The first ever hostel

 Whenever I tell people at home or even sometimes here in the UK, that I live in a hostel, they are astonished and can't really imagine what it's like. Especially in Germany where the concept of hostels is relatively new (apart from the classic youth hostel) it is very hard for my friends and family to understand why I choose and like this kind of life (most of the time). I am not even sure, if I chose it or if it cose me. It just happened and I am okay, quite often even happy with it.



It all started in Ireland in January 2005. I had spend the last couple of months of 2004 as an Au Pair in Ireland in Co. Claire somewhere in the middle of nowhere. There was no shop, no pub! and the next bus station with a regular bus was 2 miles away. Apart from my host family I had little contact with the locals and spend almost every night in front of the telly and was terribly lonely. So when Christmas came the family and I decided to part ways. I would go home and spend the holidays with my friends and family and come back three weeks later to move in with the only friend I had in the near by city of Limerick and find a job and do my own thing.



There was just the little issue that I was not officially registered at Silvina's (my friend) flat and the office that gives out the PPS numbers (Social Security Number which is the one legal requirement I needed to work in Ireland) needed a proof of address from the landlord. The good thing was that I had a friend in Galway who is also German and had moved to Ireland 2 years before me and I knew he'd be able to help me.



 So I phoned him up and he told me to come to Galway and we'd take care of it together. And that was the first time I sat foot into a backpacker hostel. I am not even sure, if I stayed there this time around, I may have even stayed at my friend's house but it was then that I decided to stay in Galway not in Limerick.

Galway City Centre

Why you ask? First of all Galway is just such a wee gem of a city. It is directly on the coast, you literally walk 5 minutes from the main shop street to the beach, there are buskers (street performers) everywhere and there is just such a lovely alternative scene that I really loved. Limerick on the other hand is rough, pretty ugly and just not very friendly. But the moment when I finally made my decision was when I was sitting at the office to apply for my PPS number again. While I was sitting there and waiting for my turn a guy came in and like in a rom-com or a romance novel, I just knew, he was special and that I wanted him. I know how this sounds, but there is really no other way to describe it. Seeing him made me move to Galway and into the hostel, since it was the cheapest accommodation in town and my friend didn't have enough space to let me stay at his place. I knew I might not even see "my guy" again, but there were so many other great people and so much going on that made me sure I'd be happier in Galway.

the hostel back then

The hostel as it turned out was a dump, but I loved it. It occupied the three top floors of a four story building, with the common areas on the first floor and the dorms in the two top ones. It had a total of 58 beds with 8-10 beds in each dorm, a kitchen, a dining room and a TV room. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? But the condition the hostel was in... there was always something leaking, sometimes it would drip in the TV room, the water from the bathrooms came running down the bottom stairs, because some pipe was leaking and for a while you couldn't use the kitchen sinks because the whole kitchen would flood. Nobody liked going into the backyard where the bins where located because there were rats, probably from the canal that was flowing past the back of the building. I think that was one also of the reasons why the shops below the hostel were abandoned. The showers and toilets were gross with mold everywhere and no proper toilet paper dispensers.

that's how things got fixed

The manager lived in the hostel and got payed 40 Euros a day cash in hand and was only around a few hours a day. There were no locks on the doors and only one lock with with a code on the front entrance. (By the way I looked it up online and it seems in much better condition now...)

two of my room mates

But even though the building was in really bad condition some of the people I met there will stay with me forever. I don't exactly remember all the people I met since I went back a few times and people came and went. But I remember I really quickly moved into room No. 6 which had the coolest people in the hostel. Most of them were Spanish speakers (Argentinian, Bask, Catalan, from Andorra and a guy from Italy who also spoke Spanish). There were also a bunch of Polish people in the hostel, a French men, a guy from New Zealand and many more. And even though we were all from VERY different backgrounds and there for different reasons, we were one of these typical dysfunctional hostel families. We lived, partied, worked and even fought together. I learned my first bits of Spanish, I started making money with busking, I improved my English quite a bit and I learned so much about myself.

