Entry 2
September 16th
The sound of boots colliding with puddles, car horns, and the deafening noise of hammering rain drowns out the rest of the city, quite literally. It’s been almost two weeks since I arrived in London, and I haven’t gotten used to the rain. The only thing I’ve found to like about it is that it puts a damper on the stench of the city. I’ve tried hard not to think about how I feel worlds away from the summer palette of Greece in the shades of grey painting the landscape here. I think London can best be described as TV static. It’s loud, chaotic, and feels like we’re all waiting for something to happen. Everyone rushes around at a dizzying pace. If I were to stop in the middle of the sidewalk, I’d be run through as though it were a stampede of wild cattle. If I were to describe it to myself a month ago, I’m not sure I would have even come. And yet, there’s something I love about the anonymity of the city. It’s like one big machine, and we’re all just parts working together. Every new person is an adventure waiting to be discovered. I never have to be alone, even when I’m lonely. Inside my little flat in the heart of the city districts, I warm my hands over the boiling kettle on the stove. It’s a small, drab place, barely more than a room or two. Open books have found themselves half-read and strewn across the tables. The only light to illuminate comes from a small lantern by the sink. As always, the window by what’s become my favorite reading chair lies open to the city. I invite the world outside to keep me company in my isolation. Even four stories about the street, I catch tidbits of conversation, small talk usually, and occasionally a few whispered secrets find me. But my favorite sounds are the ones that remind me of a home. The clacking of pots and spoons scraping together as the wife above me makes dinner for her partner. A father hums to his daughter in the flat that shares a wall with mine, and I sway a little with the song, savoring the bittersweet melancholy that underlays the fabric of the city.