Thursday, February 19, 2009

Enkay Spills!


I’m really doing my best to keep up with blogville these days o! Of course my blog rounds are becoming much more regular and it’s gradually becoming a full-time job! Not that I’m complaining…. :)


I deliberately left my 2 truths and 1 lie meme unanswered till now ‘cause answering them meant expatiating - (I always thought the word was spelt ‘expantiate’. Isn’t that how it’s normally pronounced?) - On each of them. I guess I’m ready now so here goes!


I’ll start by congratulating the two people who got it right!

  • Olufunke and
  • Adaeze

You guys have done well! And I should congratulate myself on successfully throwing the rest of you off! Lol!


You guys thought #1 was the lie

  • Stand Tall – The activist
  • Poeticallytinted
  • Afrobabe
  • Asangansi UE
  • Miz-cynic


And you guys thought #3 was the lie

  • Afronuts
  • Scarlet
  • Saved girl
  • Geebee


Olamild only said something about climbing the tank but she didn’t say if that was the lie or not!



# 2 (I have read more than 900 books from my adolescent days up till now) is the lie. Truth is, it’s not so far from the truth either! If I added all the books I read before my adolescent days, I’ll be counting in my thousands!


By the time I was 9, I had read every single book in my father’s library, including encyclopedias and business books! I read every single thing in sight. It’s not like I have counted every book I’ve read since I turned 12 but I have a calculated estimate of about 750. I read all the Enid Blyton series available at the time – Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers, Saint Clare’s, the Faraway Tree Collection etc and then I graduated to the Agatha Christie books before moving on to the famous Mills and Boons, Temptations, Harlequin….. I read these ones till SS1. No book ever crossed my path that I didn’t read and I never stood in line to read a book.


My typical snatching style upon sighting a book with some one -


Me: “Who is reading after you?”


Book holder: “Cynthia. And Katherine is reading after her and…”


Me: (I cut in) “when are you giving it to Cynthia?”


Book holder: “Afternoon prep tomorrow”


Me: See eh, (I lower my voice to make it sound like I’m about to share a secret) “just give it to me before prep and I’ll return it just before dinner I promise.”


Book holder: (rolls her eyes, while she pretends to think about it) Ok, I’ll give it to you but I will collect it outside the dining hall whether or not you’ve finished reading it o!


Me: No problem.


The deal was sealed.


There were barely 3 hours between afternoon prep and dinner yet as sure as my promise was, the book was completed and returned right on time. That was how my reputation grew. No one argued with me once I asked to read a book, ‘cause they knew I’d return it in a few hours!


I think my book reading peak was in secondary school. You never saw me without a book in any one day. Never. I found I could read a book and do other things at the same time. For instance, I could be reading and copying the notes being dictated by the class prefect (I wouldn’t dare do that with a teacher! The books were never mine so I wouldn’t run the risk of having it seized!) Or I could be in the dinning hall eating and reading at the same time!


In SS2, I got saved and one of the ‘signs’ of being saved was doing away with the Mills and Boons, Temptations and Harlequins. I had bought some for my self and I clearly remember that day - I solemnly carried my ‘precious’ books and dumped them in the ‘sulo’ pit. I couldn’t bear to watch them burn so I promptly turned around and walked away from them.


My love for books dwindled after that period because most of the books in circulation in school then were books I could no longer read. This didn’t last for long though, I left school and discovered a whole new world of books. There were more Christian fiction books than I’d earlier imagined and even more secular thrillers! My book feast began again although I was no longer as voracious as I once was!


#1 (I had my first real kiss when I was 25) is true!


Someone asked what my definition of a real kiss was – well anything that is more than a peck on the lips or cheeks or forehead is a real kiss in my book! lol! And I didn’t get this till I was 25!


