ISLAND LIFE - Monday!

By Sabine Cassar-Alpert

“Drrrrring… drrrrring…” – Tentatively I open my left eye, the one closest to the bedside table; the right one isn’t quite prepared for that kind of action yet. “Four thirty,“ the alarm clock screams into my eye, all the while complaining, “Drrrrring… drrrrring…” More violently than necessary I slam my fist right on top of its head. Monday morning, here I come…

An hour later I am showered and dressed, wet strands of hair still clinging to both sides of my face. The super-fast cereal breakfast I just about managed to gulp down in time seems to have got stuck right in front of the entrance to my stomach, together with the first caffeine-dose of the day. But there’s no time to think about the consequences right now, better hurry down to Mgarr. The ferry, although often delayed inexplicably, is sure not to wait for me!

 

Six thirty. Now the fun is really about to start. Together with dozens of people, their faces bearing just the same harrowed look as mine, are waiting impatiently at the rope that holds them back like kettle. Then the ramp is lowered and finally meets solid ground; the loud bang is the starting shot which sets the stampede in motion: Let the race for the bus commence!

Don’t know how I did it: I reach the bus just in the knick of time to get a seat. Must be my lucky day! Awkwardly I wrap my long legs around the large bag that rests at my feet. Uncomfortable or not, I soon doze off abetted by the monotonous rattling of the bus. Twice I startle out of my nap, embarrassed as I realise that my head apparently had gravitated towards the shoulder of the guy in the window seat next to me. Well, still less painful than crashing shoulder-first into the aisle!

By the time I arrive on campus, only five minutes late, I’m knackered and feel as though the day has long been behind me. And it hasn’t even started yet! Under the ever watchful eye of the pompous Profs Agius Attard I try to sneak into a seat in the back row but, needless to say, he has only been waiting for me! “Oh, I see we have our Gozitan friend among us, finally!” he exclaims in a manner that could be mistaken for cheerfulness. Of course anyone who knows Profs Agius Attard knows cheerful is the one attribute that does not apply to him. “We should be so honoured if you were to give us a short summary about the bla bla bla….” His smooth, sarcasm-dripping voice thankfully blends slowly out of my hearing range as a jackhammer just outside the window seems intent to take over the lesson.

Somehow I survive Profs Agius Attard’s lecture, and the day takes a turn for the better after that. After lectures most of my fellow students rush home. I watch them leave, sitting on my sports bag, which I’ve been lugging around all day.

 

I’m waiting for Mariella, my flat-mate, who has just one more lecture to endure. Mariella has her own four wheels, and thanks to God for those! Only our different schedules get in the way of a more comfortable existence for me most of the time… On the way home we stop at a grocer’s to replenish our empty refrigerator. I am stiff-muscled, tired, and not even very hungry anymore when we finally arrive at the flat.

Dutifully I help preparing dinner, even though every fibre of my body is longing to crash out on my bed. Mariella has got accustomed to my silence on Monday evenings. I’m simply not up to leading a proper conversation, I’m nothing but tired. Even my family at home has come to accept it by now; they will be waiting for my phone call tomorrow evening. They miss me – and it’s funny, but they still don’t believe me when I say I miss them too. Though I really do…

My last energy reserves are used up doing the dishes with Mariella. You may call me a slouch, but the fresh clothes that are waiting to be unpacked have to wait till tomorrow. So does Profs Agius Attard’s assignment. I am fast asleep almost before my head hits the pillow. Tomorrow is another day!