Anytime I have to learn a skill that requires good hand coordination, it takes me much longer than normal to master the skill because I have the misfortune of being left-handed in a right-handed world. This is the problem for most lefties who only make up 12% of the world's population.
Bowling is one such skill that I suck at given my aforementioned handicap. My situation is made worse by my fat thumb that doesn't fit into the holes in the small balls yet the big balls are too heavy for me. So Irene advised me to just yank the ball with both hands and I did so in a most ungainly fashion, to the entertainment of my friends.
For as long as everyone was having fun though, I was happy to provide some amusement and that is exactly why we met over the weekend: to have fun! We were celebrating the 20th of October which was a national holiday in Kenya known as 'Mashujaa day'. I will relate to you shortly how 'Mashujaa day' came to be, but first, I will take you back to my friends and I at the bowling alley, where were now waiting for the final scores to come in.
Cathy was so excited to be second last in the game that she took about 23 photos of the scoreboard. Needless to say, I was the one with the lowest score but at least I have an excuse. Cathy had none whatsoever. She has always been right-handed and here she was, beating my score by only a couple of points! Shame. I also happen to have almost overlapped her and Irene on the go-cart race track, having overtaken Cathy in the first lap and Irene in the second. After a while, I thought I was racing alone because they were so far behind.
(If you are still interested in 'Mashujaa day' then you can read on, although this article is not going to get any better and so I promise to end it soon).
'Mashujaa' means 'heroes' whom we celebrate as Kenyans because they were supposed to have fought for our independence from the British imperialists back in the 50s. However, before 2002, only Jomo Kenyatta, the founding father of our nation, was the one who had saved us from the British, so we had a 'Kenyatta day' in his honour. Then comes our third president in 2002 who claimed that many other people also fought for independence and so 'Kenyatta day' must henceforth become 'Mashujaa day'. (The 'Moi day' which was on the 10th of October was scrapped entirely but that is another story. Please also note that our current president is Uhuru Kenyatta: Jomo's son).
Either celebration would have worked for us Kenyans living in Stellenbosch town of South Africa because we just wanted to enjoy our Kenyanness together. We therefore praised our 'Mashujaa' by singing patriot songs very loudly, right after we had vehemently cursed over the corruption, stealing, bombing, poor infrastructure and equally poor salaries in our beloved country Kenya. It is then that we went bowling and racing among other fun activities.
As for my skills in bowling, I have neither the time nor interest to improve in them.