Martians & Hair Woes

There is a rumor going round that the aforementioned species are blind to a lot of things that the womenfolk in their lives do in order to enhance the way they look, so that they may be looked at longer and in the process appreciated and applauded for their pain.
There is no limit to what a woman will undergo in this area of personal enhancement though we have not reached the heights of certain “beautiful people” who are so botoxed you would not know what they originally looked like.
Last week I had a welcome opportunity to spend quality and quantity time with my daddy and I assumed he enjoyed himself thoroughly. Only to have my mother on the phone the next day after he had left our place with the comment that I had upset the man thoroughly. Reason?
I had recently removed the braids I had on and decided to give my hair a break, wearing it short and natural since I am never going the chemical route ever again. Before taking this very drastic step I inquired from my other half if it was Ok for me to go around looking like that. He was not terribly upset only saying that I should not keep it that way too long. And that my dearest is what upset my daddy as soon as he set his eyes on me. Of course being the person he is he did not give me the tongue lashing he thought I deserved there and then, waiting to take the damning report to the right person.

I was thoroughly tickled at the thought, my father, who does not know the difference between a weave and braids was upset because I had short hair and it seemed as if I had not been taking good care of the same, I think you ladies know what my African hair would look like, not exactly unruly but some ambitious fellow would call it strongly “ethnic” to be on the right side of political correctness.

Daddy went ahead to say that must be a sign of matrimonial woes and mom should take it upon herself to investigate if all is in order.

So there you have it ladies they do notice more than you would believe, only I have noticed they would rather keep the peace most of the time than tell you, you look like something the cat refused to drag in, atrocious!!


Snippets
Today is a special holiday for prayer. I do not know why we only remember to pray as a nation when disaster strikes but I do welcome an opportunity to rest my weary body. Only today provided a much needed opportunity to do something about my hair. Daddy is one person I would never want to upset especially since he had a big part to play in the way I look.

Have a lovely weekend

One

A year ago today, I dove head first into the treacherous waters that is blogging . And lived to tell the tale. The ride has been thrilling, exhausting but mostly deeply satisfying. I am mighty glad I got the courage to, as I have e-met lots of wonderful Kenyans and others alike, I have ventured outside my little cocoon and a few light years wiser from the interaction.
I have laughed and cried with some of you, virtually though as I am still to show up for any meet up. My quest for the new year is to do so.

Wish me well and vote for the Kaybees 2006, only 3 days to go!

I watched you

(Author Unknown)

I've watched you on your journey through laughter and through pain,

My eyes were ever watchful as you've walked through sun and rain.

I've seen you spread your wings with the promise of the dove,

My heart keeps constant vigil only through these eyes of love

Through eyes that see your goodness through eyes that bring you praise,

Through vision ever ready to guide you through your days.

I've watched you crossing bridges I've seen you miss a turn,

But always, through these eyes of love I knew that you would learn.

My eyes showed disappointment at times along the way,

But I've realized through these mother's eyes those judgments do not stay.

If ever you should see that my eyes are bathed in tears,

Don't be concerned, don't be afraid--It happens through the years...

For smiling eyes need cleansing to clear away debris,

'Cause only through these eyes of love can mothers really see.

High School

This post is inspired by spicebear’s tales of high school.

There is something about the Kenyan schooling system that is designed to stifle the human spirit and those that survived intact should be patted on the back.

So pat yourself on the back now, smile and be happy.

I was in a national girl’s only secondary school. I look back with very fond memories of the place sprinkled with moments of pure unadulterated rage. There are questions I would love answered as why things are run that way. I remember vividly a teacher going through my box on admission and handling my new panties with more relish than was proper for the occasion; why do they have this practice?

Thank God they only did that once because the urge to kick someone might have overtaken my and I would be telling a different story.

Compared to most schools Moi Gee is pure heaven. The place is beautiful, there compound is huge and you could get away from it all just by going to the extreme end of the school compound to rest your mind. We could give credit to the colonialists for this they knew how schools should be. But then again it was earlier an all whites only establishment.

