On the same night that I officially paid my first rent in London, my new housemate Nick invited the house (myself and Bianca) to enjoy a home cooked dinner and a movie for the following evening. That started many more family dinners to come. Nick enjoyed cooking (but vegan only) as much as I do and that brought a homely and cosy-ness to the house. Bianca was the Airbnb queen so she brought the creative ideas and DIY-ness to the table. All three of us were also single which meant that our lifestyles were similar and we had time to form our friendships. I also have to mention that thoughtfulness, sharing and kindness was very common in this household.
One morning Nick took me to the Barbican Centre to see a photography exhibition on Masculinities. I discovered the Barbican Library and signed up to borrow a few books including Normal People by Sally Rooney ( I wrote a review on Goodreads).
Myself and Bianca also had our first trip out as friends. She lent me her bike and we half rode (I’m a massive beginner) to Broadway Market. We chose La Bouche to people watch, read and have a snack. On the way back home we stopped by London Fields to grab a soft serve cone from the parked ice-cream van.
I was also looking forward to a day trip to Brighton with an Australian friend and a date (thanks Hinge) with a Bristol boy who was going to visit London that weekend.
However as the weekend crept up, social media and the news was plagued with rising numbers of COVID-19 deaths all over the world. Lockdown was already in place in countries like Italy, Spain, New Zealand and back home in Australia. There was talk of the UK being next to announce lockdown. It was inevitable that Brighton and a visit from a Bristol boy had to be cancelled.
Lookout for my next blog post where I share three journal entries in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak. x
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