Youth: Out of the Woods and?
COMING OF AGE
By Jenny Kihara:
So when Allan asked me to write about how it feels to turn 21 and officially become an adult, I thought, OMG! I am ancient!! Where has the time gone?! But slowly, that changed.
Zora Neale Hurston once wrote about a river that was deep in conversation with a nearby brook. The river was telling the brook about a love story that he had witnessed as he passed through the village. Mr River here, (not his real name) told the story, which had happened over a long time. What caught my attention was how the river kept referring to years as man’s way of defining time. The river found it very absurd. Almost funny. How man can call a particular period 40 years. Or 2 minutes, like that. And now, I find myself in agreement with the river. Time cannot be limited, or put into slots. Time is just time. Perpetual sunrises and sunsets. And aging is simply the passage of time.
For me, coming of age feels like coming back to who I was, before teenage-hood took over. Our teen years are like a storm that rocks our cores, leaving us shaken, uncertain of who we really are, and with a trail of 3 am conversations we wish we had never taken part in. You know…those ones where you tell a near stranger all your darkest secrets in the name of ‘deep’ WhatsApp conversations. Sometimes I wake up screaming when a past conversation appears in my nightmares. Just kidding.
So how exactly have I come back to who I really was? I will tell you in a moment. The most important thing here is that I came back knowing who exactly I am. Before the test of teenage-hood, you are defined by your parents, your family, your schoolmates, friends, and society in general. That whole idea is tested in your teens as you struggle to find your true self. What remains after the storm passes is who you really are, accompanied by valuable life lessons you pick up along the way.
Turning 21 for me marks the beginning of the life I had always imagined for myself as I grew up. What they don’t tell you as you turn thirteen is that the next few years of your life will be extremely turbulent. At the time, boys were to be avoided, or if you liked someone, you had to play hard to get. You had to do well in school because that is what your parents wanted. For the same reason, we could not miss church on Sundays. I mean, what would our parents think? I loved Nancy Drew because it felt like I was right there with her as she solved mysteries. And I loved RnB!!! I mean from Say My Name by Destiny’s Child to Take a Bow, I faithfully sang along to those soulful lyrics whenever they came on. As soon as teenage-hood commenced, I left RnB for Hip-hop, comfort for style, and so on. This was a time to fit in, not let my inner self shine.
The storm does not begin suddenly. No. a small grey cloud appears, then slowly they cover the entire sky, and the world has darkened. Somehow you never really know that a storm is approaching; you are too lost in the mayhem, the confusion that ensues. Suddenly that boy you avoided throughout primary school makes your heart race whenever you receive a text message from him. Your parents still treat you like a child, and it’s embarrassing. What your friends think becomes more important than what you are told at home, or even at church.
As the storm proceeds, the raindrops begin to pelt you with a force you never knew existed. Now your body is feeling things and you don’t know what to do about it. You don’t want to tell mom that you have a crush on so and so and that your body reacts a certain way when he touches you, so Google becomes your best friend. You form cliques based on what others feel is cool. For the longest time, I held on steadfastly to the cool crew because everyone looked up to us, and the lifestyle we led.
Teenage-hood makes us careless. You know that the lightning might strike at any time, and water and electricity do not mix. Still, you want to touch that live wire. Otherwise, how will it go down in the books of history that you lived it up? I mean, You Only Live Once!!!!
For the record, I am all for living in the moment, and doing what you want without a care in the world. I still live like that today, and I will not stop anytime soon. The thing is, do you really like what you are doing, or is it just whatever people are doing at the time? For me, it was mostly the latter.
They say that all this happens because you are trying to find yourself. Your true identity. They should probably add that before you truly determine who you are, you will find yourself identifying with something different every other time. This is true even after teenage-hood ends. And I love the fact that self-discovery is something that continues all through our lives. Sometimes we uncover very interesting facts about ourselves, traits we never knew we had. The difference between our teens and the later years is that in the former, you lose yourself in the process, albeit temporarily.
The effects of the storm are permanent; they will be with you for life. Thing is, the embarrassing moments I had, all the things I did that were against my principles, the fights, the beefs, the mistakes, the heartbreaks; all of them are beautiful memories I carry with me from that tempestuous storm. They have made me who I am. Moreover, in the words of Marilyn Monroe, never have any regrets because at that time, you did exactly what you wanted. When you fell for that boy who later broke your heart, it was because he made you very happy while it lasted. And so forth.
