**Day 1**
I woke up to a bright light invading my eyes.
Gosh! I feel so rejuvenated.
It's like I have slept for ages, which, considering that I have classes, is quite impossible.
The bed is also comfortable, unlike my bed.
My bed!
If this is not my bed, then?
That's when it dawned on me that I'm not back at home but in Kenya.
Why do I keep forgetting that?
"Good morning; I see you have finally woken up," he says.
I turn to see him sitting on the chair.
He looks like he has even taken his bath and changed into some fresh clothes.
He is wearing a dark brown trouser and a black T-shirt with writing in front of it, but I can't seem to read it as more than half of it is covered with the newspaper he is just reading.
How on earth does he get them because, from the looks of it, they're not from yesterday's?
Maybe they also deliver them here.
Who knows.
"Good morning, sir," I greet him while raking my hair, trying to de-tangle it a little bit.
My hair always turns into a mess every time I wake up.
Morning," he answers.
He drops the paper, and his face comes into view as well.
He has also shaved his beard.
"Now go and take your bath; breakfast will be served in a few minutes, and then we'll be hitting the jungle by nine; be sure to be on time," he says.
I just nodded at him, and he turned to his reading. It's like he is engrossed or something.
Ever so slowly, I walked into the bathroom, afraid that I might divert his attention if I moved any further than that.
It didn't take me much time to finally get ready, and when I was out, he wasn't actually in the room.
Well, I've got to say good riddance.
I took my time to finally get ready.
I put on my black tracksuit, and then I put on my black sneakers to go with it.
I didn't put on any make-up or perfume, as they had asked us not to come with any.
There is no phone and no fragrance; what a perfect place to be (note the sacrament).
Now I can't even know what the time is. I didn't even have the privilege of coming with a wrist watch—not that I actually use one in the first place.
I sit there by the edge of the bed, wondering just what I'm going to do next.
I don't know the way to the dining area; that's why I decided to stay put till he comes back to fetch me.
A few minutes later, someone came into the room—forgive me, I mean tent.
"Good morning, Miss; sorry, ma'am, Professor Abraham asked me to deliver your breakfast here," he says.
I thanked him and asked him to put it on the table nearby.
He had to turn back to look at me for the second time before he walked out.
The look on his face said it all. He is wondering, just like the others.
How on earth can I be the professor's wife?
Even I am wondering that too.
I am too young to be his wife; a daughter would have been more appropriate.
He is like a hundred years older than me, I am sure.
I walked over to the table and started opening the plates.
I was actually expecting something inedible to go into my mouth, but to my surprise, I saw some toasted bread with an omelette, and there was some ketchup by the side as well.
Are they trying to make a burger but failing to do so, or what?
Anyway, it's better than what I was made to eat yesterday since I'm familiar with the ingredients.
It's not that I didn't like the food from yesterday.
I open the cup he had kept aside and see some well-cooked white oats, which seem to be flowing in milk.
Oh! I like it.
Without further ado, I dig into my food.
I didn't know when I let a satisfying moan out of my mouth.
Gosh! It would have been embarrassing if someone else was in here, not to talk to my professor.
Speaking of the professor, I'm still angry at him about what happened last night.
How could he just try to threaten me because I was asking for an explanation from him?
That's so unfair of him.
At least he owes me an explanation after that blatant lie he went ahead and told.
Now it seems I have lost the chance to get an explanation from him because, who knows, he might decide the worst possible punishment for me.
I lifted my finger and saw the ring still in its perfect glory.
Every woman would have been happy to witness such a day when she got married.
All the flowers, the white dress, and the young prince charming waiting in his tux by the alter
It looks like all these cute little dreams of mine have been snatched away by this ring.
No, it will possibly be over as soon as we are back home.
Or will he also try to manipulate me back there?
No, he wouldn't dare, would he?
My thoughts were cut short when I heard a car movement, and it seems to be stopping in front of our tent, so now it has become ours, which is great.
A few minutes later, a man who looks like he is in his late thirties walks in.
"Good morning, ma'am," he greets with so much respect.
I feel so ashamed of myself right now.
I know I don't deserve all of this courtesy, but here I am, unable to do anything about it.
