First Days

I hated my first day of boarding school. I showed up at Middlesex at the end of August wearing black pants, a black t-shirt and boots. Since a uniform was required at my previous all-girls school, I will admit I was a little confused. But it didn't help that I had to get up in front of 40 or so 15-year old boys and girls (all dressed in their own unspoken uniform of khaki shorts, pastel polo shirts and reef flip-flops) and introduce myself. I knew I had to be friendly and make a good first impression, but all I wanted to do was lock myself in my new dorm room and cry.

Three years later, I had the same anxious feeling as I moved into my college dorm room in Perkins Hall. This time around, I got the outfit right - having planned it for days in my mind - but under the smiling face and friendly hand-shakes I was annoyed and judgemental. My dorm was small and far from the main campus. My roommate was a weirdo. People were overly excited and I wanted to slap most of them in the face. Again, I fought the urge to close myself in a bathroom stall and cry.

One would think that after living far away from home for 11 years and successfully resisting the urge to cry myself to sleep every time I arrive in an unfamiliar place, I would be an expert at this process. But upon arrival at the Roshan Village compound yesterday, I had the same pit in my stomach. We got the grand tour of the gym facilities, ping pong table, Foosball table, common TV room and bar/entertainment room, but it wasn't until we opened the door to the small, clean, hardwood floor dining room did I realize I was back at boarding school. I had flashbacks to holding a tray at the entrance to the massive dining hall, getting looks for choosing the wrong table and then getting dinged for table-hopping. Check in and check out every time you leave the grounds, breakfast served between 7:00 am to 8:15 am, dinner from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.  This time around there are no woods in which to escape. Instead the campus is enclosed by a 25-foot cement wall with an electric wire running along the top, and the courtyard in the middle is dotted with security guards carrying rifles.  

All insecurity and uneasiness aside, the compound is secure and clean. I am not allowed to get into security details for obvious reasons but let's just say the fear of insurgent attack inside the Roshan Village is slim to none. Joel and I have duplex-style rooms next door to each other; the bedroom, armoire and dresser are upstairs, and a small living room, TV, desk and bathroom are located downstairs. We are down the hall from the gym, and steps away from the outside courtyard where I'm told people play cricket on the weekends. In one corner of the yard there are tables set up under hanging colored lights and there has been a cool and pleasant breeze moving through the courtyard both last night and this morning. We are officially on lock down as a result of the upcoming elections, which means the office is closed and we are required to stay on the compound through Sunday. To be quite honest, I think it is the perfect way to ease into the experience. It gives us a couple of days to rest and watch the 50+ English movie channels before the real work starts (last night I unpacked to Isla Fisher and her adorable performance in Confessions of a Shopaholic). There is also wifi throughout the compound and network connections in every room.

Inevitably, over the course of the next three days of lock down, I will be forced to push aside the pit in my stomach and make some new friends...maybe even sit at a table in the dining hall with complete strangers. But I think I can handle it. I have done it twice before.



Panoramic view of the courtyard. Copyright Joel.