Girls do the funniest things

I went to an all-girl Catholic school for 5 years of my life, within that situation I met I range of girls. Some were ghetto in a dangerous way; a classmate once actually set fire to the school toilet, which promptly resulted in her exclusion from the school; some couldn't be further from the word ghetto and some were ghetto only in humour. This was the majority because St. Angela's was a school sustained by African and Carribean students; in Newham, London you wouldn't expect anything else. There was a small minority composed of the remnants of Cockney East-End London, those girls were what you would envisage when you think of England. I probably didn't fit into any category because my first 6 years of life were spent in Ghana with Ghanaian peers and the Ghanaian school system (basically you get caned if you disobey a teacher, caned if you don't learn quickly enough, caned just because.......cane, cane, cane). I wasn't an outcast but I wasn't in the in-group either.

Out of all the girls I encountered in secondary school one person explicitly stands out, purely because she was a contrast..........she was ghetto (at times), she was an atheist (all of the time), she was a theologian, she was well read and she knew it. Some would call her a snob because of it. For me intimidating springs to mind, I imagine that her name was synonymous with bitch because she did have a chip on her shoulder. If I hadn't been in the same class as her for 5 years I would have been indifferent in regards to Chontel, and that would mean that I would quickly put her out of my mind - she would be negligible. When you actually got beneath her veneer she was really easy to talk to, she could take a joke, she could be sweet....but she marched to the beat of her own drum; mainly because she was, I suspect, just as unfit as I was.......still am.

In university there are more people and less confined spaces, you don't have to talk to people you don't want to or simply make nice anymore. For the first time however, I've met snobs.......they're annoying, pretentious and mostly girls. In the university subculture you find most people diverge according to their race: the South Asians (Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani) who are given the option of Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer while they were in the womb by their parents. Followed on by the Asians mostly Chinese and finally you have the English country girls, by country I mean there's lots of greenery.

Of the South Asian girls there are those who are insanely loud and chatty and often given the evil eye as a result.......but what do they care, they sit in the back of the lecture theater (like me), ignore the lecturer (like me) but they like school (unlike me) - it's like a playground for them. They are okay to talk to, for a short time, because they are actually willing hold a conversation; you'll quickly get bored and they'll quickly get distracted. When you see them you acknowledge them then go about your business. The studious, sensible subgroup of them know you only when convenient, case in point Meera: I met her at the beginning of my university life, I don't think we hit it off but I made sure to acknowledge her when I saw her because I still remembered those early days when we walked around like headless chickens grabbing onto any and every friendly face we saw (it was a lawless time). I'm not worth recognition anymore, according to her.........but when she needs a slide of drosophila embryo she suddenly knows me again. They're interesting like that...........they are opportunists to the core....ugh, nothing disgusts me more. These subgroups are distinguished by their make-up, the chatty girls with the attention span of fruit flies wear bucket-loads of eye make-up, Kajal, Kohl etc. They don't seem to mix, the chatty and the studious.

I mentioned earlier about the Asians, we have (as far as I can tell) Chinese and Japanese students in our university. They have their own distinctive wardrobes and love of the peroxide, the Chinese girls favour kitten heels and bejewelled denim. The Japanese girls are a rarity, I don't know why and of the few I have seen, Keds are a big hit........girls after my own heart.

Finally, we have the English country girls, unfortunately the girl in question shares my name....yes, she's an Annabelle (don't know how she spells it though, I'm fussy abut stuff like that). I've gone through most of my life being the only Annabelle so I was curious when I found out there were 2 of us. She's autistic, not really, but isn't that what you call a person who lacks 'theory of mind'. A person who speaks sooo (extra o's) loudly you know - even if you don't want to - that over the holidays at, get this, MUMMY and DADDY's she drank a whole bottle of wine to herself, I'll let you take that in...........a) who gives a shit!!!, b) she's an alcoholic - who drinks a whole bottle of anything by themselves and c) who gives a shit!!!!!!!!! I soon awarded her the title of 'the Real Uggs'; over in England there has been this phenomenon over some thick Australian Farmer looking boots called Uggs. I've never donned on a pair because I think boots are the devil (I like them on other people but not on me). They're pretty expensive to buy over here but they're damn cheap in Australia, and because of that most students buy the cheap equivalents here, she wears the real ones so to me she's a 'Real Uggs'. Along with the Uggs they (the Real Uggs, there are more than one) dress like they're ready for action, I don't mean for sex, I mean action........like they could climb up Mt. Snowdon at a drop of a hat.