Monday, August 17, 2009

My Camp Experience

'BAYELSA' was boldly written on my call-up letter. I have never imagined myself in this part of the country before now but with total resignation to the will of God in collaboration with NYSC, I packed my bags. I arrived at kolokuma opokuma (tongue twister abi?) L.G.A where the orientation camp is located. Registration was the beginning of a revelation for me, I realized that you pay for everything; If you wanted to staple a passport to a form, you pay. Simple, mundane things had a price tag attached. Registration ended with collection of kit and nothing fit (well, wasn't really suprised). I then proceeded to make ammendments and ended up paying an exhorbitant amount for patchwork that was badly done. Camp life was crazy, for me, it was a mix of everything; fun, sadness, happiness, suffering. Everything sorta balanced out and merged into a great experience. From the overcrowded room, to waking up for headcount in the middle of the night, to substandard kit materials. The weather was another story entirely, it rained every single day and we had to rely on body heat to dry our whites. Sometimes, we wore it damp like that and it will dry on our bodies. There were completly irrelevant (in my own opinion) lectures and there were limited/no chairs to sit on and you either sit on the floor or stand, sometimes for up to 3-4 hours. The food nko? They served weevil-infested beans almost everyday, eba like it was running out of fashion and occasional rice with watery soup and miniscule pieces of meat. The ridiculous morning race disguised as jogging. They wanted to kill me ni? Me ke? I started avoiding it o! The military guys took pleasure in harrasing and victimizing us, they would call us names like otondo, akamu, they would shout at us; "ajuwaya! double-up" they would go to the clinic and bring out those who were feigning illness, make them chant "i no well" while marching round the camp. They would also barge into the female hostels, even enter the bathrooms while girls were bathing shouting "fall out, fall out". The people were another case entirely; the good, bad and ugly. You hear some graduates blast grammer and you ask yourself: who let this cat outta school? And then i stylishly ask: abeg, which school did you graduate from sef? Then again, I met really hilarious, crazy (in a good way), cool girls. These people made camp fun. Sometimes we would stay awake till 2-3 a.m gisting and laughing. Then the guys; well, what can i say? Guys will always be guys and it has been drummed into my head by family and friends that guys (most of 'em) in camp are looking out for a fling and as per the sharp girl that I am, I didn't trip for their lines but I had a good laugh at their attempts. There were a few cute ones though. Passing out day was one of the happiest days in my life. Though I had fun, it is one of those experiences you never want to repeat. I can't wait to start my assignment as a teacher, I hope it will be fun.

17 comments:

  1. lol it seems the camping thing was a bitter sweet experience(lol mostly bitter)..


    welcome to blogsville :)

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  2. welcome to blogsville joo...see scribbles...u no even comment for d post sef.....i don comot ur numero uno....ur disqualified

    first!!!
    and gurl...welcome to d real world...i remember my camp..twas fun...i can proudly say i never tasted their food once meeehn....
    so u dont wanna redeploy?
    have fun sha...
    u didnt gist bout ur camp booyfriend oooo..i know der was one naw...*wink wink*

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  3. First time here! Nice one, totally took me back. Jus finished serving fatherland and i totally identify with u but serving in Bayelsa? Ouch! i'm from there and i wldnt want to serve there. i was in ebonyi and i redeployed to Lag by fire by force!

    @ Sir Scribbles, is that wat u say to all the girls the first time????

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  4. Thanks guys, I feel really honoured *blushing* @nbb; redeploying would involve me getting a medical report that tags me as either terminally ill, epileptic or some serious ailment. Besides, i've got family around so it's like home (well almost) plus I really dont mind. On 'camp boyfriend', no comment. @neo, another reason i'm staying is coz i wasn't posted across H20.

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  5. Thanks guys, I feel really honoured *blushing* @nbb; redeploying would involve me getting a medical report that tags me as either terminally ill, epileptic or some serious ailment. Besides, i've got family around so it's like home (well almost) plus I really dont mind. On 'camp boyfriend', no comment. @neo, another reason i'm staying is coz i wasn't posted across H20.

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  6. As in I am sooooo not esreving ehn! I will do my best to dodge it anyway I can for I know dat Sir Scribbles will run mad if anyone gives him weevil infested beans

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  7. Lol. Don't worry u hear? Situation differs, u will probably hear some other person's experience and be itching to go and you can always avoid the food. Trust me, you will treasure the memories.

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  9. WELCOME TO BLOGSVILLE...

    I have prayed to God that He shouldn't make me srve and I'm not goin to serve...hehehe

    scribbles wetin u talk wey she commot?

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  10. I just remembered when my sister was gisting about it....sounds like fun but wait o...weevil infested wot? dey want me to have ulcer the wot tym........av lost count.
    I sha wanna serve in Jos....if I ever do

    Did I just forget? my bad!
    WELCOME TO BLOGSVILLE!!!

    and scribbles, u r such a wimp....lol

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  11. @David, Thanks and it was my comment not scribbles(s). @Rene, It's fun if you are in the right place. Thanks for making me feel welcome.

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  12. Welcome to blogsville.

    Soooooooo glad am not serving, it's an experience I never looked forward to

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  13. Thanks Red, but its a remarkable one sha.

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  14. @ Scribbles, weevil infested beans makes u taller o, so i've heard. Service is just one of those experiences u have to have, camp is the best part of it. the remainder of the yr is simply annoying, cd days are a complete demolarizer! i enjoyed service yr but i def wldnt do it agani for a million bucks .........in any currency...well ok maybe pounds sterling!

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  15. Welcome!
    i hated Cd meeting but me and my friends always went outing or just plain chilling or swimming every cd day after the dreadful meetings which made it fun! Never ate camp food. thats why they have Mami!

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  16. @Dark Neo, Thanks, I am preparing my self for the rest of the service year and I see it this way: I am gold, passing thru fire (NYSC) and i'll be better off the end.

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