Nine days of study leave. Thoughts. Are. Disjointed.
Apologies in advance for the sure-to-be incoherent sentences in this post.
These past few weeks have, truthfully, been exhausting. Physically, mentally- even emotionally, I feel so very strained. Breaking point.
Long story short (because I'm tired, and I don't want to think about this, and for other various reasons), I shall just state that after the trial exams, there was an abundance of drama pertaining to the Point Five girls (i.e. my batch).
As the readers of this blog comprise mostly of my Hartamas peers, I find it a bit pointless to vent it out here but nevertheless, express my feelings I shall. Just because it's healthy... or something. To bear all these emotions with no outlet is a misery.
Dear you,
My initial reaction when I heard of it was shock. I couldn't believe you would do that to us. To her. There was a slight spike of anger, but that had more to do with the layers of deception you piled on rather than the act itself. Maybe you felt justified. Maybe you didn't. What I do know is that you need help, and I hope you get it wherever you are now. Don't let this defeat you and turn you into one of those washed out girls we used to talk about; no, you are a KY student, and you shall have the KY spirit. We still love you- even if you didn't manage to adjust to the lifestyle here fully, I hope you acknowledge us as your brothers and sisters of 13.5, always. Take care of yourself.
Curious? Well. Keep your questions to yourself, because what happens in my batch stays in my batch. *fiercely protective*
Right after this unbelievable series of events took place, we set off for the Duke of Edinburgh trial expedition to Kerling. Oh wow. First of all, I had class in the morning until one o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday. So right after class, I had to rush back to the apartment, get my shit together and head back out to the guardhouse by 2.00 p.m. So guess who, in spirit of saving time, didn't eat lunch right before walking 12 kilometers?
Yep, that brilliant genius was me.
Anyway, the bus picked us up from KY and sent us to the drop-off point, which was at the entrance to a palm oil plantation. The walk was okay for the first half, I mean, it was tedious and the plantation workers looked at us funny, but the sun wasn't too hot and we were all pretty pumped with adrenaline so it was alright.
Skimming through the journey now, picking out the highlights- I remember we had to cross a huge-ass ditch which wasn't supposed to be there, shimmied down a hill, walked over a spot of quicksand (which nobody realized was quicksand until a bit later), almost slipped in a swamp of mud, climbed back out of the valley, and walked through a meandering road in a rubber plantation until we came out of the wild and suddenly found ourselves on a road.
As we were walking on the tar road, we had an adventure of a different kind as we were antagonized by intoxicated rempits who were showing off their Supermans and wheelies and (this is funny) Shu Ann was clinging to me because she thought they were going to kill us all, when actually I think they were trying to impress us, in some perverse way. Maybe that was their mating ritual..? Sigh. See kids? This is why you must stay in school.
Took a break at a nearby Caltex station to recuperate, and proceeded to walk another 3 or 4 km to our campsite, which was deep within this reservation forest. It was located near a river, which was awesome! Except for the fact that there's a warning sign saying the water is contaminated and we can't swim in it if we have cuts on our skin.
We'd started walking at about 2.30, and by the time we reached the campsite it was 7.30. So we pitched our tents (groping about in the dark, for those groups who didn't bring torchlights), took our showers (kampung-style! Using gayungs!), and started cooking our dinners!
Surprisingly enough, I wasn't hungry at all, maybe because I was so sleepy..? But in the end, eventhough I left the food mat, I ended up joining Loy under one of the lightbulbs provided, and I assisted him in correcting Shermaine's personal statement. At some point, Shermaine herself came out to join us, and so did Laevinia, Jamielyn, Nora and Nadia. It was a pleasant bonding experience, since I don't usually interact with their group outside of random lunchtimes and academic-related topics.
Due to "certain circumstances", I had to sleep in Qistina's tent, which was at around half past midnight. Woke up at 3.30 in the morning as I had breathing difficulties, but after my sister had calmed me down enough I slipped back into slumber. Three hours later the dawn came creeping into our tent and everyone began to blearily get up.
The smell of sulphur was horribly apparent, as everyone had taken extra precautions against the snakes. (We were right beside the river, you see.) The tents were taken down, and a groggy breakfast was had as everyone complained of backaches (such spoiled kids we are, haha) due to sleeping on the hard ground.
Then, the real adventure began! The matron had somehow gotten wind of my "attack" the previous night, and she kept insisting that I sit the walk back out. I then made one of the worst (or best, depending on how you look at it) decisions of my life by choosing to persevere. My rationale was that the route should be roughly upon the same level as yesterday's route, which I braved without any real hardship.
