Thank god for my body clock! Just as I was enjoying my sleep, I jumped out of my bed and turned my place upside down in search of my phone. The sleep felt too long, it was too good to be true! My phone had switched off during the night, probably while I was watching "House, MD" on Netflix. Screw it! I ran around the house, again, in search of a clock. Something that could tell me how late I was. I gave up and plugged my phone into the charging socket, that was supposed to be my immediate reaction- I know. I was not my best version on this day, I was dumb for some reason. I hate realizing I am dumb and that I will probably be mentally challenged the whole day. Am I the only one with a brain that decides to betray them out of the blue every now and again? 

I was 1 hour behind schedule, I had 30 minutes to get myself ready and walk to class. I mean, I could have sprinted to class and made it on time. But, who wants to run to class and sweat like a pig? I had to weigh my options. Do I make use of the 30 minutes I have to plan the rest of my day or do I risk being chased out of the lecture hall by the Professor for late coming? After what felt like 1 minute but was actually 7 minutes, I decided to take my loss like the boss I am and plan my day so I could have a smooth day further. I made myself an Instagram-worthy smoothie for breakfast and planned my day. I finally made it to campus and walked around like I was questioning my life decisions a few hours ago. I got myself an iced latte from the Cafeteria with my last R50 for aesthetics and attended my classes. Life was on my side. Until I had to submit my assignment that was due at 23h55. It was 21h00 when I saw the  "no active internet connection" pop-up message on my laptop while I was trying to log onto eFundi. I played the dinosaur game that pops up when you're not connected to the internet thinking it would calm me down, but it did not. I remember thinking of what was my current state of mind at the time as a Pacman game. I also thought, is my mind playing games with me or am I playing games with my mind? The answer was the latter because I needed something to make me feel superior at the moment. After running around looking for solutions I decided to call my parents and ask them to buy me data. I was not ready to answer the questions I thought they would ask me. Like- "Why don't you have money for data, what did you do with your money?". Nevertheless, I called and they sent me data and I was connected to the internet again. As I was about to give up after handing in my assignment and go to sleep even though I was writing on the Friday- my dad sent me a message telling me how proud he was of me. That immediately got me out of bed and to my study table. I felt like a boss again, even after the day I had. I got the strength I needed to push back when life pushed me.

Live update

I am currently seated at my study table writing this blog and I am still kicking life in the ass. Let this be your sign to push back when life pushes you. If it will not matter in 5 years, do not spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it. Bye!

People use different combinations of words and phrases (unknowingly and knowingly) that can align with or reflect their core beliefs, cultural origins and personal experiences. It is only upon careful consideration that one gets to realise the impact of grammatical structure and language on existing stereotypes. If you take some time to think about it, your earliest encounter with stereotypes was  when your mom read bedtime stories to you. In fact, the previous sentence is a great example of a gender stereotype that sounds very natural until one digs deeper into it.  I am one of the many that has inherited an authors perceptions and beliefs.  

'How to write about Africa' by Binyavanga Wainaina strongly emphasises the use of derogotary terms to describe Africa, terms such as "The People" when referring to black african people unlike the use of "people"used for non-black africans. The addition of the article 'the' before people can be ignored. However, in this case, it can not. Our interpretations may differ however mine is that, black african people are being dehumanised. The article before 'people' almost suggests that the thing being spoken about is inanimate. We are so used to consuming such information when it gets to Africa, as if that is the only thing the beautiful rich continent has got to offer. Literature has exposed us to such stereotypes of africa being the poorest when it is, in fact, rich. Africa is one example of many that I can think of. 

I, for one, have my inherited stereotypes. I admit. "'Black Africans' cannot swim", being one of them. I confirmed this stereotype as I was sitting at the pool area at some resort and noticed 'black africans' are the only people with their feet in the water in the scorching sun. These stereotypes and stigimatizations all contribute to otherness in their unique way.