 There is only one person out of all of these people that I am still in contact with and that's because he also lives in Edinburgh now but I still remember a lot of people from back then and so many special moments that would never have happened had I not moved into that hostel. I even met my mystery guy from the office again. But I am not sure I'll ever share that story...

Fringe Review VIII Loretta Maine

I already wanted to see Loretta Maine's show last year, but unfortunately didn't have the money. Since my financial situation has improved this year and I saw that she was back again, I had to make sure I would catch her.

To be honest I didn't even know what to expect, but somehow her poster last year and the title off this year's show spoke to me: Strong independent woman (unless when I am very tired). Hell yeah, I can relate to that. And the poster last year reminded me a lot of Courtney Love, whose music I quite like, even though I am not sure, I would like her as a person, if I'd ever meet her.

Her show was held in one of the circus tents at the Assembly at George Square Gardens, which is a really nice venue. On stage we had a (female, yeah!!!) drummer, a guitarist, a keyboard player and Loretta herself. I did know that there would be some form of music involved, I just didn't know how much.

The whole show centered around Loretta herself, who is a bipolar, somewhat grungy, slightly alcoholic trailer park girl and celebrity singer/songwriter. In this year's show she tells us how her management and her are trying to change her image and make her a pop star, she even shows up in a pink cocktail dress but loses that and most of her other clothing during the show. And she goes from trying to be sweet girl to blubbering drunk white wine witch. That transformation is always accompanied by or told through her music.

Loretta includes the audience and no one is safe (not even me who tried to hide in the last row in the dark), she flirts with you, yells at you and sits on your lap. But apart from her comical talent, she really is an amazing musician. She can sing, I mean BOY CAN SHE SING and she does all kinds of styles, from pop, singer/songwriter to country and even rap. And she does it well, I am thoroughly impressed.

As I said, I didn't really know what to expect when I went to see the show and it was different from what I thought it would be but I was positively surprised and I recommend this show - not only to women!

And ..... here.... we.....go! (imagine me whispering this like Heath Ledger's Joker)

Yessss, I made it! I managed to walk up the Royal Mile, down Grassmarket and to the Underbelly tent at the university without getting a single flyer. I successfully dodged them all. And you might wonder why that is reason for applause. Because it is festival season in Edinburgh. What kind of festival? All of the festivals. Mainly the Fringe Festival, the largest arts festival in the world (so they say on their website) and it's been running since 1947 and lasts for three weeks. It has become HUGE, like MOTHERFUCKING GINORMOUS. There are over 400 venues with over 3000 shows with anything from comedy, to burlesque, from kids shows to classical concerts, street art in all kinds of forms, arts and crafts markets, cabaret and stuff I have probably never heard of. 

But the festival season is more than just the Fringe. About two weeks before the Fringe kicks off, we already have the Blues and Jazz Festival with several venues and acts all over town. It gets you in the mood for the madness that is August in Edinburgh. A week after the Fringe starts we have the Edinburgh Book Festival, which lasts two weeks, has over 700 events and attracts all kinds of authors, this year we expect the guy who writes the Game of Thrones books. I am a little bit exited about that one actually! And around the same time the Book Festival takes off, the Edinburgh International Festival also takes place which was also founded in 1947 after WWII to promote performing arts from all over the world. Oh yeah and there is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo which shows Military Bands and performances from all over the world. And although I am not a fan of military, war, armies and all these things, I have to admit that it is an impressive show, including fireworks and army jets flying over the city. 

So as you can see, if you come to Edinburgh in August, there is no way you will be bored, unless you're locked inside your house and you don't know how to entertain yourself because you have no electricity (I still wouldn't be bored, I would just crochet...). You just have to step onto Rose Street, the Royal Mile or any other street in the city center and you will be overwhelmed by the choice of entertainment. It is impossible to really get an overview over all the things going on. You can just pick a few things you want to do or see, even if you are here the whole time. There are so many interesting things.

