KONYEKI'S DAY; LIFE AT FAHARI
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The brawl attracted other students who took sides and joined instead of trying to stop the fight. The dormitory resembled a war zone with upturned boxes, books, beddings and all sorts of items littering the scene. It took almost an hour for the student leaders, some of whom were also drunk to settle the fight. When the scuffle was over, everyone save for a drunken students who blacked out amid the fight went away noisily to their cubicles.
Konyeki approached one of the few sober students who informed him that, "drinking is the norm here." He urged Konyeki to be prepared "for many sleepless nights." The University administration was overwhelmed as most of the students either took alcohol or drugs. Other students informed Konyeki that University administration did not bother about what students did after classes even if someone was making a bomb in the hostels.
It was already dawn when everyone at the hostel settled down. Konyeki decided to go for a shower. The bathrooms were a disgusting sight. They were mere shanties with dirty walls, stagnant water on the floor and smelly pieces of cloth, including inner-wear. Surprisingly there were chairs which Konyeki learnt were used by students who were too lazy to bend when washing their feet. They stepped on the seats when scrubbing their legs. The doors had fallen off a long time ago. No matter how dirty the bathrooms were, they were better than the adjacent toilets with stuck contents that made flies grow to the size of beetles. The "better" bathrooms had dirt all over the seats. An older student earlier informed him to use toilets "the usual way" which at Fahari meant stepping on the toilet seats like someone using a pit latrine. Although Konyeki felt it was wrong, he had no option and wished there were special gloves for backside as sitting on such filth could peel off the skin.
Although Konyeki strived to be organized, life at Fahari was always chaotic. First, the food was awful, and it took longer to stomach half-cooked Ugali or maize mixed with few beans. The cabbage chopped using pangas were too big to cook well, and it explains why much food ended up at the pig's sty. The animals famed from eating anything also left overs part of it as it was too bad for them to eat. Konyeki found breakfast a joke as it comprised of the worst bread he had ever come across. The product of the school's bakery was tough that someone could hammer in a nail and use the bread to make furniture. Students even jostled for tea which was "transparent" because it lacked enough milk. The dining hall rule was survival for the fitest as failing to push for food meant starving.
The pushing and shoving extended to classes. Getting a seat and space in the classroom was proving to be more challenging than the actual learning. Sitting on some chairs was also tricky for students.
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