Small town girl leaves home - High Wycombe
Both of us grabbed at the handles, the cool metal slipping from our shaking fingers with a loud clunk as it slammed back into the door. I could almost taste the prison food in my mouth as I continued to fiddle, willing it to open and the car to roar to life. It wasn’t until shrieks of laughter bounced across the buildings that we looked up to see, even the guys in the store, watching us and laughing. By the time we got back to our house the drinks were finished again, everyone else had gone to sleep and we stumbled upstairs to do the same. Hearts had returned to their normal pace by this time and sleep descended quickly over the quiet house.
We were rudely awoken the next morning by ‘Mother’ screaming downstairs, ‘Who are you? What are you doing in my house? GET OUT!’ She had been on night shifts at the hospital and came home to find this strange man sleeping on the sofa. We never saw the poor Scotsman again!
It was the night that one of my housemates decided to declare his undying love for me, joint hanging from his lips as he followed me through the house, that changed everything. It had been raining that evening, but cleared enough for everyone to gather in the backyard around the fire. We were the only two inside and he cornered me in my room, my only escape being out the window over the plastic corrugated roof. One step on the slippery surface and I fell head first, chin leaning precariously over the edge, leg sticking through a hole torn during my fall, dangling above the kitchen door below and the rest of my weight balancing on the beam that supported us all. I came home from work the next day, face and leg bruised and cut and announced I was heading off, my adventures here had come to an end and it was time for a few new ones. My roommate decided to follow and we hurriedly packed our bags and started off to a new city, a new start and a whole new set of adventures.
Arriving in the seaside town of Brighton we heaved our various shaped bags off the bus and stared out over the pebbled shore at our new home. The sun was glinting off the tiny waves as seagulls arced gracefully in the air, their cries loud and exciting in our ears. The city comes alive in summer as it is only a short trip south from London and home to a wide variety of students who visit its shores to attend Uni or study English at one of the many language schools whose doors look out over the colourful streets. It is also home to one of the biggest gay populations in the country and, as we later discovered, with this comes an open-minded, fun-loving vibe that resonates through your bones long after you have left its shores.
We didn’t have much money to squander and the next day spotted a sign in a health food store for a room in a nearby neighbourhood. The house was bright purple with turquoise gutters and gate and smelled of cinnamon and pot-pourri. The room which was to become home was spacious, taking up almost the entire first floor. A lounge overlooked the street with a small, curtained bay window and double doors led through into the bedroom. The land lady was a stern but quirky woman who lived on the premises but who was also frequently away, flitting across the world on her own adventures. Two Spanish girls who occupied the room above us and an English girl who lived on the third floor, also home to our communal kitchen and tiny bathroom, made up the gang this time – an all female house of relatively normal people. It became our ritual to do our grocery shopping at 2am, have regular girlie evenings in our cosy little lounge and dinner parties consisting of traditional dishes from each of our countries. We lived happily for the first few weeks of our contract until the night we woke to shouting and a strange man trying to climb through our lounge room window!
We were rudely awoken the next morning by ‘Mother’ screaming downstairs, ‘Who are you? What are you doing in my house? GET OUT!’ She had been on night shifts at the hospital and came home to find this strange man sleeping on the sofa. We never saw the poor Scotsman again!
Arriving in the seaside town of Brighton we heaved our various shaped bags off the bus and stared out over the pebbled shore at our new home. The sun was glinting off the tiny waves as seagulls arced gracefully in the air, their cries loud and exciting in our ears. The city comes alive in summer as it is only a short trip south from London and home to a wide variety of students who visit its shores to attend Uni or study English at one of the many language schools whose doors look out over the colourful streets. It is also home to one of the biggest gay populations in the country and, as we later discovered, with this comes an open-minded, fun-loving vibe that resonates through your bones long after you have left its shores.
We didn’t have much money to squander and the next day spotted a sign in a health food store for a room in a nearby neighbourhood. The house was bright purple with turquoise gutters and gate and smelled of cinnamon and pot-pourri. The room which was to become home was spacious, taking up almost the entire first floor. A lounge overlooked the street with a small, curtained bay window and double doors led through into the bedroom. The land lady was a stern but quirky woman who lived on the premises but who was also frequently away, flitting across the world on her own adventures. Two Spanish girls who occupied the room above us and an English girl who lived on the third floor, also home to our communal kitchen and tiny bathroom, made up the gang this time – an all female house of relatively normal people. It became our ritual to do our grocery shopping at 2am, have regular girlie evenings in our cosy little lounge and dinner parties consisting of traditional dishes from each of our countries. We lived happily for the first few weeks of our contract until the night we woke to shouting and a strange man trying to climb through our lounge room window!