Sure some of these gigs are not cheap but there are hundreds, if not thousands of free shows. Most pubs have acts on and one part of the Royal Mile is one big stage and you just tip the artist if you liked them or you just move on to the next one. 

But even, if you manage to catch only free stuff, it is not the time of the year where you want to be traveling on a budget. Because everything is expensive. Take accommodation for example: In winter we charge between £10 and £15 per bed per night. Right now, in August, we charge around £30 per night. Why? Because we can! There is just such demand for beds, that people will pay anything. I think the number of people doubles or maybe even tipples in August here in Edinburgh. On a Saturday night we easily turn 10 - 20 people away, because we don't have space for them. It is only the very beginning and already all our weekends are fully booked and there are only a few beds during the week left. Locals have long since realised that, if you leave on a holiday, just rent out your flat and you can make a couple hundred pounds.
But not only accommodation becomes more expensive, pub and restaurants raise their prices and I wouldn't be surprised, if the main tourist attractions like the castle would do, too. But again, they can. There are just so many people in town. Not only the artist and tourists but also tour managers, caterers, builders, electricians, journalists and so on.

The streets in the city centre are so packed with tourists that I sometimes wish for two separate lanes on the side walk, one for tourists and one for locals, because it takes a lot longer to get to your local super market or the bus stop because of all the people. Pubs and clubs are open longer which means you have yelling people in the streets way after sunrise and the only time you can go for a walk or to the shop without bumping into people the entire time is at 7 in the morning.

But as exhausting as all this can be, it is still amazing that the entire world seems to come together in Edinburgh during the festival season. No matter where you go, you see art art art. You round a corner and you end up in the middle of a performance, your favourite pub suddenly has comedy, poetry and some weird acoustic singer/songwriter in one night. On your way back from the doctors you remember that lovely beer garden with the stage and it turns out that at 5pm there is this awesome ska band playing or while drinking you morning coffee someone gives you a free ticket to a show that turns out to be a play for kids, yet you go anyways just because...
You just have to take a deep breath and let it flow. Take your time and try not to get stressed and you might have the time of your life!

My hostel romance

You know, sometimes things just happen... weird things that are really cool at the same time. Things you'd never have thought possible. For example the other day one of our longtermers agreed to get a strip of his leg waxed, just to experience what it feels like. So that same day I got the cold wax strips out, so he could make good on his promise to try it. But since these things come in pairs (2 always stick together), we had to find another willing guinea pig. It really didn't take long and a second guy maned up, saying he couldn't let a brother suffer alone. After surprisingly little screaming on their part they now have matching hairless rectangles on their legs. Since one of them always wears shorts we are kind of waiting for him to get sun burned just in that little spot.

Today something similar happened. A day or two ago some of us girls somehow got the idea to turn our boys into Emos. You know the newer version of a goth, with usually a lot of eyeliner, black clothes and funny hair that is spiky in some parts and straightened in others. And to my surprise ALL of them agreed.

And I wonder what makes people do such things, because for some of them it seems such a drastic change and the girls really had to get into their personal space to paint fingernails, put the makeup on their faces and straighten their hair.

Of course like so often with such questions it isn't easy to answer, it may be boredom and events like that are simply a distraction or as they would say, something to do. But you still have to be comfortable enough with the people around you to let them get that close to you. And closeness might be one of the answers to that actually. Most of the people involved have been here for a couple of months and know each other really well. In fact they seem to be doing everything together: some of them work in the same place, they go out together, they have meals together, quite often they hang out in the common area all day, we have some musicians in the group and if one of them has a gig at least a hand full of them come to support them. So there is a huge amount of trust between them.

On the other hand, there were a couple of shorttermers, as in people who only stay for a few nights, who joined the fun. So it can't just be the fact that "the kids" (that's what I call the longtermers) were bored and they were comfortable enough with each other to do that. I am not sure, maybe it's just fun to dress up and do silly things, slip into different roles and try a different version of ones self.