When a storm ends, the sky clears and everything gleams in the faint sunlight resurfacing from the clouds. The water strewn all over and the raindrops make everything shiny and bright. That is what my twenties feel like. Life is clearer, and enhanced. My playlist has grown to accommodate other genres, but RnB remains a favourite. I have discovered and fallen for Maya Angelou, but Carolyn Keene remains my first love. I love boys, but they have to live up to certain standards to be in my life, ha-ha. I have gone back to who I always was, but now am more aware of her, and I am more confident in who she is, and am less likely to lose myself again. Not unlike Taylor Swift in the Out of the Woods video.
Speaking of things that I have never stopped loving, fruits are at the top of that list. Any meal with fruit in it is, to me, a party waiting to happen!!!! So I am very excited about what Allan threw together in the kitchen (Just kidding, he puts a lot of effort into his work). Here is the recipe!
Swiss-Roll: Vanilla and Strawberry Custard Filling, Vanilla Buttercream, Strawberries and Tree Tomatoes
For the Swiss Roll
Ingredients
100g Flour
115g Sugar
5 eggs
2 drops Vanilla Essence
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Method
Separate the egg yolks and the egg whites. Whisk together the egg whites and sugar until it foams. Add Vanilla Essence to the egg yolks and add them one by one while still whisking. Sieve in the flour and baking powder together and fold them in with your hands. Pour the batter into a greased baking tray lined with grease proof paper. Bake for 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
Custard Filling
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of Vanilla Flavoured custard powder
1 tablespoon of Strawberry Flavoured custard powder
1 tablespoon sugar (or to your own taste)
100ml water
100ml milk
Extra milk
Method
With the extra milk, make a paste of the custard powder. Boil the milk, water and sugar together. Add the custard paste and whisk to a porridge-like consistency.
Once the pastry is done, spread the custard on it and roll on itself. Top off with vanilla butter-cream and white chocolate shavings. Throw on fruit as desired.
Thank you for reading through, share widely.
Asante Sana and Kwaheri.
So when Allan asked me to write about how it feels to turn 21 and officially become an adult, I thought, OMG! I am ancient!! Where has the time gone?! But slowly, that changed.
Zora Neale Hurston once wrote about a river that was deep in conversation with a nearby brook. The river was telling the brook about a love story that he had witnessed as he passed through the village. Mr River here, (not his real name) told the story, which had happened over a long time. What caught my attention was how the river kept referring to years as man’s way of defining time. The river found it very absurd. Almost funny. How man can call a particular period 40 years. Or 2 minutes, like that. And now, I find myself in agreement with the river. Time cannot be limited, or put into slots. Time is just time. Perpetual sunrises and sunsets. And aging is simply the passage of time.
For me, coming of age feels like coming back to who I was, before teenage-hood took over. Our teen years are like a storm that rocks our cores, leaving us shaken, uncertain of who we really are, and with a trail of 3 am conversations we wish we had never taken part in. You know…those ones where you tell a near stranger all your darkest secrets in the name of ‘deep’ WhatsApp conversations. Sometimes I wake up screaming when a past conversation appears in my nightmares. Just kidding.
So how exactly have I come back to who I really was? I will tell you in a moment. The most important thing here is that I came back knowing who exactly I am. Before the test of teenage-hood, you are defined by your parents, your family, your schoolmates, friends, and society in general. That whole idea is tested in your teens as you struggle to find your true self. What remains after the storm passes is who you really are, accompanied by valuable life lessons you pick up along the way.
Turning 21 for me marks the beginning of the life I had always imagined for myself as I grew up. What they don’t tell you as you turn thirteen is that the next few years of your life will be extremely turbulent. At the time, boys were to be avoided, or if you liked someone, you had to play hard to get. You had to do well in school because that is what your parents wanted. For the same reason, we could not miss church on Sundays. I mean, what would our parents think? I loved Nancy Drew because it felt like I was right there with her as she solved mysteries. And I loved RnB!!! I mean from Say My Name by Destiny’s Child to Take a Bow, I faithfully sang along to those soulful lyrics whenever they came on. As soon as teenage-hood commenced, I left RnB for Hip-hop, comfort for style, and so on. This was a time to fit in, not let my inner self shine.
