Surreal

It's a bright but windy Thursday morning in July. I sit in a doctors room looking at the meek pansies weave and sway in the coastal wind in their exposed position on the window box. The room's quiet. The doctor um's and ah's, tapping her fingers on the desk. She types a short sentence on the computer then turns to ask me some more questions. She stands and asks me to watch her fingers click. She sits back down and looks at me:

'I think you have a brain tumor' she says.

'Oh' I reply. 'Is it bad?'

'Lets hope it's mostly harmless' she answers.

We finish the consultation and I cycle home in the bright sunshine. I watch the wind whipping the long grass in the field. It has a chill that I never felt on the cycle in.

(n.b. I always preferred daisies to pansies. Pansies seem weak and shallow and I personify them to be full of meaningless chatter whereas daisies are stalwartly and resourceful, able to reclaim even the roughest patches of grass for the presentation of their optimistic little faces.)

Graduation

A day that we'd worked so long and hard for. A day that in this past year I feared may never come and yet magically appeared without a fuss in the middle of July. On this swirling grey early morning, I joined a steady stream of formally dressed students clopping along in heels and shiny shoes to the heart of the Uni that had become their home for the past 3 years. For one final, and slightly sad time, I stopped outside Mario's bright blue front door and berated him for being tardy as we gently pottered to meet our fellow biologists and, as we had done every morning for the past 2 years, blend into the back, a little late but a sturdy unit together.

But this time, what a change - there were gowns! Ah the pleasure of swishing up and down the cloisters in academic dress that billowed so satisfyingly at ones side. Finally, finally I felt like an academic. Forget 'students' in their uniform of dirty jeans, club hoody and a pallid expression of exhaustion and malnutrition. We were Graduands! Bright, successful young professionals, full of optimism and naivety at our future plans for the world. And clustering around them, the throngs of parents, bursting with pride and relief. Obtaining a degree is not something one does alone. It is something done with phone calls to Mum: tearfully fretting about screwed up exams, and quickly asking how long to cook a roast chicken for, and pensively reasoning what you might actually like to do with you life. Equally it is also about the phone calls to Dad: discussing the creaking noise from the boiler, and I am lost somewhere in London late at night and please-can-you-come-and-get-me-*sniiffffff*-as-I'm-really-really-ill?! So it was lovely to say thank you to them too. All in all a very lovely day.

And so the curtains fall on my 3 years at Holloway. 

Cyprus

The rain sloughed down over Gatwick Airport as I slipped alone onto a plane towards a land of effervescent sunshine, sparkling turquoise water and warm, relaxed members of a family whom I'd longed to meet for so long.

Two People Part 2: Mario

The second person who's presence in my life I'll be eternally grateful for is Mario

At mine and Leah's 21st 

How we met


Mario was on my course so our paths crossed a few times on there but that's not how we really met. I remember chatting to him a few times in lab but as he was always partnered with Florian who I had a bit of a crush on he was always by passed in my head as the one with the blue hair (a trait that I think makes him inwardly cringe now) who was quite funny but not nearly as interesting as Flo. Our paths then crossed again in the summer of first year when I became good friends with Ed, Mario's housemate, through gospel choir and we started hearing things about each other and crossing socially. I think one of these first times was when I was told 'you have to meet Mario!' and we we ended up playing cranium in Mario's room and I didn't really like him. He didn't smile much and had this look of distaste at everything. That combined with how 'cool' I perceived him to be meant that I found him quite inaccessible and intimidating at first. I find this really funny now as his look of Mediterranean distaste is something I look on so fondly and a habit we tease him about, it's definitely just a Greek thing! But anyway gradually we spent more and more time together and I think we started to like each other a bit, I think I was still a bit unsure around him but we got on.

Over the summer of first year we would MSN and play backgammon endlessly which definitely boosted our friendship and I think I went into second year with a mentality that he'd be a good buddy to walk into uni with but maybe we wouldn't have much in common as he still seemed pretty cool. It was over the walks everyday into uni and the lab time that we spent together that all of a sudden we became really really good friends. We had similar interests and attitudes and I just discovered what an incredible lovely person and great big softy he really is! He no longer seemed intimidating and cool but like a great big kid who would chat about Harry Potter and Pokemon. Two years later and we've spent most of every working day together, walking to Uni, sitting in lectures, working in the lab for maybe 6 hours at a time, working through coursework together and socializing and that's meant that we've shared so much of Uni and having him there has definitely made it a much happier, funner and caring experience.

That blue hair

My favorite memories with Mario


*The night we stayed up until 5am sitting in the lifeguard hut on the beach in Barcelona. The moon was really big and we drank sangria. Ed, Mario, Hannah and I decided to go skinny dipping and ran into the water and Dan and Cat held back but then all of a sudden they ran in too and afterwards I naked hugged Mario which was really weird and we walked back to the hotel sopping wet.

