Mukhayyam 2017-Day 1

15th September 2017-Friday.

It was raining and I had just arrived at school. My friends, the other primaries and I were going camping that day at a place called 'El-Azzhar Camp' at Morib. 

I came to school with a backpack on my back and with two large mats which I had been appointed to bring. I wore my jacket and my hood over my head to prevent rain from dropping on me and causing a headache. 

I saw my friend, Syaima, in front of the school compound. I waved at her and she waved back. 

"You ready for today??" She asked me excitedly. 

"You know it!" I replied enthusiastically. 

Another one of our friends, Safwa, soon came and joined. 

"Okay! Old building students! Please go to the new building!" Instructed one of our teachers. 

My friends and I thought that we were going to the new building by foot as the building was right behind our old building. 

"Nuha, you're riding shot-gun in this car." Said one of my teachers to me. She pulled me by the hand and I opened the door. 

'Oh, we're not going by foot.' I thought. 

As I sat inside, I realized that I wasn't alone. There was another boy from primary 3, sitting in the back seat of the 'Axia' we were in. 

"Hey, Amin." I said with a grin. 

"Heyoo." Was his reply. 

Soon, a boy in my class named Yusof, with his sisters, Safwa and Imaan Nuha, also got into the car in the backseat. 

Safwa, who was my classmate and friend, continuosly opened the shot-gun seat door which was where I was sitting. 

"Hey," I said, laughing. "Go sit in the back seat!" 

I don't know if she even heard me because she kept on opening the door while I kept on closing it. It came to a point where I swiftly locked the door. 

She laughed hysterically outside of the door and I laughed along with her from inside. "It's raining! Get in the backseat!" I told her. 

When she got into the backseat, we looked at each other for a while before laughing yet again. 

Our teacher got in and started to drive. It wasn't really a long ride as the building we were heading to was very near to the building we were coming from. 

We got out as soon as we got to the new building. We got into the new building and went into the hall where we started to line up. 

Groups were divided, briefings were told and breakfast was served. At 10AM, we girls grabbed our bags and got out of the building and into our double-decker bus. 

I went to the second floor of the bus and sat in one of the single seats far in the back. In front of me sat my friend, Syaima. Safwa and another one of my friends, Ameera, were seated somewhere else. 

The trip to our destination was a rainy one. It took us 2 hours and excited voices could be heard all the way through. 

12PM

"We're here!" Shouted a voice. We got down and I rushed down the stairs. I had been wanting to use the toilet ever since an hour ago. 

"Teacher, teacher, teacher!" I said anxiously to my facilitator, teacher Shafina. 

"Yeah, what is it?" She looked at me weirdly. 

"I really have to use the toilet." I told her. 

"Now?" 

"YES NOW." 

"Oh god, Nuha. You're a primary 6 girl but you're acting like a 6 year old." 

"I'm sorry, but I've been holding it in quietly for an hour now." I told her. She sighed. "Alright, let's go." 

After using the toilet, I ran back to the group that was already lining up. 

The day went on with the planned activities after that. Marching and water rafting was up first. 

"Squad! Squaaaaaad sedia!" (This is a malay version of our instruction for marching.) We had to move in sync which was quite impossible to do at first but we got it anyway.

As my group and another 4 groups did our marching, we saw the other groups doing their water rafting. We had to take turns with other groups so, yeah. 

"Focus, Nuha." Said one of our teachers who had apparently seen me staring at the students doing their water rafting. I grinned and continued to march. 

After marching, it was finally my group's turn for water rafting. Another 4 groups also joined our group by the order of the our teacher. 

After wearing a life jacket, I got in in the middle seat with a girl named Aisyah in front of me and another 3 people behind me that being Mirza, a girl from my class and my friend named Ameera and another girl named Hana. 

Aisyah, Mirza and Hana got the paddles while Ameera and I didn't get anything. We thought water rafting was easy but, apparently, it isn't. 

"PADDLE LEFT ONLY!"

"LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT - NO THAT'S RIGHT!" 

"WE'RE GETTING STUCK! PUSH US OUT!" 

"AAAAAAARGH!!!!" 

Screams and shouted could be heard. It took the five of us an hour to get back to where we started!

"Well that was long enough!" Said our Muallim. I grinned. 

That night, after maghrib and isha' prayer, we had our 'night walk.' 

Night walk is when you have to blindfold your eyes and the teachers will guide you to walk. At one point, the teachers will pull you away from the line you're walking in and bring you somewhere else where you'll sit down and have to do dzikir and pray. 

"You might have an encounter with super-natural things." Announced one of our Muallims. Sounds of despair and fear could be heard. 

"Obviously just going to be the teachers scaring us." Whispered one of my friends. I nodded in agreement. We were then blindfolded and soon, we walked and soon, left alone in a corner. 

I did my hafazan and dzikir. As I was doing these stuff, I heard cries and wails of other frightened students. 

Suddenly, I felt something drawing on my back. I grinned. I could smell my teacher's perfume so I wasn't scared at all. I ignored the touch and continued with my hafazan. 

All the while, teachers came to touch me, to disturb me with voices and some even threw leaves on my head in attempt to scare me. I found all of this funny and just ignored it. 

After an hour, I felt somebody pulling me and asking me to stand up. I did as I was told and this somebody brought me back to where all of us came from. 

"Can I take off the blindfold?" I asked my teacher. 

"No, not yet." Was her answer. 

Soon, everyone arrived and we took off our blindfold. Red eyes and normal eyes could be seen. Scared faces that showed signs of fear and cries could also be seen where as faces that showed bravery could also be seen. 

I met up with my primary 6 friends and my friend, Safwa, told me a funny story. 

"I knew exactly who was next to me during the night walk." She said with a cheeky grin. 

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Auni." 

"How do you know?" 

"You know how she has that very thick English accent whenever she speaks?" Safwa asked me, holding in a laugh. I nodded. 

"Well, as I was doing my dzikir, she kept on exclaiming weird and funny stuff like, 'Oh my gawd there's a dog. Oh my gawd there's a creature next to me. Oh my gawd this and that.'" Safwa told me. We both burst out laughing like mad on the spot. 

The night passed by with supper and soon, at 12AM, we were off to bed in our tents. It was rather hot at first but soon, later in the night, rain started to fall and it was a heavy and cold one. 

Make sure to read my next post about day 2! Jzk!

-Nuha.