Nope, I didn’t grow up a loner or a boy-hater and I wasn’t priggish or prudish either! Even though I went to an only-girls’ school, I was in no way hampered in my relationship with guys. Somehow though, my relationship with them never really progressed beyond mere friendship even though I did get my fair share of pecks! As a matter of fact, I feel a bit more comfortable around guys than girls. I was the only girl in a class of about 80 boys in the university and my line of work is dominated by guys!


I got into my first real relationship in my 3rd year at the university and it was as ‘holy’ as it gets! And then he kissed me for the first time 4years after! It’s only in hindsight now I see that I’d mostly lived a sheltered life. Not that there weren’t opportunities to mess around (I’m not saying being kissed is equivalent to messing around o!) but I was surrounded by friends and family who helped me maintain my balance.


As a matter of fact that first kiss left a bitter taste in my mouth. There are only 2 periods in my life that I consider as being dark. I’ve done a post on one of them here and here. The period after that first kiss was the second one. Maybe I’ll do a post on it sometime but suffice it to say that the guy swept me off my feet with that first kiss and promptly hung me out by my ears to dry!


#3 (I once climbed to the top of a building in order to reach an overhead tank and steal water from It.) is true too!


Yes I did! It was no mean feat either! lol! I was in JS 2 at the time and there was severe water scarcity in the school and surrounding villages. A tanker brought water every morning but I never got there early enough to get water. Besides, one tanker of water was hardly enough for all the students and most of it ended up on the ground from all the pushing and shoving that accompanied the exercise.


Everyday, I’d go around with my bucket begging for “one sponge-case of water please…just one…okay half….please give me half and I’ll be ok…”

I did this every morning just to scrape together less than a quarter of a bucket of water to bathe with. At least I was a little bit better than those who got by with the ‘rub-and-shine’ technique! (Not that I wasn’t forced to do that too from time to time!)


One evening, one of my naughty friends came to tell me that she saw some senior girls carrying buckets of water and that they were coming from the general direction of the old home economics lab. Guess why she came to me? Because I was the only one ‘crazy’ enough to ‘investigate’ this new development! And investigate we did. We went with two buckets each. What? Who wanted to take the chance of wasting precious time, returning to take buckets when we weren’t even sure how much water there was if there was any at all?


We waited till it was very dark and snuck out of our night prep class. We got to the lab but it was locked. Duh! So where was the water? Behind the lab, there was this abandoned overhead tank – so we thought. The thing had been dry for like forever but as we approached it and flashed our plastic torches on the ground around it, we found there were tiny puddles of water. Yippee! Question number two – how do we get to the water in the tank that towered several feet above the building?


The tank sat atop a scaffold-like structure so it wasn’t too difficult getting to the top. The challenge was reaching into the tank to get the water and then passing the bucket of water down to my friend.


To cut the long story short, we accomplished our purpose that night but we also lost our well kept secret too! By the next day, it became common knowledge that there was water in the tank at the old economics lab and the ‘fittest’ students did justice to it. The tank was emptied the next day!



26 comments:

  1. we had the same reading ways growing up and queuing to read after someone.im sure i have also read over a thousand books till date

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  2. and i was first sha.

    this water talk made me remember scarcity in secondary school and some boys went to the stream to fetch and wash their clothes. just to relax they decided to swin. the two cousin among them drown. school mourned like hell and we never had scarcity of water again

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  3. Oooh Enkay u're sneaky!!! Well i did put u down as an avid reader.ur reading habits sounds just like me.... i read just about anything... i really do not think i can count how many books i've read

    "Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers, Saint Clare’s, the Faraway Tree Collection etc " bring's back so many memories

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  4. Gosh, what happened to my earlier comment..pshew
    I missed your 2 truths, one lie...my name should be on that list! lol
    You remind me of when i was a kid, i read somehow and i used to stay up at night reading novels...i read so many Enid Blytons, Nancy Drews and Pacesetters...i remember reading a book my mum was using for literature courses, it was over 700 pages, 'Woman in White', i wonder if i really understood it back then...
    Hope you're good dear

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  5. YAY! I got it right, lol.
    Wow, your bookworm stories reminds me of me when I was little too. I read a ton of books. When I have children I'm going to make them read as well, I think it's a very good thing. I'm so sad I barely have the time and energy to read these days but i'll get back into it.