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
katyzzz
feelings
You're quite the adventurer, aren't you?
Crystal
Mum's Word
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
hhhhhmmmmm I reckon you have lived, just a little more sensibly than some.
Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I`m not sure I`m brave really, adventure tends to find me though. Sounds like you had some of your own adventures around the camp fire.
Good to see you.
Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
we served sadza and boerewors (boo-rah-vors) for our turn at cooking.
Sadza is made from ground corn which you cook up like you would porridge. It goes very stodgy and is eaten by breaking off a small lump, rolling it into a ball and using it to scoop up meat and vegetables. Traditionally it is served from one plate from which everyone eats from (but I`m a bit particular about not eating from other people`s plates
Boerewors is basically sausage with loads of herbs and spices. It is a South African favourite - 'boere' meaning farmer and 'wors' meaning sausage. Unlike other sausages which are short boerewors is one long sausage which forms into a ring about the size of dinner plate and is then broken into pieces for each person to eat.
Ash
Love Speaks
Ooooh...your room-mate/admirer found u???
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
Any relation??
Just kidding hon...
I love the description of the house!
And the Brighton Pier pic.
Kalikapsychosis
Yes, the gay community has that awesome vibe doesnt it? It just spreads love and acceptance of all things.
Cant wait to read the rest - gotta squeeze it in around work and Kman!
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
You have led such an interesting life... very "Alias" like
mis
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
scene in a movie? lol glad I won`t be playing myself! I still got the scars to prove it was a rather painful experience - dangling off the edge of a roof isn`t something you do every night eh?
Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I reckon he would have made a great painter during the 60's! Alas he was in the Fast Food industry and introduced me to the delights of Ben and Jerry`s ice cream.... YUM!
I need to dig out the photos of that house actually - will be good to see it again. The day the pier burned down was very sad - i hate seeing buildings burn...
Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I hate to admit it but at first I found living in such a huge gay community a little scary. However the open-mindedness of such a community is incredible. You are free to be who you want to be with no judgement - it was great!
Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I hate to admit it but at first I found living in such a huge gay community a little scary. However the open-mindedness of such a society is incredible. You are free to be who you want to be with no judgement - it was great!
I am particularly happy that it has allowed one of my best friends to be herself. She would NEVER have come out if she had not gone there and now she is so much more at ease with who she is - it`s great to see such a positive transformation.
Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
~chuckle~ it is only interesting in hindsight! At the time I was envying those behind their little picket fences and glowing lounge rooms... nah I wouldn`t change it for the world!
Ash
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Finally made it back to read the next chapter... what a week ...and I have to go out again in just a minute... hopefully I'll be back later tonight *wiping brow*
*belly laughs* Ooh that bought back memories. Mine was a mixed house in Wembley, but these two African girls next door to me, cooked up something that I shall never forget, as their contribution to the mixed culture cuisine. The smell of it was so foul, it had be hanging out my bedroom window retching for about an hour! I had to go out in the end, but could smell, whatever it was, for nearly a week after in all my clothes... which had to be washed.
That meant lugging it all up to the Laundromat or washing it all in the bath tub...Aah sweet memories....do you think I was vodoo'ed?
Glad your experience was more fun!
Lilla ...
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I can only imagine... it seems to be in the air at the moment? Hopefully things settle down soon to a more relaxed pace.
hahaha I`m sure you weren't. I think I know that smell though... it`s sort of like a very, very acidy smoky smell? It sticks in the back of your throat and nose for days... we stuck to something a little more stomach worthy.
The first night that we moved into this house we managed to set off the smoke alarm though. We hadn`t met any of our house mates yet and were upstairs cooking when all of a sudden BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Hi everyone... welcome to us
Ash
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I think I know that smell though... it`s sort of like a very, very acidy smoky smell? It sticks in the back of your throat and nose for days...
That's it exactly, but with the added pugence of rancid fish oil as a nice little top note... *gag* something I'll never forget. *chuckle*
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Cheerio for now,
Lilla ...
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
uuugggg the smell all of a sudden came flooding back into my nostrils!