The savage beasts of the orient
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Sunny
My guide abandoned me last night. He did not wake me to stand watch for my shift and by the time I awoke, it was well into the morning. I should have foreseen this eventuality for as the days wore on, my guide – Chitupaka, had become increasingly nervous and shifty. The natives fear entering the borders of my destination in the worry that they might be possessed by the evil spirits that inhabit the land. No matter. He will not be paid and I sense that I near my destination. The vegetation around me is changing and the tropical flora, that I have gotten so used to from the early leg of my journey, are no longer in sight. Replacing them are trees of cypress and hemlock that stand tall and proud, home to many a squirrel and the famous red-chested ruffle sparrow.
All of a sudden, breaking through the vegetation I stumbled into a clearing. The sight astounded me and took my breath away. I had to will myself to move for so still I stood that I think none of them noticed my presence. The silent beasts of the orient were prostrate over their objects of worship, all of them single minded in their task. So deep in were they in their concentration that when I began to move amongst them, nary a single one noticed me. I had found them… hidden away in this corner of the SMU Library, the Chinamen of SMU.
I’ve always thought that my school had a small PRC population but today I realized my folly. For when I entered an area of the library that I have almost never traveled to, I found the point of congregation of my school’s PRC population. They lived in near squalor and the stench of the study area overwhelmed me. It is obvious that they too have assumed ownership over this part of the library by the way the mark their territory. They leave pieces of paper or books and a half-finished Evian on the table and expect the spot to be reserved for them for hours on end.
I was not impressed. I saw a spot I liked and my friend removed their possessions and I commandeered the seat. As I huddled into my corner to study, I was overwhelmed by the vile odor of a PRC’s stinky foot that persisted all through the 6 painful hours that I had resided in the library. Such was the potent chemical weaponry of the rising economy of Asia. Hours later, a Chinawoman asked if I had seen her books which had been left at where I sat. I replied in the negative though it had been my friend who had ‘relocated’ her books. Alas, the story would have been beautiful if it had ended here though the realities of life are oft harsh. A companion of mine, Debbie was critically injured in this encounter. When we disposed of the possessions, the foolish girl had spotted a hair clip and, childish as she is, decided to steal the shiny bauble. She has proudly pinned up her hair with her newest accessory. When the China woman asked if anyone had seen her clip, a cold wave of realization passed over us as we realized that Debbie was using the clip. We desperately tried to remove the clip though by this time... it is almost too hard to describe… but the clip had burnt into her scalp and caused a festering for the clip was so tainted that only the disease resistant scalp of a PRC would have been able to withstand such an assault of dirt, grime and germs.
Though Debbie paid the price, all of us lost a bit of our souls today.
Things on my mind:
Exams
PRC
Smelly Feet
Boobs
Sprouting Nonsense Since 1984 {10:38 pm}