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  6. Damn!

    That question brought back memories!

    "Who's after you?"

    If I got a penny for the number of times I've asked that question.. I'd be.. a whole lot happier!

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  7. Thanks for updating, you trying, trust me keeping up with blogging is a full time job. Reading is fun and am so jealous, you read a lot.joking. First kiss at 25 years, wow...need more gist. Have a good one today.

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  8. @ Uzezi - Yay! Up you for being first!
    Hmm,it took the drowning of those kids to stop water scarcity? How sad!

    @ Scarlet - Yes O! Sweet memories indeed!

    @ Writefreak - Oh sorry about the lost comments! Blogger does have her moments. I also wondered why you weren't on that list!

    @ Adaeze- My congrats again! As for my kids, I'll definitely stock up a library just for them at home!

    @ RocNaija - hehehe! yeah a billionaire maybe! thanks for stopping by. Presently perusing yours!

    @ YNC - I still wonder how you are able to put up post after post in quick succession! You dey try no be small! As for that kiss, the gist will come soon enough!

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  9. LOLLING!!! and cracking my ribs! Enkay that tank adventure sounded like something I did back in the days...are you sure you didn't go to my secondary school?

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  10. Is this my blog? no it isnt...me and books ehn! What??? People hid their books because if I got hold of it, they wont see me till school is over, and I went to a day school!!
    Malory tower...my kind of babe right there!!! I have the habit of reading something whilst Im eating, even if its the ingredients on the pack of what im eating...sad life.

    Ehem, I thought I was the boss...shet but 25, ah I gladly vacate my high chair and give you the crown. it's all good though

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  11. lollllllll@tank'drama' omo u gals gats mad skills, thank God dem no gbab una sha :)

    * i ve updated o (for u:)

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  12. Haha, you didn't congratulate me on being right 'in principle'. At least, i should have got it right if had answered, think thee not?

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  13. @ NoLimit - lol! Anything is possible o! Was your secondary school anywhere in the north?

    @ Naijababe - hehehe! So then when did YOU get your own first kiss? I'll have to know before I accept that crown o!

    @ LG - Just returned from your blog. Very funny! Omo I ready to drown inside that tank that day if dem make any attempt to catch us o! lol!

    @ rethots - Very funny! Let me pity you and just say "Congra!". You only get half for being right 'in principle' hahaha!

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  14. a thousand book? how? i don't envy u & uzezi at all ;)

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  15. i rem the M&B n Temptations era!!kai those books painted fantsy in my head

    wait he kissed you 4 yrs after the r.ship for d 1st time..geez!

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  16. LOL!

    I remember the days of "who is after you?" Hahahaha.

    Don't remind me of the scarcity of water please. Kai! Man pikin suffer ooo!

    Ur 1st real kiss @ age 25? And there I was thinking I was the holiest chic ever. LOL.

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  17. Ahhh Enkay no vex abeg, I always do make an effort to swing by folks blogs.
    But hahahaha, after reading this blog, you really remind me of me.
    First of, I am such a readaholic! Growing up, I used to fantasize that Enid Blyton was my next door neighbor and I'd go over to her house and read all her books.
    And men, I used to that whole 'who is reading after you, can I read after them?' I am such a fast reader too.
    I also went to an all girls school, and hahahahah @ asking people for one scoop of water during water scarcity, that was the days men. And if you had water ehn, na to guard am jealously as in shove it under your bed and block it with 2 or 3 suitcases but somehow all those ole's would find it and you would wake up in the morning to a sometimes empty bucket. Those were the days!
    Nice one... :-)

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  18. you are really funny o..so i have those i'm taking after on this kissing thing..splendid..
    thanks for stopping by my place..cheers

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  19. @ Aloofar - Ha! But what is life without books? lol!

