By Kate Henshaw
A typical Monday would begin with a morning bell  at 5am for the first one and  a second time at 5:30am. The jostle for the bathroom would begin. You would even keep a space on the queue so you could take your turn once the person before you had finished having her shower.

The senior girls had their separate bathrooms which the juniors would clean and lock up to prevent just anyone going in to shower,but if you had a nice school mother, you could use their bathrooms . Hang your underwear and towel on the line with your name boldly printed, of course, make your bed, get dressed and head for the dining hall for breakfast which could be anything from boiled yam and stew to pap and akara (bean cake). We would then all head  to the assembly ground and the headmistress would address us… any other important information would be passed on and the activities for the week would begin. Off to class we would then go.

The first period would go by slowly indeed (at least in our minds, if it was a Monday), then the second one and then it would be break time. If you had enough pocket money to play with, the tuck shop would be the place to show off your wealth so to speak. First break would be for 30 minutes and then back to the classroom for more lessons. Lunch time would come, last period of teachings and then straight to the dormitory to change into your day wear.

It was then time to check on your clothes and if dry, bring them in; check on a few friends, do your assignments or just catch some rest before dinner time. If you did not have your complete cutlery which consisted of a knife, fork and spoon, you would not be allowed to eat. The dining hall prefect would go round and keep a watchful eye on those who were not using their cutlery to eat. You must eat with a knife and fork and not a spoon as observed these days when people just use a spoon or fork alone!

Fridays were my favourite days especially if the next day was a visiting day. I was quite eager as either my aunty would come laden with home-made meals and more provisions or close friends would invite me to come hang on with them when they had a visit from home if I had no visitors. It was quite heart rendering to watch boarders who did not have anyone to come visit them; they would cry and be miserable for the whole week and nothing would suffice. Home sickness was always brought to the fore at times like these. Life in the house nevertheless was never dull in my book. Weekends were also a time to get your hair done by a friend or you would do a trade by barter for the service.

I was quite popular as I could weave, braid or thread. I had my wooden comb for cutting the hair into neat lines, apply either BERGAMOT or DAX hair cream on the scalp and then use the CEILING FAN-make of thread to plait the hair. Sometimes the queue would be so much and at the end of it I would have no one to braid mine so I made sure my hair was done first before I attended to my customers so to speak.

Treats in the dormitory were garri soaked in water flavoured with powdered milk and  sugar … delicious indeed. If you were buoyant, you could open up a tin of GEISHA, add a bit of dried pepper from the kitchen, use your boiling ring, boil water in a bowl and make Eba with it and there you had it, Eba with stew.

Other times you could make a cone out of paper and then pour in your MILO powder into it, tie up at both ends and leave at the back of your locker for a day or two; bring it out and you peel back the paper to reveal your very own handmade chocolate as it would have congealed together. I think I will try it now once am done writing this article and see if it still works. Cabin biscuits with margarine and sardines was lip smacking too, quite a treat alongside a bottle of chilled soft drink.

Punishments for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being rude to a senior student or just to show the juniors who was boss in the house ranged from cutting grass in a V-shape, cleaning the toilets which would be full of maggots and contents of people’s stomachs and you would have to ‘pound’ it to be able to flush, scrubbing bathrooms and washing clothes. I hated the toilets! Any other punishment I could stomach,but definitely not that! If you had to miss your meals because you did not finish your punishment on time, that was a killer.

You would rely on a friend to then help you sneak a meal back to the dormitory as meals were not allowed to be taken out of the dining hall. Aside from the punishments, the social scene was lovely too as we had the literary week, inter house sports and would get to have a party at the end of it all. I loved the boarding house and I am glad that as I passed through the school, I let it pass through me too.