The storm does not begin suddenly. No. a small grey cloud appears, then slowly they cover the entire sky, and the world has darkened. Somehow you never really know that a storm is approaching; you are too lost in the mayhem, the confusion that ensues. Suddenly that boy you avoided throughout primary school makes your heart race whenever you receive a text message from him. Your parents still treat you like a child, and it’s embarrassing. What your friends think becomes more important than what you are told at home, or even at church.
As the storm proceeds, the raindrops begin to pelt you with a force you never knew existed. Now your body is feeling things and you don’t know what to do about it. You don’t want to tell mom that you have a crush on so and so and that your body reacts a certain way when he touches you, so Google becomes your best friend. You form cliques based on what others feel is cool. For the longest time, I held on steadfastly to the cool crew because everyone looked up to us, and the lifestyle we led.
Teenage-hood makes us careless. You know that the lightning might strike at any time, and water and electricity do not mix. Still, you want to touch that live wire. Otherwise, how will it go down in the books of history that you lived it up? I mean, You Only Live Once!!!!
For the record, I am all for living in the moment, and doing what you want without a care in the world. I still live like that today, and I will not stop anytime soon. The thing is, do you really like what you are doing, or is it just whatever people are doing at the time? For me, it was mostly the latter.
They say that all this happens because you are trying to find yourself. Your true identity. They should probably add that before you truly determine who you are, you will find yourself identifying with something different every other time. This is true even after teenage-hood ends. And I love the fact that self-discovery is something that continues all through our lives. Sometimes we uncover very interesting facts about ourselves, traits we never knew we had. The difference between our teens and the later years is that in the former, you lose yourself in the process, albeit temporarily.
The effects of the storm are permanent; they will be with you for life. Thing is, the embarrassing moments I had, all the things I did that were against my principles, the fights, the beefs, the mistakes, the heartbreaks; all of them are beautiful memories I carry with me from that tempestuous storm. They have made me who I am. Moreover, in the words of Marilyn Monroe, never have any regrets because at that time, you did exactly what you wanted. When you fell for that boy who later broke your heart, it was because he made you very happy while it lasted. And so forth.
When a storm ends, the sky clears and everything gleams in the faint sunlight resurfacing from the clouds. The water strewn all over and the raindrops make everything shiny and bright. That is what my twenties feel like. Life is clearer, and enhanced. My playlist has grown to accommodate other genres, but RnB remains a favourite. I have discovered and fallen for Maya Angelou, but Carolyn Keene remains my first love. I love boys, but they have to live up to certain standards to be in my life, ha-ha. I have gone back to who I always was, but now am more aware of her, and I am more confident in who she is, and am less likely to lose myself again. Not unlike Taylor Swift in the Out of the Woods video.
Speaking of things that I have never stopped loving, fruits are at the top of that list. Any meal with fruit in it is, to me, a party waiting to happen!!!! So I am very excited about what Allan threw together in the kitchen (Just kidding, he puts a lot of effort into his work). Here is the recipe!
Swiss-Roll: Vanilla and Strawberry Custard Filling, Vanilla Buttercream, Strawberries and Tree Tomatoes
For the Swiss Roll
Ingredients
100g Flour
115g Sugar
5 eggs
2 drops Vanilla Essence
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Method
Separate the egg yolks and the egg whites. Whisk together the egg whites and sugar until it foams. Add Vanilla Essence to the egg yolks and add them one by one while still whisking. Sieve in the flour and baking powder together and fold them in with your hands. Pour the batter into a greased baking tray lined with grease proof paper. Bake for 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
Custard Filling
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of Vanilla Flavoured custard powder
1 tablespoon of Strawberry Flavoured custard powder
1 tablespoon sugar (or to your own taste)
100ml water
100ml milk
Extra milk
Method
With the extra milk, make a paste of the custard powder. Boil the milk, water and sugar together. Add the custard paste and whisk to a porridge-like consistency.
Once the pastry is done, spread the custard on it and roll on itself. Top off with vanilla butter-cream and white chocolate shavings. Throw on fruit as desired.
Thank you for reading through, share widely.
Asante Sana and Kwaheri.
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