"I was asked to come and pick you up; the introduction is about to begin," he says.
Ok, sir, I'll be right out; just give me a sec," I say.
He nodded at me and walked out.
I quickly picked up a bottle of water and took two sips.
We don't want to have a full bladder in the middle of nowhere, now do we?
I pick up my emergency bag and head out.
All my essentials are inside, for emergencies.
There again, it's another Hilux waiting for me outside.
I don't know much about these car models, but they are definitely not the first two cars I drove yesterday.
He quickly dropped out of his seat and opens the passengers door for me.
Can't he just allow me to sit beside him?
I guess not.
Thanks," I whisper, and I get into the car.
He ignited the engine and drove off, away from the tent.
It was a few minutes drive, and we finally reached the meeting point.
Almost everybody has arrived, except for me, of course.
I looked over and saw that there were about thirty students and ten instructors present.
But Professor Abraham doesn't seem to be among them.
As if on cue, someone opened the door of the car, and guess who? It's the one and only.
He extends his hand to me, and I have no choice but to hold on to it, and he helps me out of the car.
He pulls me by the waist.
I was supposed to feel butterflies when my beloved holds onto me like that, but truth be told, I feel nothing.
And he is overstepping his boundaries as well.
I tried to peel off from him.
"Don't push it; just keep walking; they are watching us," he whispers in my ear.
I looked over and saw some students giving us awed looks while others were throwing daggers at me.
The instructors also looked mesmerized.
We finally reached the others, and I started greeting the instructors, and there I saw one more unfamiliar face.
"This is Governor Samuel; he's here to give us a welcome speech," Prof. says, as if reading my mind.
The man is black, almost like the paint of charcoal, but he stood proud and distinct. He is tall but stands a foot shorter than the professor.
The man is a giant, you know, so it's hard to find someone who scales over him.
"Good morning, sir," I said.
"Morning child," he says in very distinct English.
"We have always been looking forward to seeing the professor's wife, and now we have. You are welcome, and I hope you will enjoy your stay," he says with a smile on his face.
The man looks like he is in his mid-sixties, but he looked younger than that. If you look only at his face, you will be fooled, but his eyes told the story of the untold, a story only the old and the wise could tell.
Then he looked over to the professor, and they spoke in that language again.
Here I go again; I forgot my language handbook.
I just hope we are not on the move from here, or else I would turn dumb.
I excused myself and walked over to where the students stood.
I waved at them, and most of them seemed to ignore me, as did I.
The man was ushered to a makeshift podium.
"I'm sure all of you are so excited to be here, and I'm glad to know that, but there are certain things that I must inform you of." He pauses, looking at us intently this time, and the smile on his face seems to be gone for a while.
"These are safe as well as dangerous grounds," he says.
He stood there, waiting for the message to sink in.
"A pamphlet will be distributed to you regarding the rules and regulations of this place and then all your instructors would be given the full version which you can acquire from them of you are interested" he says.
Five people came out from nowhere with stacks of papers in their hands.
One of them diverted from the crowd and went over to the instructors. He starts handing over a huge book at them and they all collected with a smile on their face.
When he reached Prof, I had to keep my attention on him. Like this is the first time I have ever seen him wear a three quarters trouser and he looks absolutely gorgeous in them. He is wearing a khaki shirt and a face cap which he is now holding in his hand.
He pulled it back on his face as soon as the man handed the book to him.
He gave him a really sincere smile and collected the book.
I can see some dark shades underneath his eyes and a frown line running down his forehead.
Probably due to a lot of exhaustion over the years.
Apart from those things, he looks like a straight-out of a magazine model. The one high school girls and even college students used to pin on the wall of their room
Someone taps me on the shoulder, cutting off my little observation.
"Here you go, Ms., he says.
I collect the pamphlet from him and look away quickly, hoping that he didn't catch me staring, or else he'll think I'm some maniac.
After all the books and pamphlets were distributed, they handed one to the governor.
"Now that everybody has gotten theirs, I want us to read over them carefully and make sure we adhere to each and every one of them, no matter where we find ourselves in this park, and however, these rules apply to all," he says.
I look down to open the beautifully decorated pamphlet in my hand.
"Now, I'll read it out loud for you, and you listen attentively," he says.