School

When I was in school [Dubai, obviously - My last year], I used to DREAD waking up early in the morning. It'd be 5.45am and my mum would come in and say, "Sanaa beta, wake up, it's a quarter to 6". At that moment, all I'd want to do is sleep for a couple of hundred hours more. I'd begin to cry and think of a million excuses to why I shouldn't go to school. It was a daily thing.. Although, I'd somehow manage to get myself out of bed just in time, get ready - put on my uniform, play with my cat a bit if I had the time, and then rush downstairs to catch the bus. At 6.30 the bus would turn the corner, and come to get me. I'd get so excited getting on the bus. It was always so much fun.. We'd all become, like a small family. We'd all know eachother and talk freely about absolute crap. It was what made the hour and half journey to school, worthwhile. I made some pretty close mates on the bus.. Strangely enough though, we'd never you know, mingle at lunch time or anything, we'd leave everything for the bus ride home.

As soon as we'd cross the bridge, which was just a few minutes away from school, my tummy used to start getting all knotty, for various reasons - either I hadn't done some of my homework, and was worried what my teacher would say to me, or I had a french lesson that afternoon. Everytime I had French, I'd get really nervous. I'd feel really intimdated being in those classes, because everyone knew french, and spoke it confidently even if they didn't.. I, however, felt out of place at times, and instead chose to miss the whole day. Tsk.

When we'd arrive at school, my bus would usually be the 3rd in line, out of 20 others. We'd always come in early, and that was probably the best bit about my morning (apart from teaching *cough* educational stuff on the bus to all my mates, that is). I'd walk out of the bus, and walk past to the very few people that were already there, as it used to be very early still. I'd go upstairs to my classroom, switch on the AC, arrange my stuff.. And just sit for a while. I'd go for a nice long walk all around school, for the longest time, bumping into people and chatting for a bit or messing around with my biology teacher, Mr.D'cruz. Slowly, the corridors would begin to get crowded.. And that is when the day would start. I'd go into all the other classes to meet my mates, and see how they were doing. As the 8am bell would ring, we'd all go into our classes and sit through registration. During that time, I'd talk to my class teacher, and just have a laugh or two with everyone. Most of the time I'd see everyone rushing their unfinished homework.

The day would go on, with three classes before and after break time. During break time, we'd all rush downstairs to finally get some time to just relax and eat in the 20 minutes. We'd see all these boys (gasp!) come to our section, and drop off the environmental stuff (recycling stuff) and leave. Usually it was Puj who would do it.. All these girls, in 2-3 years below ours, would giggle non-stop and put away their food, to get his (and the other blokes) attention. As soon as they'd leave, they'd all start eating, blushing and say things like "oh my god!! He looked at me!!".. But then again, they'd do that with any guy who came into the girls section, as it was considered a big, big deal. =D

The next three classes would go on, and in between them i'd hear all sorts of gossip. Some girl would be crying because her boyfriend broke up with her, for another girl. Another would be secretly smiling because she was the one who made them break up.. Whilst the cleverer ones would roll their eyes, sigh along and shake their head in disappointment, because they weren't getting enough work done. The best though, was when girls would backbite about eachother. Oh, that was definitely the most amusing time ever! And I actually miss all of that.. That whole atmosphere, of seeing girls and guys being all ga-ga over eachother for a week or two, and then suddenly move on to the next. Then, the most classic - when girls would run to the bathroom to doll themselves up, and walk through the open corridors, and laugh really really loud to get the guys attention from the other corridors.. Absolutely hilarious! The kinds of things they'd do.. Tsk. Even though it was really sad, and so immature, it was what made school fun, and what made the experience so.. Unique.

Going home was a great time too. We'd all discuss our days in the bus, and eat and just relax. I'd get home, and within an hour, I'd be on the phone with one of my mates again.. As though we hadn't spoken in years.. Tsk Tsk. =)

When my parents and sisters used to tell me, that "you're going to miss school one day.. It's probably one of the best experiences of life!" - I'd never really understand what they meant at the time. I mean, how could you miss waking up early in the morning, and how could you miss all those extremely dramatic girls.. And the boring subjects? Turns out, they were completely right.. I'd give anything to just experience that one year, all over again.