    @ Pink-satin - Honestly eh, I'm still trying my best to clear my head of those fantasies. This is the real world!

    @ Vera Ezimora - Vera you finally came to my blog! yippee! So when did you get your first kiss?

    @ Original Mgbeke - Yay! You finally made it here! I think my school days were one of the most interesting periods of my life!

    @ simeone - Thanks too! So when did you get your own first kiss? lol!

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  20. i thought i read alot.... but am just not anyway close to ur record yet.

    I give gbosa to the ppl that lived in the boarding house.... don't think i could have survived all those kinda stress.

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  21. i used to love reading as a child...truth is i still do.

    p.s
    thanks for stopping by mine =)

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  22. I had my first kiss at 15, i could've waited 10 years I guess, but that's gist for another day...

    I love books! I'd read all the classics you know, The Illiad, Ulysses, Things Fall Apart, No longer at Ease, Eze goes to school, John Munonye's books, the Evans series, Shakespeare's works, Chaucer's etc by the time I was in primary 6, no kidding!half of the stuff i read I didn't quite understand. Read my first James Hadley Chase when i was 7, it was "Tiger by the tail". I then went on to read about 450 Hadley Chase/Agatha Christie books by the time I was in JS3. I love books... My vocabulary was a bit advanced for a kid. The words were buzzing around in my head and I mixed them up sometimes. I remember at 7 or so, sitting down at the dining table waiting for lunch and announcing that I was "ravished", my father looked shocked and said, "ravenous you mean?" and I was like " yeah ravenous" pause "what does ravished mean?" and popsy said "go and check it up in your dictionary". Which usually signaled the end of our 'intellectual' discussions. Sorry for usurping your blog but you just touched on a fav thing of mine :)

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  23. Well well well, who'd have ever thought the sweet-looking Enkay was quite adventurous . . . I mean climbing to the top of a tank to 'steal' water from it? What if you had fallen and broken your legs or something. I never even thought that could be true. . . Ouch! I almost got there, you know. I was right about the kiss and I admire you for that though. Only 1 % of girls below 25 have not been kissed or gone all the way. Nice one. And the books thing. . . I was close too. You confused us sha. . . Anyway I believe I'm correct one way or the other . . . You've read over 900 books, not so? adolescent or not. lol. Mind me not. I'm a very bad loser. . . Books! I used to be a novel freak (I think I still am except that I hardly have the time these days). I have bought over eighty novels in the last one year but I've read less than thirty of them. Pity. In the past, especailly when JAMB was dealing with me, I could read like two or more novels (I mean 300 pages and above) in one day. I did everything from Hadley Chase and Mills and Boons (those were the small ones) to Dean Koontz, Jeffrey Archer, Stephen King, Jackie Collins, Sandra Brown, Danielle Steel, Sidney Sheldon . . . I'm going too far. Let me stop before some people think this is a new post. lol.

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  24. @ Beyond - Ha! But boarding school was da bomb! I dare say you missed out quite some! lol!!

    @ Shubby Doo - Books simply open up a whole new world for me. thanks too!

    @ Poeticallytinted - hehe! 15 ain't so bad.Lol at your being 'ravished' at dinner with your dad. the guy must have been shocked at hearing you say the word and at the same time relieved that you didn't know what it meant! lol!

    @ Geebee - lol! The original plan was to confuse you guys a bit. And I succeeded!....Dean Koontz, Jeffrey Archer, Stephen King, Jackie Collins, Sandra Brown, Danielle Steel, Sidney Sheldon.... I read those books too!

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  25. O ya update, it's been a while!

    How're you dear?

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  26. hi am new here
    omg!! you read alot am not surprised
    your an engineer
    I wish , i could be like you
    i read as well but not sooooooooo into into it
    like u : P

    and wow, when i read about ur 1st kiss my eyes popped LOL

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Hey! Thanks for coming by my blog today and I am so glad you decided to drop me a few lines!