Camp Diaries: Day 1 Stress, 31 Roommates, Tips & Tricks to survive

CAMP DIARIES

Camp Day 1: June 15^th aka “The worst day of my life” or “Longest day ever.”

These  are quotes you would keep hearing from everyone Day 1. All I can say to future campers is goodluck. You will hate this day. You will be stressed, frustrated, irritated, it will take you ALL day to register. I got there about 11am, and by 9pm I was still in the process, kits and meal tickets were finished and would be restocked at 7am the next morning.

Day 1 was horrible!!! You will feel like a headless fucking chicken. You’ll never know when the whole process will be finished. The lines are mad long. Don’t forget the camp has about 2500 people, and most will be there Day 1, some Day 2, and very few smart people Day 3 to register instead.

After abuja went conservative to camp

by the end of this day my dress shirt was torn!

& we're off! little did i know what awaited me

Step 1: Accomodation: *whew* got a room (i heard some people got halls or no room): we are 32 in it. GEEEEEEZ my boarding school was 4 people,  we were 2 in college, and by my masters I went from home, and now 32!!!! Packed like sardines, with a shitty foam (and I’m paranoid about a bedbug story that I heard) (sorry I keep interchanging between past and present, I’m currently writing this blogpost during camp but I know I’ll probably post it in the future and not now .... ps: better not take ur computer there if you have brains, esp since the electricity is non existent and it'll prob get stolen)

MY ROOM!!!!!!!!

a clearer less sexy picture. lol had to retake so all my undressed roomies could run for cover.

My bed wasnt made yet, so took a picture of a random one.

Step 2 – probably step 10 or 20 cause freaking everything has several annoying steps and forms to fill: Registration: budget about 3-7 hours of frustration and anger, filling documents, submitting them, standing in line, begging to cut the line, hustling to cut the line, sneakingly getting documents, filling it wrongly cause you did it the wrong way and now have to beg for new documents.

Day 1 and probably all the way to the 21^st & last day of camp, and all CD weeks till the year is over:  Accepting, and eating, 3 huge humble pies, not slices the whole pie! The amount of pie eaten will probably be reduced as the days go by, but remember you are a youth corper and will be treated like crap, so it is in your best interest to remember that you are not better than anyone!!! Youth corpers are all possible friends!! Trust me, I let bout 5 people in line, and kept refusing this one guy cause people were getting mad at me (considering they let me in line), by the end of the night he was in my platoon, and I was using his stapler which saved me (N20.00, and he was helping me arrange my documents correctly, and is now my bb contact). So just remember you dare not be rude to any staff or army person cause they can make your life hell, when they make you seat on the conrete floor for what seems futile to listen to bla bla: just seat, and bitch with people around you. If you make a mistake the answer is ALWAYS: Sorry Ma/ Sorry Sir (repeated constantly) with a pleading face till they rectify or give you what you need. If they tell you that you are getting on their nerves, or to leave em alone: Again Sorry Ma/ Sorry Sir.

Through the stress of the day, I couldn’t be bothered and was too stressed to reply any messages to friends on social networks. Your only friends become the people there at camp that have an idea what the next step is, or can help you out.

Exeat (Permission to leave the camp): You cannot leave camp unless you are given permission. Remember you can’t just vex and leave, this is a government mandated programme for University graduates, and you need it before you can work for almost every company in the country. Eitherways when you’re in, there’s no coming out without an official permission.

Pregnant women cannot stay in camp, and have to apply for an exeat, I saw a visibly pregnant woman begging to stay (WTF), but most wanted to leave, and all have to leave. I saw new mothers with their babies and few husbands applying for exeats and being given exeats. Also people with certain medical conditions are allowed to apply for exeats. Different reasons to apply for an exeat, some permissions are given, some are probably not given, but everyone I know that applied was given.

SO HINT HINT: Apply for an exeat early on, just incase you get sick in the future during camp, or probably want to go to a fashion show, or get a letter request letter from a company you would prefer to work with for your nysc.

Anyways that’s it, it feels like hell on earth during Day 1, and you can’t wait to crash on a bed, or shower, and you’re thirsty, and can’t stop talking about the crazyness of the whole thing. Then you sleep and wake up, and day 1 doesn’t seem that bad, you just remember you were super stressed, but you remember cool stuff like bumping into old friends, becoming friends with people seating beside you, struggling or hustling to get in line, and you forget that you spent a whole day on your feet, stressed out. No wonder a years later all my friends have completed it say: camp is stress, but you can have fun and you’ll make friends (they forget the details). Certain people get married or date people they meet in camp, I've heard so many cute stories that you get a bit excited about the possibilities of camp: I swear during Day 1 (yesterday) I kept saying “WTF!!!! Why would you even care to meet anyone to date here, this is fucking hell and that’s desperate” or jokingly saying in my head “I’m a celebrity get me out of here!!!” a la the tv show, the stress gets to you. You become fully razzified & hood after 2 hours there.

Tip: take a bunch of change: you can pay to charge your phone, to buy water, or paper, or a pen, or to staple your papers, or to buy food, or drinks (lol they sell beer, Smirnoff  etc in Mami Market lol though alcohol isn’t allowed haha). You can even buy your to stay list like a bucket, there’s a tailor, cobbler, etc but probably more expensive. SUPER DUPER DEODORANT to battle the annoying freaking heat! (if yours is during raining season bwahahahahahaha I wonder how you’ll register with rain etc, might be better sha, at least it’s better than sweat). Get an exeat!

Friends there: Shout out to kemka & mj (I love u guys sooo much & I’m not a diva). Omg Naz: geez omg I put him through sooooooo much that day. whew we only have 20 days to go, and a year of work lol.

Friends made for the day/ bumped into: I have no idea if we’ll be friends Day 2 or in a year, but you sure made my day better.