What ever it may be, here are a few more pictures. And if you have an answer to my question, you are welcome to leave a comment....

yarn yarn yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarn

I think I briefly mentioned that crafts have always been a big deal in my family, like a huge deal.
My grandmother was a tailor and I think my mother would as a teenager use her mom's sawing machine even though she knew that it would get her in trouble. I am pretty sure that she also learned crochet and knitting from my gran as well as in school.
So I've had hand made stuff all my life. In fact when I was born my mother was a single parent with a limited income and it was possibly cheaper for her to make linen and other things herself. My whole life, I had jumpers, dresses, skirts, shirts and socks that she or my grandma made, I still do actually.

I think I've also mentioned that when it was my turn to learn any of these crafts, I wasn't very interested, even though I didn't suck at crochet or knitting. In the past 20 years I've made a scarf here and there, but that was all I ever did. Until about 2 years ago I think. And well, you know the story of how I started to crochet here at the hostel and how my mother send me huge box of yarn.

At the end of June, I went to Germany to see my fiends and family and hang out on the coast for a wee while and of course I paid my mother a visit. Since my mother retired a couple of years ago and since I have moved out she has turned the whole house into a crafts centre. Literally every room, every shelf every corner is stuffed with fabric, yarn, craft magazines and books. It's crazy, I am actually kicking myself for not taking any pictures, because it is hard to put into words. My old room of over 20sqm has barely space for the mattress I sleep on when I come over (yeah, my bed and any other piece of furniture I used to own is gone). What used to be the attic is now a studio and that has about 80sqm (which is bigger that my last flat) filled with.... well you've guessed it. The old dining room is full of.... yep yarn and fabric.

So since I've picked up crochet, when ever I come over my mom gets a big box out and goes through her yarn with me - well some of it, all would be impossible - to see if I have any use for it, because she can't possibly knit that much (she doesn't really crochet anymore).

And this time was no different. We started at one end of the studio made our way through the whole thing and boom, the first box was too full. On we went to the living room, where she keeps the yarn for socks (one entire dresser full) and I think it was the next day she remembered some yarn she didn't need in boxes in the former dining room. And that's when the second box turned out to be too small.

So while I continued my travels (taking some yarn with me, so I could crochet on the road) she found an even bigger box to fit all the yarn in and send it to me. A few days after I got home it finally arrived. And maaaaan, I didn't even realise how much stuff it was, because we simply kept adding to the pile. Now I have sooo much yarn. As I've said, I already started to crochet away, while I was still in Germany and since I've come home I haven't stopped. Unfortunately the box is so big, that there is no space in my room other than my bed, so I am sharing it now with said box. Here are a few pictures of the box and the results, although it really doesn't feel like I've done any damage to the mountain of yarn.

all my children

In a lot of hostels they distinguish between people who just stay for a couple of nights and people who stick around for a few weeks, months or in my case even years. You hear different terms in different hostels but they all describe more or less the same thing. One hostels called people like me weeklies, because we would pay our rent on a weekly base instead of daily. The hostel I am staying in now calls them longtermers. I think the word explains itself.
Us longtermers usually get to know each other pretty well after a wee while and often become some sort of dysfunctional family, specially in the smaller hostels.

The people in my hostel seem very tight at the moment. They all arrived around the same time, they are about the same age and they seem to enjoy each others company a lot.
I don't really feel like a part of that group, since I am a bit older, have been in the hostel a lot longer and I really don't enjoy the pubs and clubs they go to on a regular base. Also, I just don't drink as much anymore... But in a way they are my kids.
I am the night porter in the hostel, which means I usually work, when they drink and party, so more often than not I have to tell them to be quiet, wash the dishes they leave behind, kick their friends out who don't stay at the hostel and every now and then I have to clean up after them when they had to much alcohol.
It's a bit like they are on a never ending school trip and I am one of the teachers.
Don't get me wrong, they are a lovely bunch and they make up for all their little faults by making you tea when you're sick, lots of cuddles and sometimes simply being a bunch of funny loonies.

