written and he incorporates the original fairytale expertly into this grown up fantasy free tale. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Orientation ...
Dear Diary,
The first thing you should know about London is that you have to hit the ground running. There is no time for dilly dallying and taking your time. If you do, you miss out on deadlines and getting your stuff done and accomplished. And there ain’t no sweet talking or smiling with de guy or girl ‘to get a little pass’. So even though I went out last night this morning I was out the dorm bright and early. I had to get enrolled, pay my tuition, attend an orientation class (I had missed a few already since I was last minute in coming up) get my bedding duvet covers and pillows and visit my uncle and aunt for dinner. And travelling on the tube is like an hour to get everywhere so that was going to take up most of my day. Oh and by the way I was not hung over those girls soft and the alcohol is nothing compared to Trini rum.
I lived in London before; I remembered the tube system so it was very easy for me to get around. My first stop was paying my tuition and registering for university. All went smooth except I thought I would be bright and use a picture I already had. You see in my hurry I had once again wore no make up and pulled my hair back in one. When it came out it looked like I had a wad of Vaseline spread all over my forehead. It was so shiny there was a white blinding spot, making the rest of my face faint and a little distorted. The guy actually looked at it and said with a straight face ‘ Aw that’s alright’ I was shocked and pleaded to take another or even one of me now. The bastard refused and said the card was already printed and if I wanted another I would have to pay £10. That’s a $100 TTD, I mean I am vain but not that vain, so I’ll just have to settle with a horrid picture for the next four years I guess.... SOB.
Off to class with my crappy ID card I attend my first orientation lesson and my professor looks like a mad professor type. He has wild curly hair, strangely skinny with a visible but not big potbelly, wild eyes, and a slightly disturbing smile. I swear that if his hair was white, I could never take him seriously and I would be laughing uncontrollable. Cause I would be thinking of the scientist from Back to the Future and expect Michael J Fox to jump out of thin air at any point. Another professor joins him and honestly, he looks like a caricature with spiky hair, and a forehead that falls into a straight, small nose and small lips. While waiting for the class to fill, one of my classmates says hi. She is Asian and I soon find out she is from Pakistan. Cool, I think and start asking her about cricket. She looks at me blank almost like she’s never heard of the sport. I think, ok Nina bad start, the West Indies probably Trinidad is the only place where cricket is still cool. I just decide to remind quiet and to be honest it is just really uncomfortable now. She eventually asks me where I’m from. ‘Trinidad and Tobago’ I say ... I get the same blank stare.....’It’s in the West Indies’ ...blank stare....’Part of the Caribbean’ I explain... same blank stare. OMG is this her face or is it me I am thinking at this point. ‘Oh well’ she says and starts telling me about herself. Her name is Shanty, she tells me about her village and her family, she seems excited, but the conversation is pretty much one way at this point unless she asks me some very personal questions. If I’m British ... I remind her I’m from Trinidad (the same blank look reappears) or how am I paying for university. At this point I just wanna run away this is too much at this point. I decide to ignore her and inch towards some girls I see clustered a few chairs away. I smile and they smile back, but they make no moves o include me in their conversation. I think Shanty is scaring them off I try to distance myself but she persist talking and asking inappropriate questions, and I am thinking I’m stuck with this girl and why do I speak to the weird ones. The class is still empty so the two professors decide to start the class. Firstly, they tell us that it is a reading degree. Classes are about three hours in length so the majority of our learning will be through spending time in the library reading texts on our subjects. Also they field that we are going into requires a lot of research, group work and presentations.
After class, we all leave and I head out leaving Shanty behind without a good bye. I finish off the day shopping for bedding and going by my uncle for dinner. I reached home about 11 and head straight to bed knackered.
Well I am off for now. catch yuh tommorrow..... for hummm not sure yet but I'm sure it'll be fun.
N
Dear Diary,
The first thing you should know about London is that you have to hit the ground running. There is no time for dilly dallying and taking your time. If you do, you miss out on deadlines and getting your stuff done and accomplished. And there ain’t no sweet talking or smiling with de guy or girl ‘to get a little pass’. So even though I went out last night this morning I was out the dorm bright and early. I had to get enrolled, pay my tuition, attend an orientation class (I had missed a few already since I was last minute in coming up) get my bedding duvet covers and pillows and visit my uncle and aunt for dinner. And travelling on the tube is like an hour to get everywhere so that was going to take up most of my day. Oh and by the way I was not hung over those girls soft and the alcohol is nothing compared to Trini rum.
I lived in London before; I remembered the tube system so it was very easy for me to get around. My first stop was paying my tuition and registering for university. All went smooth except I thought I would be bright and use a picture I already had. You see in my hurry I had once again wore no make up and pulled my hair back in one. When it came out it looked like I had a wad of Vaseline spread all over my forehead. It was so shiny there was a white blinding spot, making the rest of my face faint and a little distorted. The guy actually looked at it and said with a straight face ‘ Aw that’s alright’ I was shocked and pleaded to take another or even one of me now. The bastard refused and said the card was already printed and if I wanted another I would have to pay £10. That’s a $100 TTD, I mean I am vain but not that vain, so I’ll just have to settle with a horrid picture for the next four years I guess.... SOB.
Off to class with my crappy ID card I attend my first orientation lesson and my professor looks like a mad professor type. He has wild curly hair, strangely skinny with a visible but not big potbelly, wild eyes, and a slightly disturbing smile. I swear that if his hair was white, I could never take him seriously and I would be laughing uncontrollable. Cause I would be thinking of the scientist from Back to the Future and expect Michael J Fox to jump out of thin air at any point. Another professor joins him and honestly, he looks like a caricature with spiky hair, and a forehead that falls into a straight, small nose and small lips. While waiting for the class to fill, one of my classmates says hi. She is Asian and I soon find out she is from Pakistan. Cool, I think and start asking her about cricket. She looks at me blank almost like she’s never heard of the sport. I think, ok Nina bad start, the West Indies probably Trinidad is the only place where cricket is still cool. I just decide to remind quiet and to be honest it is just really uncomfortable now. She eventually asks me where I’m from. ‘Trinidad and Tobago’ I say ... I get the same blank stare.....’It’s in the West Indies’ ...blank stare....’Part of the Caribbean’ I explain... same blank stare. OMG is this her face or is it me I am thinking at this point. ‘Oh well’ she says and starts telling me about herself. Her name is Shanty, she tells me about her village and her family, she seems excited, but the conversation is pretty much one way at this point unless she asks me some very personal questions. If I’m British ... I remind her I’m from Trinidad (the same blank look reappears) or how am I paying for university. At this point I just wanna run away this is too much at this point. I decide to ignore her and inch towards some girls I see clustered a few chairs away. I smile and they smile back, but they make no moves o include me in their conversation. I think Shanty is scaring them off I try to distance myself but she persist talking and asking inappropriate questions, and I am thinking I’m stuck with this girl and why do I speak to the weird ones. The class is still empty so the two professors decide to start the class. Firstly, they tell us that it is a reading degree. Classes are about three hours in length so the majority of our learning will be through spending time in the library reading texts on our subjects. Also they field that we are going into requires a lot of research, group work and presentations.
After class, we all leave and I head out leaving Shanty behind without a good bye. I finish off the day shopping for bedding and going by my uncle for dinner. I reached home about 11 and head straight to bed knackered.
Well I am off for now. catch yuh tommorrow..... for hummm not sure yet but I'm sure it'll be fun.
N
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