Life on Hall (Rex Nettleford Hall)

Choosing a hall to live on was another tough decision. The UWI Mona Campus has many halls to choose from, each with their own unique sense of style, culture and tradition.
 The halls of choice are as follows:

• Rex Nettleford Hall
• ELR Towers
• ABC
• AZ Preston
• Leslie Robison
• 138 Phase 2
• Irvine
• Taylor Hall

My hall of choice was Rex Nettleford Hall #BIGBADREX! Moving onto hall for me was scary as I knew absolutely no one who was going to the UWI Mona Campus and I knew no one who was staying on the same hall as a first year.

Moving in day:

          Initially I was to move onto hall August 20th, however, my flight was booked for August 21st. So that obviously was not going to happen. I then "moved" onto hall August 23rd (well not exactly, I ensured I had a room and just never slept in it until the next week). When I first saw my room I must admit I was not very happy, as it looked really small and really reminded me of a prison cell.... sadly  I have no photos of how my room looked before I made it into the room I really wanted. However, I was able to get past that and after decorating it I was quite happy with my room. (See room below) The kitchen area is quite nice and spacious for 8 people to be able to manoeuvre comfortably. (see below)

My room (well my bed lol)

memories wall

kitchen area

If asked which hall to stay on I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Rex Nettleford, yes people are quick to say that our rooms are small but TRUST me your match box will be very cosy, even too cosy at times that you cannot study as it's just too comfortable, the library will be your BEST FRIEND. If you're a female whose parents are sceptical about you living on a co-ed hall it's really not bad on Rex. The male to female ratio PER cluster is 2:1. You think you're not social enough to live to on hall? Then Rex IS the place for me. All the talks you hear about rex being the hall where it's one happy family, that absolutely is the truth. Your flatmates will become your sisters or brothers. No one is left to feel not welcomed. It is definitely a hall with spirit and vibes! 800 strong with the spirit of 8000!

VIBES CHECK

T-REX

VIBES CHECK

T-REX

VIBESSSSSS CHECKKKK

TTTTTTTTT-REXXXXXXX

Don't forget to follow them on their social media handles!

 P.S NO I AM NOT BEING PAID TO PROMOTE THE HALL LOL, I JUST LIKE THE HALL A LOT.

Let's get to the real point now ADULTING!
I came from my home where my mom practically did EVERYTHING for me, cook, clean, wash you name it. Obviously, that was not going to happen now. I'm in a whole other country living on my own, I had to learn how to fend for myself and FAST.
People always say "Ramen is a university student's best friend" this was not the case for me, my best friend was and is Mac and Cheese. However, I cannot just eat Mac and Cheese so this meant, time to TRY cooking. NEVER have I ever cooked anything for myself other than boil pasta.... from this you know I  CANNOT cook. It was time to try though, but cooking does not only mean cooking, it means I have to go grocery shopping by myself in a new country and spend my own money on a trolley or basket full of food. I was not too keen on this as I did not know the good yet reasonable brands to buy. Somehow I figured it out mainly by looking for names I have heard of back home in Barbados before. Grace, eve etc. After  I was able to overcome my fear of shopping alone, it was now time to actually prepare the meal! Nothing fancy was going to be cooked as I am still a novice in the kitchen, I opted for a simple Macaroni Pie and chicken. To my amusement and the people on my flat, it actually came out good, if I do say so myself.

 

Enough of my cooking stories, time to talk about laundry.... Of course to do laundry we have to pay $100JAM ($1.54 BDS) a load. Before my mom left she told me separate your clothes according to dark and jeans, lights and whites. I did as I was told, HOWEVER, I had absolutely NO idea that I could put them all to dry in the SAME dryer. I did 3 separate washes and 3 separate dryers... costing me $600. This is not even the worse, I had THREE white shirts and spent $100 washing them in their own washer because I did not know there was a wash room where I could wash my stuff and just then put them into the dryer. Thankfully, I learned from my trial and error of my laundry mishap.

Cleaning the living space, now the hardest part of this is cleaning my room, it's not the biggest but from the time I move one thing, EVERYTHING is just out of place and I have a room resembling a pig sty.Thankfully when we sign our contract to live on rex it's stated in the contract that cleaners will come and clean our flat and you are solely responsible for the cleaning of your room. They will clean the kitchen, bathroom, common area and hall way. All I'm to do is ensure my flatmates wash their dishes and that my room is clean !