How f*cking wrong I was.
The first five kilometers or so were fine. We walked back into the jungle (past the road where we had our encounter with the rempits the previous afternoon), only this time we were released group by group, with five-minute intervals in between each release. Basically, we were entirely dependent on our navigational skills.
Luckily, everyone was equipped with the training, so after a couple of kilometers we all ended up at the same spot. Great, we thought. We all made it. Now let's look at the next direction: Take a path with the bearing 110 degrees.
So the compasses come out, and we measured the path..... only to see that it leads to private property. How did we tell it was private property? Because there was a sign which clearly indicated (with very vivid illustrations) "TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT". Holy shit, we thought, they're crazy if they expect us to go through this zone.
But we did. Scary shizz.
Another scary part was when we honestly thought we were going to die. Why? Because apparently, the last time they took this route was two years ago. And a LOT of things can change in two years.
I won't go into the details here (bragging rights for surviving it or no, I'm still a bit shaken by the experience), but let's just say what was supposed to be a simple 2-hour track in the jungle ended up becoming a 5-hour desperate search for a way out of the freaking wilderness.
It wasn't so much that we got lost but rather, the route was overgrown and thus we had to either map out a new route or somehow identify the old one- and in any case, both choices involved actual chopping off thorny vines and climbing over fallen trees and wading through forest undergrowth which went all the way up to our knees.
Let's not forget the terrifying moment where my teacher, who was leading the process of clearing our path, accidentally chopped a beehive in half. Suffice to say, at least six people were injured and one of my friends had to suffer nine bee-stings all over his body and arms.
It was terrifying for me because I was one of the people at the back of the line (we were on a ridge, which was so narrow we had to stand in single file in order to ascend the hill), and the line was curved such that the people at the back couldn't see what was happening to the people in the front.
Imagine our horror when suddenly screams break through the silence of the jungle, and we hear our friends yelling at us not to come up, then suddenly they were yelling "Run through it fast! Just run!" and... yeah. Not, a, good, memory. At all.
After gathering our wits after that incident, we did manage to locate the exit (three hours off schedule!!) and somehow found the strength to walk out. Luckily, our supervising teacher arranged a compensation for our long journey- he allowed us to be relayed in vans to the next stretch of the trip. (Otherwise, we would've had to walk there.)
So yeah, the last leg of the expedition was quite easy-going, since it was just flat land (where the Natural History Club goes to catch fireflies in the evenings) and some bushes here and there. Was still almost half-dead when we finally walked up to the college gates.
Note here: I did a stupid thing, which caused a lot of unnecessary worry for my family :(, so I'm sorry about that. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly. Haiyo.
Anyway! That was Sunday afternoon. After reaching the apartment, I took a long-ass shower and fell asleep at 7:40p.m. sharp. Woke up at 6.10a.m. the next morning. And yes, we all went for class.
Classes last week were uneventful, but that doesn't mean stress levels reduced any. For classwork, as we are 18-monthers, the teachers have to rush to continue with the A2 syllabus, but for homework we are expected to revise and perfect our AS knowledge as well. It's like doing Form 4 and Form 5 at the same time, except with harder subjects and more risks at stake. And no tuition to help. Gosh.
So, today (or should I say, yesterday, since it's Saturday now) marked the beginning of my 9-day study leave. I would be happy about enjoying KL bliss for an entire week, but all I can think about is my homework, which is:
- 8 Economics essays
- 1 English Literature essay
- 2 English essays
- 2 Pure Mathematics III papers
- 2 Statistics papers
- 2 Mechanics papers
... Yeah, this life's not easy. But someone's gotta do it.
In other more insignificant news, I need a new URL! This one is irrelevant to me now, and I need something less... romantic, I guess. Moving out of "that" phase of my life, I suppose? I don't know, I just felt like it was time for a change in tone. You guys okay with this? (speaking to non-existent readers? Fufufu...)
Ah man, it's 1:02 a.m. [EDIT: Just edited this post. It's 1:19 at the time of typing.] Feeling super sleepy now, and I have a dental appointment tomorrow morning. Good night folks.
p/s To Imran Hakim! I hope you are sleeping! Tomorrow, finally, you are taking your SATs. Please ace them. Saya dah doa. Kamu dah usaha. Harap-harap.... eheh. :p I know you can do it bro.
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