*The day we spent at the water park in Barcelona, playing stupid games and going on all the scary rides

*Mario teaching me Greek in labs with my first page titled 'Essential Greek' consisting of greetings and swearing

*The time that he was really cocky about the coursework 'only taking an hour' when I'd spent ages and struggled, and convinced me I'd done it wrong then I got a first and he was so humble and embarrassed about it

*The time we moved every one of Dan's possessions onto his bed at a party so he couldn't go to sleep

*The time that we convinced Dan that we took Transfiguration

*The only time that I ever really had PMS and I screamed abuse at him down the phone then appeared at his house for our revision session and he'd guessed what was wrong and said 'here lie down' and cleared the sofa, presented me with a massive bar of chocolate and then retreated across the room to look at me with apprehension.

*The time we were going to play a prank on him but instead decided to really tidy and organize his room and he ran up as soon as someone told him we were in there but was really happy when he saw how nice we'd made it.

 *The time I took him to Thorpe Park and we went on all the nasty rides with big drops and got him really wet on the water rides

*The time we went to dog sit at my friend's beach house and it was really gray and drizzly and we walked all along the stony beach arm in arm with just us and the dogs and it was so peaceful and beautiful.

Leaving carnage in Dan's room

Things I would always like to remember about Mario at Uni

• How his computer made the Super Mario 'here we go' sound when it was turned on and it would go off at really funny times. 
• Walking through campus he would periodically stop our conversation with: 'hottttttt' as he pointed someone out to me under his breath.
• How he enjoyed scaring the squirrels with the hand movements from charmed as we walked through the graveyard everyday to Uni. 
• He would always bring spare fruit to the library when we were revising so I had some too, and a spare bottle of water.
• How in third year I would get to his house in the mornings and sometimes he was never quite ready so we'd have a little chat as he made breakfast (always poached eggs!) and offered me some, and he'd let me steal his concealer and powder. 
• How he really hated being touched but put up with my endless out pour of affection. 
• How he had this thing where he would 'just be' and lie on his bed staring into the distance and that he taught me how to do this.
• How he would never be able to sleep at night until really early in the morning and yet gradually became cheerful in the mornings
• He would always look after me if I drank too much, and buy me a pizza or give me dry toast and walk me home or let me stay at his. 
• How he steals covers and cocoons himself them with such efficiency that it's impossible to get any back
• How well he can dance
• His room was always at a really constant level of mess, never getting messier but never getting tidier - I'm yet to understand how he did this. 
• The lovely dinners he used to cook me
• After being bought candy underwear for his birthday, despite ample opportunity to use it in a situation for which it was intended, once day he ate it alone just because he was hungry

Putting up with excessive love

Things I admire/appreciate about Mario

He's a really compassionate person

He's very caring, he wouldn't dream of letting me down, letting me walk home alone/without something warm/without an umbrella

He can use words in a way like no one I know, I fear for whoever ends up facing him in the courtroom in his future career!

He would always stick up for me or against anyone who he felt was doing wrong. 

His fancy dress skills are outstanding.

He's just plain cool

Final Summer Ball

Two People Part 1: Leah

There have been two people I've met at Uni who stand way out beyond all others as two of the closest friends I have ever had. They've enriched my life in so many ways, been there for every bit of foul weather and I cannot imagine my time at University without them. They are Leah and Mario but ladies first, I'll start with Leah.

Summer Ball in 2010

How we met


I sort of met Leah by accident. Before we started Uni there was a Facebook group for the people in my halls so you could meet up and chat before you went. I misread my accommodation allocation and thought that I was on the second floor and so merrily went and introduced myself to everyone on that floor until a girl (now my housemate Charlie) appeared explaining that that was definitely her room and maybe I had made a mistake. It appeared that of course I had and so went off to find my floor of people. When we did all move in I did go and introduce myself and our two flats bonded to a degree and that's how I first met Leah. Throughout first year I probably spent more time in her flat that mine as we all got along a lot better and then in November Leah and 4 of her flatmates (and also our good friends by that point)  signed for a house with me for our second year (and subsequently our 3rd year). I don't think it was until the summer term of first year that we became really good friends but after that we've been close ever since. Living with someone who's a best friend when it's the first time you've lived away from home definitely makes your closer. Without parents to consult at the end of everyday we would turn to each other to share the funny or sad or confusing parts of our days and I'm so glad that I always had her there to listen and share that with. She's filled my home life at Uni with so much fun but also so much reason I cannot imagine a uni experience where I don't have her warm smile to go to at the end of each day.

Us in Fresher's week

My favourite memories with Leah


* Watching horror films together during the daytime of first year and how she would never get scarred but I would always freak out and not be able to sleep that night.

*Her teaching me to make Paella with Hannah

*Her always coming with me to the vet when Sonia or Franklin were ill, and the one time she couldn't be there she bought me a box of white chocolate finger biscuits in case I was really sad and met me at the bus stop.

*The time I persuaded her to buy hash browns in a carton and make them for me

*She was the only person who'd sleep on the concrete outside the biology building to queue for summer ball tickets with me and we took sleeping bags and blankets and tried to nap on the really cold ground.

