Spinning...

Spin, spin, spin, spin, spin. My head is spinning. And I'm smiling as I write.

Just got home, and on the way I actually heard the early birds starting to sing.
A double birthday, a night of frolicking and drinking. What are the odds of having two friends who have the same birthday? Weeks in the planning. A 'surprise' party themed around celebrations of six-year-olds. Balloons, paper party hats galore. We pretended to be kids, and anyone who said a dirty, dirt word or did anything naughty was sent to the corner for 'time out'. Crazy, but fun.

But like all parties with uni students it turned to a drinking game. We drank 'grape juice', 'fizzy water', 'root beer'...and soon starting playing dangerous QandA games tittling on the verge of the very, very personal, and very, very obscene. How many times have you blown? The last time you had 'birds and the bees'? THe last time was when? Do you swallow? You like it big? Do you like it from behind? How big? What's your shoe size? Nothing was taboo, nothing unasked. The very sources of gossip and rumours were sprung tonight. Flirting, and sexual vibes hung in the air. Bottle after bottle of 'fruit juice' and 'bubbly water' were cracked open, and poured into longing throats.

And in less than 48 hours, a 2500 word assignment is supposed to be due.

But hey, at least I got a hug from the birthday boy.

Home...

After a long, long day at uni, you just want to go back to the comforts and warmth of home, relax, and rest.

But no.

I come home to find a shattered window and a deadly silence. The kind that falls after an argument. I go into the kitchen, to find remains of egg shells and vegetables decomposing next to greasy, unwashed pots and dishes. I come home to noone, and to be treated like I’m persona non grata.

Already at seven this morning there were shouts and screams. I was still in bed, hoping to get a dozen extra minutes of precious sleep before class, but no. Fight, fight, fight. And door slamming, bin kicking, and things throwing. somehow, amidst it all, one of the windows got smashed. A gaping hole, shattered glass, sharp as a knife. I hid under my duvet and hoped the nightmare would all go away.

This is really the final straw. I live at home, but this is not my home at all. Instead, I stay in my room, because everywhere else is either just filled with their stuff or the smell of stinking cigarettes. A friend of mine asked me why I’ve been staying in the library more and more and until so late. I didn’t realise it until she asked…but one reason is because I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to go back to all this mess and silence, broken only by shouts and fights. Horrible.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and I’m going to start looking for a place as soon as I’m done with my exams. I’d rather pay to live outside than live with people who don’t even talk to me yet leave everything lying around as if someone’s supposed to pick up the pieces.

Gay marriage in South Africa~

South Africa became the first country in Africa to legalise same-sex marriage a couple of days ago. The first (legal) gay wedding was held on World AIDS Day, momentously marking the fifth country in the world where same-sex unions are recognised in law.

This comes after a groundbreaking South African case in December last year, where the Constitutional Court said:

“The common law definition of marriage is […] inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid to the extent that it does not permit same-sex couples to enjoy the status and the benefits coupled with responsibilities it accords to heterosexual couples.”

The court asked Parliament to change adapt a law within one year to realise same-sex couples rights to marriage. And here we are.

"Sexual abuse takes a heavy toll in Africa"

Worrying report carried by the NY Times on the prevelance of child (sex) abuse, and 'violence of silence'...

Africa is not unique in its high rates of abuse. While a survey of nine countries last year by the World Health Organization found the highest incidence of child sexual abuse in Namibia — more than one in five women there reported being sexually abused before age 15 — it also found frequent abuse in Peru, Japan and Brazil, among other nations. Relatives are frequent perpetrators in Africa, as in much of the world.

"He destroyed my life and my body," she said.

Painful.