Meal Time

 

Talking about food, the feeding was good as long as you had your tool (slung for fork or spoon) right next to you. Before eating you had to ensure your tool is in the right possession because the rate of transition of ownership was proportional to your friendships. If you'd dodge sharing, there were people good at stealing and if you are unlucky you end up typing (using your hands to eat), to be clear it was shaming as meals had to be in the dinning hall so you had to borrow or buy yours.

The dining hall had divisions more like segregation according to class, the Advanced level students (Senior 5 & 6) would enjoy the refreshing annex which was the verandah of the D.H as the rest of us were squeezing ourselves inside the oven like D.H. Inside, we still had to respect tables by class and instinct would be able to guide us. Besides that boys and girls wouldn't mix and to fix this, most girls would sit outside so we don't collide.

There were three kinds of individuals that would go for different times of intervals during meals time. There were early birds who believed late comers eat bones as by 12:59pm they'd magically be ready for lunch served eventually at 1:05pm they appeared to want to get back to class any sooner then there was the second shift, we would go later like at 1:20pm, we never liked making the long lines and this was the best time for opportunists to cut the line as the prefects and caterer had gotten fed up of being heated up by the sun and gone to hide and the other reason was we'd have to first wash our plates since the last meal got us too satisfied to do the plates a favour and wash away the flavour or looking for a tool and may be tapping for "kika" (slung for food spices) mostly 'kipoli' and 'apeta'. If you brought spices it was for the whole dormitory as the popular slogan went "In Naggalama we share".

And there were late comers who literary went to eat at 1:50pm and in secondary these are either people who take extra time in class or took time and didn't fuss, amongst boys since dormitories were locked by the end of lunch activities they'd keep their plates in grass, shrubs, trees, on iron sheets, windows, in piles, some trenches and even some man holes, the list goes on but all in all they ate at their own pace and were always caught late. The seasonal advantage was if posho and beans get done and you among second shifters or late comers you'd be served rice and beans which was a special privilege for prefects and a selected few like the sick, together with the connected people who'd sweet talk cooks.

So at the power house aka the kitchen aka the mess it was usually a mess. It was initially meant to be four lines that is two lines for girls and two for guys, but several times the guys' lines weren't structural ones there was the A' level and O' level queue but as time due they got messed up and senior fours  would enter A' level line so when the prefect comes, without respect for us the other ones, they'd be unceremoniously placed in our line and we were always unconsciously moved behind. Sometimes inconsiderable people would create their own line besides ours and it'd be more recognizable that they cut ours, unfortunately for me I'd be part of the group that'd face the back of the line repeatedly by the days. I used to be so mad until I met this uniquely gentle dude with a surely good mantle he would never fight to dodge his way to the front but join the line and wait for his turn to go, I guess knowing he could do this made me more patient, he's name was Prince.

But that lunch time conversation always hit different with the right people and it'd spread like a ripple. Walking to the power house it be between two, moving in the line you already four and sitting in the D.H its a whole table joining in on the topic which was always random. My good friend by then was Bwire Enock, we'd effectively connect so well and in some way what to talk about would naturally resonate so we'd normally get together at the mess. 

The other issue was the size of the plates. This wasn't written anywhere but girls had to have small plates and guys were offended if they never had big plates and this would determine which side you'd hold your plate. If the plate was big and presentable you hold it in your right hand and at this side the girls were just opposite while if your plate doesn't make you capable you keep it to the left side next to your boys. As for girls with big plates it'd make the guys talk especially the babes of Senior 3 upwards, unexceptionally of the cool girls with standards, so they were mostly using summarised bowls and it was shockingly amusing they got satisfied but I'm in no position to judge their decisions at large.

But then there were those boys that treasured plates which measured more food, the bigger the plate the cooler they were. They were in different kinds like boats, submarines, basins, vases in all shapes and sizes. The brotherhood shared on some plates was boyhood at its best and the record breaker was a bowl that held food for six. As for the kinds of meals we ate, weren't those to forget!