Chapter 2: Part 2 : Time for flamingos

The semester started before knowing the fact that we were still in our teenage years. It was nice to think that we all were grown ups, enjoying the reality that we had some little siblings who were starting to admire us before we noticed them. Our school intended to aim for nurturing us, so we all could turn into a swan from a goose but most of us unintentionally aiming for turning into flamingos. Flamingos are large birds with long necks, stick legs and pink or reddish feathers. There are six species of flamingo. The greater flamingo is the tallest species, it stands 3.9 to 4.7 feet, weighs up to 7.7 lbs. The shortest is the lesser flamingo which stand 2.6 feet and weigh 5.5 lbs. The wingspan of the flamingos ranges from 37 inches to 59 inches. Flamingos are water birds, so they live in and around lagoons and lakes, they are vegetarian and meat eaters. Vegetarian flamingos are normally pink in colour, American flamingos are usually bright red and orange in colours, if they stop eating foods they like, their new feathers would begin growing much more paler shades, reddish and pinkish hue would be gone. They like to stay together to protect each other and take care of the young. Once they mate, they tend to stay with that mate. A group of flamingos will mate at the same time to hatch their eggs at the same time. Flamingos will live 20 to 30 years in the wild or up to 50 years in a zoo since young flamingos have a higher survival rate, zoo keepers like to keep babies out of spotlights then later when they get older they will join the older flamingos outside. So, we were unknowingly turning into flamingos rather than a swan who could take care their own nests, mate and cygnets. They are wild species and not a good choice as a pet. We all like to stay in same group, eating and drinking same things most of the time, even getting into a relationship at the same time just like flamingos. Before I even took a good grasp of air, I saw them coupling up with their desired seniors. It turning into a quite impossible to work with those lovey dovey couples, who were learning each others importance of intimacy, always jealous of each other acquaintances or fellow mates. Oh, I was seriously enjoying those accustomed since it was my usual lifestyle then our principal declared that we had to make a short field trip for our practical education. As if life was not enjoying enough hardship within all these that we needed to do more as a practical life experience but I still managed to encourage myself as taking it a positive vibe of our everyday stereotype life. It was about a farm lifestyle. He arranged a farm for us to had a practical knowledge about farming and make documented assessments report that can help us in our finals as a great merit. I was at first didn't understand what was happening then he shared few page details and pictures of that farm and clearly mentioned there what we all needed to do. It was not group activities though it was more preferable. Our dean might have noticed our flamingo lifestyle, as I thought. Nothing was unnoticed there as because we were breed for turning into a swan not a flamingo. That's why, he arranged this to make it more fruitful and enjoyable for us. When I returned after a long day of school, my parents were already getting ready to kick me out of my room for my practical firm life. They were surprisingly stunned me by supporting and helping me out for my one month bon voyage. They were so happy to see me living my city life where no TV, internet, mobile or any gaming console only cows, goats and others for a month, I had to take practical lessons from those animals and their lives. My trip journey to firm life for a month had started from the next day. We all just like an obedient flamingo, gathered in our school front to took our bon voyage where we were intended to experience our swan life for the very first time without parents. It was monsoon season, whole journey we went through under the shadow of the clouds, foggy mists in the air, raining like a sprinkling water from the above. We brought our music players, books, sketch books, comics for the road trip. The weather was comforting, school bus services were great, provided our necessary snacks and meals on time, we took short breaks in rest house of the school to relax our legs for a bit, went for wash rooms if anyone needing it. It was completely eleven hours journey, started at eight o'clock and ended in six o'clock, the road was free, no traffic or anything, on holidays, so it didn't took much more than eleven hours. When we arrived there, the farm gate was opened to welcome us. We were so tired by the trip that we couldn't do anything but to assembled ourselves to our bedrooms. We were forty of us, twenty girls and twenty boys or I might add forty adults, travelled from long distance to learn about how to became a swan. Each group took four rooms to share their dreams under the one roof. Each bedroom had pinkish red mosaic floors with off white walls, five separate beds with brown bedsheets, and only one bathroom with lockers, I couldn't imagine more fairer than that atleast we didn't had to share one bathroom with other fifteen students or more. The bathroom had a bathtub with curtain, shower and toilet were separated with additional glass wall and roof windows all in whites. All of us refreshed ourselves for our dinner table. Simple arrangements in long table for twenty of students, there were two tables under the long roof windows to enjoy the skylights and moonlights, huge dinning hall, we were looking like kittens not even goose. I had no idea the countryside firm could be so big. In the darkness of night, it still couldn't hide the mighty size of it but it was well furnished just like bungalows. Nothing in there were in bad conditions, all were at latest simple designs furniture. Mostly made of red iron rods in beige walls with snowy white mosaics flooring, it couldn't be more brighter than that. No tv or cable in the entrance, no separate drawing room, as so far I had seen. From entrance to long hallway, the hallway had long wide glass doors which was also working as windows of the room, those glass doors lead to long large balcony. Two sides of the hallway were leading to two balconies. Then at the end of the long hallway, there were double staircase for first floor waiting to be used, so as groomed as we were, trying to be adult girls who were used one and adult boys used the another then our rooms which were all lined up, one lined for adult girls and another for adult boys. Our teachers, class supervisor of that trip had their own separate rooms and other staffs were handled by the firm caretaker or manager as prestigious position as it could be of that huge firm. The dinning hall was behind the double staircase. They arranged simple menu for us, white rice dressing with mint leaves and tomatoes as we were transforming into flamingos it was necessary for us, boiled eggs curry, roasted chickens, potato, red bean and cottage cheese salad with lemons and cashew nuts, lukewarm water to drink. All our eyes were sparkling with hunger. They served our meals before we ruin the tablecloth then afterwards they gave us farm made whole milk vanilla icecream with honeycomb. We ate a lot that night, no one stopped us. Then we gave our adult boys goodnight glances for that busy day and went to our room to dive into our beds.