"Please don't worry about any of us who are trying to sleep will you? You just feel free to chat away loudly in Swedish while we bury our heads in our pillows to muffle the piercing sound of your voices echoing around the room while you get ready to go out on a tour of Universal Studios."
Of course being British I was far too polite to lift my head up and ask the girls who were now staying in our room to keep the noise down. Instead I bottled up the frustration and lay with my head under the pillow while these girls crashed around our room early in the morning as they prepared to go out for the day. I may not have found it quite so upsetting if I had managed to get some sleep, but the room was so warm and stuffy all night that I had been unable to dose. I just cannot understand how anyone can be so inconsiderate... they could see the rest of us attempting to rest. It is beyond me!
My first impressions of being in a hostel dormatory are not good. I knew that this would be a challenge for me as I like to have my own personal space and be around people that I know and choose to be with. Instead I feel awkward and cannot concentrate on anything that I am trying to achieve when I am in my room. Even the simple task of finding my toothbrush becomes exhausting as I lose track of exactly what it is that I am trying to do, and I am unable to spread anything out of my bag to make the task any easier. I suspect that I will reach a crisis point at some point in my travels when I am unable to carry on living in a hostel. Of course I started my trip in a Cape Town hostel but I had my own room. I have only spent one night in a dorm so far. This is going to be interesting.... wait until I see my first cockroach.....
After a day of resting and of course heading out for my usual breakfast I prepared to go out again. My old art school friend, Alex Johnson, was due to be arriving in Venice Beach to start her new life in Los Angeles and I was planning on heading down to her hostel the next day. So this could be my last night of West Hollywood partying. To mark the occasion I thought I would up the ante and put a shirt on... my only proper shirt... a long sleeved pink number. Looking HOT!
The Abbey was surprisingly busy... plenty of people milling around the open bars. I ordered a mojito and settled onto the corner of my favourite bar. This particular one is smaller than the others and a little more intimate... far easier to get chatting to other merry folk. For half an hour or so I looked like a loner. Of course it is a challenge not to look like a sad loner when you are in a busy bar drinking alone, but it is quite exciting because at that moment in time you have absolutely no idea where the night will take you. Standing with your group of friends you are far less likely to have any surprises!
Before I knew it the night began to roll. As soon as I have broken the ice with one person, in this case a chap called Kevin and his friend Heather, the night is transformed. By 11pm I was sitting in the back of a Dodge Charger headed for a nightclub!
Don and Mark had been close by when I met Kevin and Heather and I instantly took a shine to them. Something about the way they carried themselves and interacted made me feel completely at ease... my gut instinct was that they were honest, genuine and great fun! And who am I to say no to an invitation to carry on with the party? They even stopped off at my hostel so that I could change my shirt before whizzing off to Hollywood. Stepping into the nightclub, a former theatre, I found myself in a sweaty trance heaven... the main dancefloor full of people thrashing to the beat. The new Edward ripped his shirt off and threw himself into the sweaty mass with Don in tow.... no lingering around the side for the cool airconditioned breeze for me this time!
There is one moment that I need to recapture. I am cringing at the thought of it because I cannot believe that it is really true. Kevin and Heather had wanted to join us and were heading for the club. Somehow they found us straight away. This would have been great, but clearly Kevin is not a man who holds his drink well, and Don, Mark and I were already aware that this was not the place for him to come to. Within minutes he was whooping and thrashing his arms in the air while ripping his shirt off... but the whole spectacle was rather unfortunate to say the least! He looked so awkward with his white vest, US army tags and 'man-boobs' and he was the only person I could see who was not keeping his cool. It was like seeing the nerd in a Hollywood high school movie trying to be 'cool'. The pain and the disbelief with which I witnessed this is very hard to convey... and it meant that a good part of the night was spent avoiding him.
I am sorry Kevin... I feel evil for being so.... LA!
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