First Week - A Wet Welcome (Part 2)

Let me continue from where I left off; I had just parted ways with my flatmate and was heading back to my room (at least, I thought I was). Please note, that on this 'journey' I have a duvet tucked under one arm and a pack of two pillows in one hand. With this picture in mind, let me proceed to narrate my tale.
As I walked down the street, I took note of the buildings I remembered seeing from when we had first gone to do our registration. All seemed to be going well and I was becoming more and more confident with each step until, the weather changed. Yes, it had been slightly cloudy since morning, but then all of a sudden, the wind became stronger and it started to drizzle and the drizzle was slowly turning into full-on rain.
Strong wind + fast rain = wet slaps in the face. These wet slaps were quite painful, almost like a human hand was behind them (remember how I said the wind here seems to be a person hiding underneath a cloak of invisibility?here's the proof!). This rain was giving me two huge problems; 1) The rain in my face was blinding me, so I really couldn't see where I was going - a particularly dangerous problem for someone with a penchant for getting lost and 2) The wind was really strong and with every two steps I took, the wind pushed me back one step - which was very discomfiting especially since I was already weighed down by a duvet and two pillows.
A smart person would ask; 'Why didn't you take the bus??', my answer; 'Directionally-challenged girl from Ghana + new city x new country x different traffic rules = walking is safer'. I could hardly remember the way back to my flat on foot; how was I to know which buses even went that way? Anyway, back to the situation.
I was making as much progress as I could considering all the elements against me when one very (on retrospect, quite hilarious) embarrassing (since I was in public) thing happened: a particularly strong gust of wind grabbed hold of the pillows  in my hand just as I was struggling to open my umbrella (I was getting tired of the rain in my face) and whipped them straight out of my grip! I watched in dumbfounded amazement and incredulity as my brand new pillows tumbled down the pavement heading for the street where huge buses were rapidly approaching; in that split second my hopes of a good night's sleep flashed before my eyes and disappeared with my captive pillows. By some miracle, one lady at a bus stop close by who like the other pedestrians had noticed my misfortune, grabbed the pillows right before they tumbled into the path of an approaching bus! She smiled sympathetically as I approached her and took the rescued pillows from her, I couldn't thank her enough! God bless that woman! (The umbrella didn't survive though, it rests in pieces on my bedroom floor now).
With that hurdle crossed, I turned round with an embarrassed smile - some of the pedestrians who had witnessed the Runaway Pillows incident were looking at me with sympathy(or was it pity?) - and returned to my previous goal; finding my way to the flat.


It was still raining and the wind was still strong and I was COLD! Obviously, I got lost- this, after walking for approximately half hour (it might have been shorter,being beaten by wind AND rain can do things to one's sense of time) . I couldn't recognise any of the signs or places I was near so I decided to stop at  the closest bus stop to get my bearings-smart move right?
I was busily scrutinizing the map I had picked up from the visitor's centre earlier that day (oh yes, I was forearmed :)) and trying to figure out where on the map I was when I heard a bus approaching the stop I was standing in front of. It had stopped raining but it was wet everywhere. I looked up absent-mindedly as the bus got closer. Without warning, my face was met with a huge splash of rainwater from a puddle in the road which the bus' tire ran through as it drove past! I was in shock! My mind tried to process what had just happened; I felt as though I was in a film or was the object of a sick joke. I looked round quickly to make sure no one nearby had witnessed my humiliation; the coast was clear (whew!).Luckily, I had a hankie in my pocket -thanks to the have-a-hankie-at-all-times training I was given in boarding school- so, I wiped my face, feeling very sorry for myself and missing home (sobs) and resumed my quest to find my way to my flat.
I stood at that bus stop for another half hour or so before -through divine intervention I believe- I realized the street I was on, was right behind the street where I lived. If I wasn't feeling so sorry for myself I would have smacked myself.
When I finally got to my room, I sat down for a while pondering over what I had just experienced. Then I suddenly remembered my face had just been 'baptised' with dirty puddle water and went to wash my face :-| .
Note to self: Learn from Hansel and Gretel's example and leave pebbles along the way when leaving the flat next time. Then again, they were kidnapped by a witch in the end *pause* probably not such a good example then. The only other solution, is to stay in and never come out.      
So that, was my very wet welcome to Edinburgh, true story.