Today is Sunday, May 1st. A week and three days ago +:
Thursday, the 21st So where did I leave off, last time? Oh yes. I’d just arrived, and stepped into Amanda’s room. We sit on her bed for a little while, hugging and talking and sharing, as it’s been over a day since we’d last talked. I tell her about my adventures in Brixton, and the nosebleed, and my nap on the train. She laughs at me, gently, and tells me about how she and Laura had waited for me at the bus stop at 8:30, then later at 10:30, but without any means on contacting me, they could only worry and wait. Many lolz were shared. Before doing anything else, though, I hop in the shower, and scrub away sleepiness and traveling. After a brief discussion of potentials while I dry off, we decide on going to the baguette sandwich seller in the Lanes. We hit the hallway, and I meet Laura, one of Amanda’s flatmates. I can tell she’s going to be kick-ass almost instantly. She wants to come with, so we lollygag until she changes, and then we’re off!
And by off, I mean we exit the building and walk up the hill to the bus stop. Woo. My £2 bus ticket from earlier still works for the rest of the day, so payment is a non-issue. We, of course, sit upstairs, and stretch ourselves out across our own two-seats. I point out where I’d stepped off the bus too early, and they laugh a bunch. An uncommon but understandable mistake, I take. The road systems make no sense at all. The double-yellow isn’t used to denote the sides of traffic, so to an outsider, the road gives no hints and the traffic paths are completely opaque. We barrel downtown, and set off the bus into harsh, clear sunlight and warm weather. I can smell the sea. To the right, where we start walking towards, are the Lanes. Rows and rows of alleyways and sidestreets crammed with shops and stalls and stores, each as beautiful and unique as the next.
Up the way, we come to the baguette place. It’s a hole-in-the-wall 10×10 room with a counter-window for the customers, and some signs of the various things they sell. Laura buys a drink, I get a brie, bacon and raspberry jam on white, and Amanda gets a pesto chicken and Parmesan cheese on wheat. Lacking chairs, we wander down the street a bit until we pass a cute little park, and plant on a bench within. After hearing Laura whine about lacking money, I share my sandwich a bit. She protests, but still eats a bit. Once finished, we just sit and enjoy the scene. It’s gorgeous weather, the park grass has multiple groups, and a couple are walking around the edge.
From here, we head down to the beach, still not decided if we want to put our feet in the water. Through the Lanes, the lovely ladies point out their favorite tea shop, and promise me we’ll attend tomorrow. It looks adorable. Across the street, and we’re on the seawall. It’s not quite hot enough yet for the masses to come out, but the beach is still pretty full. We walk down to the waters edge, and the three of of take turns getting our feet wet. Laura is the most adventurous, and eventually soaks most of her skirt. A couple little kids play near us. They’re so very adorable. I know I talk about memes and recursion a lot, to the point of making the words meaningless, but it blows my mind to watch situations like this: The three of us are sitting there, tossing rocks into the ebbing water and chatting away, and this four- or five-year old girl, who has been playing in and around the water, starts watching us, trying to be subtle about it. We notice of course, but we don’t call out to her. Soon after, she sits down a little away from us, and also starts throwing rocks into the water, and frequently looking back at us in approval. We laugh about it, as she almost hits her little brother, but we’re clearly influencing her. Laura goes back into the water at one point, getting in pretty far, and soon after, once Laura’s back, the little girl tries her hand at wading in. (This is all under the watchful eye of her mother, who is not 10 feet away.) She wants to go in as far as Laura, but obviously is too small and not brave enough. Just mind-blowing to watch. She was learning from us older folks how to act. Learning through imitation and repetition.
After we’ve dried off, we walk back to the bus stop, and chill out a bit until the 25 takes us home. I fall asleep on the bus, much to the amusement of the two ladies. We get back to the flat, Laura bids us adieu, and we sit down in Amanda’s room. While chatting, I fall asleep on her bed for a couple hours. After my nap, we make a shitty frozen pizza that hurts our bellies, and waste time until another flatmate of hers, her friend Mark, comes home from his trip to Belgium. We go visit him, and he shares his chocolates and stories with us on the floor of his room. We hang out with him, then, in the kitchen with some of the others, including Laura and Madison.
Then it’s bedtime, and we remember we don’t have an extra mattress for me. We try sleeping in the same double, but that’s even worse. So I take a pillow to the floor, and drift off into a very uncomfortable night of sleep. Yikes and ouch.
I don’t remember everything from Friday, though, or the other days, so I’ll wait to post about them until tomorrow. Any of you from Brighton, please comment here or on Facebook, and remind me of what we did together and when. I don’t wanna forget. I didn’t know you for very long, but I love you all. I’m glad we met.
