5.07.07 - We Missed July 4th!

AH! What happened! It is July 5th!

I had extended my stay in Los Angeles so that I could celebrate July 4th... and I had just gone and slept through the evenings festivities! Oh well. It was worth it. No fireworks for me.

Some sort of vague sense of reality was starting to kick in. A perverse reality. You see, I had contacted my hostel on the 4th to inform them that I would be holding the bed for another night. However the horrible nagging feeling that I needed to tear myself away from the pleasures of the mountain villa lifestyle and force myself back into the hostel life was rapidly consuming me. Being a gemini I had happily pushed this thought to the back of my mind for nearly two days, and now the demon had to be confronted. Otherwise my bags would be on the street in West Hollywood for the vagrants to sift through.

And where was the nagging feeling that I had work to go to the next day coming from?! Give me a break!

I had been spoilt... after only one night spent in a shared dormatory I had fallen on my feet with two new friends and been treated to a great open-armed welcome into their home. My entire trip was being thrown into turmoil in my mind... how was I going to cope with staying in nasty old cockroach-infested hostels for the rest of the year. Perhaps I was not cut out for this after all. There is only one way of surviving.... I need to make friends who have villa's at every stop. So much for throwing myself in at the deep end and making myself go through the hostel experience!

Don and Mark to the rescue! I could hardly believe the generosity and kindness of heart they displayed when they suggested that I stay with them until I leave for Buenois Aires on 11th July! I was completely taken aback... clearly my aggressive and erratic behaviour, inabilty to pick up a knife and fork and tendency to put both of my feet in my mouth while I am watching television (a bad habit I know but great for the karma) had not put them off me. I am just not used to people being so open and warm... we Brits like our own space do we not?

Yes... this is a summary of my response.

I stepped out of the Dodge and walked into the Orbit hostel to pick up my things and check out. As I was bundling everything into my bag Jason, the actor, came through the door displaying a mixed look of disbelief, amusment and curiosity....

"Oh ma God man... where on Earth have-a-ewe beeeen? Ah just towld ma boyfreend on da phone that the Briddish boy had just gown-a-missin'.... where-a were ewe?!" he said in his lazy Alhabama drawl.

Clearly the message had not been passsed onto any of my fellow dormers that I was staying elsewhere, and it turns out that the chap I spoke to on the phone had not logged the note that I would be back to settle up. With everything crammed into may bags I said my swift goodbyes and heaved my load into the 'trunk' of the Dodge that was waiting outside. My room-mates happened to be sitting on the porch that overlooked the car.... I must admit that I felt quite thrilled to be drwan out of the hostel life for a while... somewhat like Pip when he realized his Great Expectations!!

Back at the villa the boys produced a vast rack of ribs. Don proudly set to work on the barbeque while I attempted to be helpful. How grateful I was sitting there on the terrace with the 105 degree dry desert heat and the view through the valley.... cheers!