It is just some of the teachers who, having nothing better to do with their time, decided to make the entire time spent within the school as difficult as possible. We had numerous sins which included

1. having a short skirt,
2. having a long skirt,
3. having a slit skirt which mostly happened when the wearer took a long step
4. having a tight skirt which led to 3 above
5. having painted toe/fingernails
6. having hair in your face/having a fancy hair style
7. making noise in class
8. talking to boys during trips outside the school
9. talking to boys who come visiting
10. looking at a teacher while speaking to him/her
11. not looking at a teacher while speaking to him/her
12. eating in class

Now somebody tell me, how any of these sins except maybe no 7. would have affected your performance in school? For the record I had an irresistible urge to eat salty, crunchy, potato crisps during a particular teacher’s lesson and did exactly that for a whole school year without ever getting caught. Her lesson was mostly after tea break which gave me enough time to dash to the tuck shop and procure the goodies. Sorry Miss B.

The list was very long but the most frequently committed offences were the ones above. What most schools need is not military obedience of rules, half of which do not make any sense anyway, but a calculated move to instill respect for self and others which would go a long way to make the student a better person.

At the end of the first year we had perfected the art of talking without moving your lips but still there were lists for the class prefects to make with the usual suspects on it even when they were not in class that day.

The school had fancy places like ablutions and sanatorium which for the first day puzzled all the new comers till they go the hang of things. I remember my sisters telling me their version of secondary school and I was horrified at the thought of taking a communal bath.(I have always been a prude and might be till I die.)

The first weekend in school we decided to enjoy the lovely swimming pool. Some of us did not know how to swim and decided to grab the opportunity to learn.

So we changed into swimming costumes and walked to the pool from the house -not dorms, we had houses- roughly 300m away. You should have seen the looks on the girls we passed on our way there so we went did our thing and came back. It is then that we were advised on the folly we had committed. Now you see why those school rules are not well thought out. There should have been one to tell us to change within the swimming pool area and not at the dorm.

Within the first term in Moi G. there was a riot/strike/student unrest whatever fancy name you would love to give it. We are reliably informed that it was the first such event in the school history. You should have seen us, scared form ones who had not in their heads the idea that you could revolt against authority and get away with it. We spent the night terrified at what might happen next. The next morning explanations were theorized about and ringleaders flushed out and beheaded figuratively as we watched in horror. Snippets of the story, embellished and spiced, trickled to us much later. Apparently there was a favorite teacher that had been transferred. The schoolgirls were up in arms because he used to ferry them in the boot of his car, to and from clubs. The truth of the story is still unknown to this day. Well he was sent away and we never saw him again.

You would notice that girls’ only schools are headed by women. Ideally this would be a good thing because traditionally aunts, mothers, grandmothers and older sisters took the role of educating the younger girls in the ways of the world. They were a valuable source of information and wisdom for the girls through out their lives.

In the jungle that is called school, the contrary takes place. I have scars to prove it! We had very few teachers who were equipped to handle adolescent girls without becoming preachy, judgmental or just plain stupid. In this school we had only one during the four years I was there. You could tell her anything and she would never divulge it to any other person, those secret longings of an adolescent girl’s heart that did not make sense even to the girl herself. She made a point of putting us on the right path and her English lessons were invariably turned into a marathon counseling session. We could not get enough of her. Her house was always full of students even though the school rules stated otherwise and she made a point of not punishing us for it. If only schools could invest in more teachers like her there would be less trouble. Students need someone to listen and make them feel important even if the listener is not going to do anything about it. Bless your soul Miss M. wherever you are.

It is an open secret that there is fierce competition for the few members of the opposite sex present in non co-ed schools. In the very dry season even the watchman and the cook started to look mighty attractive to us. Not that we were up to no good in the non-existent department or horizontal rhumba affairs though.

This was the source of grief for many students and believe it or not, teachers. The old story of youth versus maturity when it comes to males choosing mates.

Torrid tales used to circulate about male teachers who were preying on students (a terrible situation indeed) and female teachers lashing out at the students who were stepping into what they perceived as their territory. You can imagine what would happen a girl reported a male teacher’s indiscretions to an interested party. Of course the M. word surfaced and the poor girl would face many punishment sessions without knowing why. The teacher would get his own dose at places far from the public eye if you catch my drift. Then there was this Physics teacher who used to punish errant people using their own bra straps. I do not think such unorthodox punishment was recommended in the curriculum, do you?

To be continued someday...