So, a lot (and I mean A LOT) has happened since I last wrote. That should probably be obvious from the fact that I've been absent here. even today, I ended up taking the wrong bus and having to find my way home on foot carrying a large six pack of water, but that's a story for another day. But as the title of the post says, I'm going to tell the oh-so-delightful tale of how I was beaten by the rain (again) but this time in Glasgow.
This happened I think..(checking the calendar) 2 weekends ago. I went to Glasgow because I was tempted by my friend(s) with promises of banku, fried plantain, beans stew, chicken soup (CHICKEN SOUP!!!), etc etc. Having starved for most of the week because I can't bring myself to get used to the 'obroni' food here, quickly did I pack my stuff and head to Glasgow! (My initial plan had been to study over the weekend but alas, my stomach won the fight over my brain, hmm).
So I took the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow which lasted about an hour. I had a smile on my lips through the whole train ride thinking and dreaming about the treat my stomach was about to experience. When I arrived I wasn't disappointed; I started off with some deliciously spicy jollof with mince stew (just remembering it is making my taste buds wake up) washed down with a cool bottle of Malta Guinness (Malta Guinness?! In Scotland?! I was in food heaven :)). I was so happy! And we spent the rest of the early evening chatting (gossiping, hehe), watching TV etc etc.
And then, (and this is where the real story begins) I was told that we were going to head out and meet up with friends for drinks. Feeling very full, relaxed and content where I was, I really wasn't enthusiastic about dressing up and going out into the cold night (the word cold is even an understatement); I dragged my feet for as long as I could but eventually had to give in since everyone was going and I felt it was the least I could do after I'd been fed so well.
We all dressed up and were ready by about 10:30 pm, and this was Saturday night. So they started calling different taxi companies to find one that could take us to the bar/club. Being Saturday night, most of the taxis were very busy so the only taxi we could get would have come in half an hour at the earliest. Realizing that the friends we were meeting were already at the place and had been waiting for a while, we decided to walk. Yes, walk. This would have been ok except when we got outside, it had started to drizzle slightly. My first instinct was, 'Let's go back in!'. But no, it wouldn't be nice to have kept our friends waiting that long and then not show up at all so hoping the drizzle would stop soon, we continued walking.
We'd walked quite some distance when the inevitable happened; it began to drizzle harder, and the drizzle gave way to serious rain. so now we're stuck in between the bar and the apartment, dilemma; which way do we go? We continue bravely towards our destination, shivering because we were dressed up in 'Saturday night chilling' clothes. And it continued to rain. Those of us with weaves began to worry, and me with my braids, wondered if I should worry too. hmm. To make our situation even more painful, the taxi we had called seemed to have made it after all and we watched in silent despondence as it sped past us and took the curve heading to the apartment. Oh, the ironies of life!
With much shivering, we continued on and just when we were about 5 minutes away from the bar, the rain receded. Can someone tell me why the elements find it so hilarious to play these pranks on us poor mortals?? Anyway, after having our IDs closely scrutinized by the bouncer at the entrance, we made it into the warmth of the bar (ahhhh, dry land at last! :)).
We really didn't have to say much by way of explanation to the friends who had now been waiting for about an hour; our soaking wet clothes said it all and they sympathized.
We found somewhere to hang our coats and joined them and tried to get warm. After chatting for a bit we decided to get drinks! We looked through the menu and each decided, a few of us remained seated while the others went to get the drinks. In the meantime, I amused myself by watching the off-beat dancing antics of the 'mmr)fo', it was really hilarious and I was entertained for a while.
Then one of my friends decides all this techno/obroni music just isn't cutting it for us Africans.So, she took it upon herself to ask the DJ whether he would play some hip-hop (we're Africans alright!). I did my best to dissuade her but she was determined. I watched as she walked into the DJ's 'box' (is that what it's called?), and I knew I was going to enjoy the events that were about to unfold. I watched as she asked the DJ a question, watched as her lowered his earphone to make her repeat the question and watched as he decisively shook his head. Needless to say, she came back with a very heavy head and, as we used to say back in primary school, a 'black eye', hehe!
By this time our drinks had arrived and we proceeded to down them, I savoured mine for as long as I could; a strawberry cosmopolitan (mmm -__-). Not long after I was finally starting to feel relaxed, I realized 2 of the friends were getting up and putting their coats on, they were leaving! I checked the time on my phone; we'd been there for at most 40 minutes! So they left but I thought to myself,well, there's still a lot of us here maybe we'll stay a while. That was not to be. Less than 5 minutes after the first 2 left, the rest decided we might as well all go home.
I looked at the drink in my hand and looked at their faces and thought to myself; so I walked through the rain at the risk of catching cold or even pneumonia just to come and sit in a techno-playing-offbeat-mmr)fo-dancing bar and have one drink?? Such is the sadness that is my life.
I sipped the last of my drink and we headed out. Now,how to get back home was our new dilemma. However, I think God was feeling sorry for us so miraculously we walked up right next to a taxi which had just dropped off some people. I have never been so grateful to see an empty taxi! Was I relieved when we got home!
And the moral of the story is.....(drum-roll please!) she who thinks with her stomach will surely be beaten by rain as punishment. No wonder gluttony is a sin, smh.
(I'm sure you've noticed this post is titled 'part 1', you guessed it! this was not the end of my encounter with rain for that weekend, watch out for Part 2!!!!! *Ghanaian movie advert voice* :)
The food that pulled me to Glasgow (jollof and Malt!)
My one drink :( (strawberry cosmopolitan) and the candle I tried to warm myself with -__-
