Entry #11: Staying Outside the Flat is Awesome

Friday last, after deciding that I'd definitely be staying the summer, I signed the lease and moved into my new room. It's a small three bedroom flat built purposely for room rentals--I can tell because all the individual rooms are quite large and, save perhaps for the kitchen, there is no space to congregate in plural form. I'm staying at the topmost room, facing the street. It's quite central, only about a minute's walk from the esplanade, which means that every night after finishing up at the hotel I get to go and sit out on the sea. The waves are most often calm, and the diurnal traffic of octogenarians seems to be significantly less after the hours of ten or eleven. 

Now, for someone who only moved out of the familial abode at the age of sixteen, I've lived in my fair share of apartments since (four). Some were quite appealing and some less so--the slanted, torn up floor tiles from my stint on Wellington Sud do arise to mind--but I daresay that this one is very particular in its own right. 

With England being one of the most costly places to live in the world, I couldn't really afford to be choosy. I live with two flatmates, E and H. Both are in their fifties and keep to their room when home from work. For the sake of their privacy, I won't post any pictures of the flat, but I can give you a bit of an idea. 

For starters, the apartment is next door to Sidmouth's most popular pub, The Black Horse. I hear there are bands there every Saturday night and up to three or four times a week in the dog days of July and August. Indeed, as I slipped into bed Saturday last, a string of poor Fleetwood Mac and Coldplay renditions kept me awake for a long time. Throughout the evening, one is sure to spot the occasional drunkard bobbing down the street, eyes glazed over and mouth quite ajar--or, on a lucky night, several of them, which often entail a howling chorus of whatever was playing inside the bar. 

But the pub and its patrons are not my enemy. If there is a thing that is possibly more grating than the dull throb of a subwoofer at 2AM, it is the constant aaawk-ing outside the window from the gulls. Morning, night and noon, there they are, flying over the building or pecking at my window pane. This poses a secondary problem because the flat has a washing machine, but does not have a dryer. The clothesline outside is to suffice as a substitute. You can probably see where this story is headed. 

Needless to say, I was thrilled to discover that one of my work blouses had been shat on by a gull this morning as it lay on the line; as I glared up accusingly at the circling culprits, they made even more noises, which were suspiciously reminiscent of evil laughter. 

This afternoon, I discovered that E regularly feeds these gulls and that, having found warm greetings, many of them have established their nests on our roof. She pointed out their babies to me as she shred slices of white bread into crumbs for her darlings. 

Yay. 

A few more problems have arisen: for example, the night before last, someone broke down the door of the flat, very angry, very drunk and looking for H. It appeared to be about a misunderstanding. Not caring to place myself between them, I sat in my (locked) room and waited it out patiently.

me and my babe. sweet lovin

Luckily for me, there's no reason to stay indoors more than I have to. Everyday, I'm out of there by 6:30AM to run up to Sidmouth Peak before work so I can go visit some meandering sheep before going to work. The seacoast path which takes one up to the top is simply incredible. It's straight uphill the whole way, often resulting in my panting curses to Sisyphus and Edmund Hillary and mountain goats and summit-scaling creatures everywhere for making it look so goshdarn easy. But the ascent is not the only breathtaking feature: the view of the coast; the blooming foxglove, old man's beard and spotted orchid; the wheat fields, which truly do seem to be made of gold; the expanse of grass, of undulating hill; all these things make me just want to be there all the time.

Of course, a dip in the ocean after my run is complimentary.

Sorry for the vagueness concerning other stuff, news will be posted soon! Just checking in to give you a little taste. I've heard from a number of you and am always glad to recieve messages! Miss you guys. x