And just like children you can make them happy or calm them down by giving them something to do. One day for example of "my kids" was quite a bit hyper and annoying everyone, especially the manager so I simply gave him some paper and pencils and he was happy drawing away for an hour.

Another way to entertain the kids is the massive dress up box. Just open that thing and start putting hats on people or maybe put a pile off clothes in the middle of the room and you can be sure they will come up with the weirdest combinations. Quite often some kind of cross-dressing is involved.
Here are some examples:

 

 

A wee bit more about all this.
So, we've got the basic introduction out of the way. phew!

As I said before: I live and work in a hostel:

It is a place where (mostly young) people stay while they are traveling. They are traveling for different reasons.
Most of the people are tourists on a budget. They don't mind sharing a room with a bunch of other people, sleeping in a bunk bed and not having a bathroom to themselves, because quite often it means that this is the only way they are able to actually see a country. They don't have the budget for a hotel, so they stay with us.
Others study for a semester or two abroad and the hostel is their first stop on the way to finding a flat.
A lot of the travelers I meet here are on work-and-travel visas. These people are between 18 and early 30s, they often just finished high school or uni or are taking a gap year before settling down and becoming real grown ups. Most of them come from Australia, New Zealand or Canada. A lot of them come and go. They are on the way to the highlands and have a little stop in Edinburgh before that. Others are looking for jobs and a flat and some just stick around for a few months.
And then there are people who are a little bit like work-and-travel people, they just don't travel as much. And I guess I am one of those. We come to a new country and don't leave. A lot of us stay in the hostel for years and years. We live in dorms, like all the other guests, quite often we work for accommodation at the hostel. We know the building inside out and are part of the furniture. I am not sure why that is.

There are good and bad sites to living and working in a hostel.
The cool thing is, that you make new friends all the time and meet people from all over the world. I think in the past couple of years, I've learned a lot about different cultures, politics and local customs, just by listening to people's conversations. People also tell you about the places they come from or they have visited. Often you find someone who has been to the place you are about to go to and they can give you tons of useful information. People cook the most delicious food and you get to try authentic Spanish or Nepalese food. You have the chance to learn new languages. In Edinburgh there are always Spanish people, so even if you don't really care about it you will learn at least a few words. You also learn to appreciate  things you used to take for granted. Like a bathtub or a room to yourself. You become more humble.

But as I said, it can be tough, too. Because with that many people in such a small amount of space, there will be conflict. It can be small stuff like someone putting their suitcase in front of your locker to crazy stuff like two girls liking the same guy. There is always drama.
People are usually young and like to go out or having drinks at the hostel, it often doesn't end well. We all have had to hug the loo and work hungover.
But the two things that can really break you are the noise and the lack of privacy.
I grew up in a village so small, I could tell by the sound of the car engine who was driving down the street. Here at the hostel every one has a different schedule. Since I am working nights, I sleep during the day. Or at least I try. Today I was woken around noon, by one of our guests playing the guitar and singing. And he wouldn't stop. Frustrating, so say the least. Naps are very popular here, because your night is often way to short.
The lack of privacy is inconvenient for different reasons: quite often you just need some time for yourself. You don't want to be available for anyone and do your own thing. Difficult! Especially in  small hostel like the one I live in. We share everything, from cups to colds. You can put your headphones in and ignore everyone, but it only works to an extend.
No privacy is also hard if you want to do private things, like with another person... (or yourself for that matter). Sure you can go to the bathroom, lock yourselves in a shower and be VERY quiet, but how romantic is that. And even if you manage to quiet as mice, someone will see you coming out of the bathroom together aaaaaaand you're busted. The whole group will know within 24 hrs what's going on. There are no secrets...

So where do I fit in?
I have been in this particular hostel for more than 2.5 years but have lived in hostels far longer than that. I started out as someone who wanted to see the world but got stuck. So I see travelers come and go, make new friends and lose them again, knowing that I will see them again. Because one day I am going to make it out of here and visit them all.