*The time that we first straightened her very curly hair and no one could believe how long it was!

*Going on the bumper cars together at every summer ball and her always letting me drive and us reeking havoc across with the other cars.

*The day that we spent alone wandering through Venice with no map and no plan but completely content in each others company just wandering wherever we wanted to go and eating a really nice lunch at a cheap restaurant under a canopy next to a canal.

*Giving her hair cuts to save money and sometimes accidentally snipping her clothes and only telling her sometimes.

*Having a ferocious water fight in our back garden.

*The time I burnt a hole in her bedding and stained it with ink in the space of 3 days and she didn't get mad at me.

*Taking our evening 'constitutional', walking our little circuit through the countryside of the Green, moaning about exams/housemates/siblings and generally putting the worlds to right and staying out in the fresh air and space until we felt human enough to go back.


*The time that I sat there painting her really quietly while she read her uni paper

Eating lunch in Venice

Things I would always like to remember about Leah at Uni

• Her saying 'Yo' to greet you in her really chirpy voice that just invited a good converstation
• The way that each night we would have a little chat together and then go up and clean our teeth together before going to bed. 
• She's a really funny drunk
• Wherever we were, whatever time, Leah was guaranteed to attract the strangest men.
• We'd always watch telly and cook/eat together, normally Teen Mom or Big Bang Theory and sometimes we'd follow a series like the Apprentice and always watch in together each week.
• She makes incredible pasties
• Her room smelt really stale in the mornings but exactly the same stale as my sister's always did which made me really nostalgic every morning.
• The little parcels she would make for her friend when she was in hospital filled with stickers and bubbles. They were always so thoughtful. 
• She'd work on her essays at a fairly late timescale and get a really furrowed brow and a slightly shortened fuse and yet she always got such good marks. 
• Her shoes were always in such a state - covered in dirt and with holes in the back!
• She was always nibbling Applewood smoked cheese
• The amazing fry ups she used to make us after big nights out. 
• I could ask her to do literally anything to help me and she always would, whether I needed to print off an entire thesis in an emergency with her ink, borrow money, get her to send the work I'd forgotten to uni, bring me my lab coat, whatever I asked she would help in whatever way she could. 
• How we used to sit and work through the puzzler magazine together and she would help me when I was being all dyslexic about it. 
• How she hates sharing a bed but if I stayed she would put up with me and my snoring and wriggling. 
• How she always wore long necklaces with animals on such as her Peruvian monkey or the pewter giraffe.

Making pasties on a snowy day

Things I admire/appreciate in Leah

Whatever she commits to doing she throws herself into it completely

If I ever needed help for anything with Gospel Choir or Sailing she'd always give up her time to help me even when she really didn't need to and it'd probably be really boring.

She's not afraid to be silly or make a fool out of herself just to have fun

She always shared her coco pops

She's so sweet and caring

She doesn't take and nonsense from anyone, especially her brothers!

She's very brave

Final year summer ball entrance

Day 9

Met up with Ally who I lived with in first year. She is absolutely lovely. Quite a tomboy like me so she was such a good friend to me in first year with the other girls with whom we shared so little. She came over in her little blue mini and we drove into town to post her letter and buy some lunch from Tesco. We then walked through the fields to sit in the park by the Thames. We went through the meadows which were absolutely stunning with all the yellow, white and purple flowers. It felt so idyllic to be walking through such beautiful flowers in the sunshine with the dragon flies swooping about our knees (though it did cause my eyes to go mad with allergies!)

We ate lunch (prawn mayo sandwich and and a punnet of strawberries) and chatted on the river bank, then walked down the river path and back into town. We popped back to mine dancing and singing along to Bob Marley with the windows down in her car At mine we splashed our feet in the paddling pool with some iced tea and some reggae tunes.

Later that evening I worked on my summer ball dress, finally making some progress and then went to the Barley Moe with Mario. We chatted (bizarrely) about what names we'd call our children (Adonis and Celia apparently) and then walked back singing Bjork and Shania Twain.

Day 6

Woke up at a fairly reasonable time considering it was post party but was starving hungry (probably a bit hungover too if I'm honest) so we went to Monkey's for breakfast. It was really nice to just chill in the sunshine together for a bit just chatting. It started just Hannah, Mario and me but then Ed and Alex and Rachel joined us, which was lovely as Ed was going back to Paris that afternoon, and the Anna and Kirsty so in the end it ended up being a pretty chunky gathering. We went back to Mario's after eating but then him and Anna very kindly relocated to mine so that I could sit in my new paddling pool. We just chatted for the afternoon then I sorted myself out to get the train to my sisters and they went to Staines to go shopping. It was a really pleasant journey to sister's in the sunshine (surely everything's nicer in the sun) and that evening we went to Tesco's (as always with her, I'm getting alarmed with how frequently I visit Tesco!) and made pizza breads and garlic breads for tea.