cooperpedy

“Had I of known that my first trip overseas would leave me homeless, I wouldn’t have come.” I thought to myself. My chest felt as though someone had vacuumed the air out of my lungs. 

On the day I arrived in Edinburgh, I was alerted to the fact the university I was attending for four months had rejected my housing application. It was a week before school started and I had nowhere to live. I was experiencing an unfamiliar anxiety. It was the first time I realised life doesn’t always exceed expectations. In fact, sometimes life likes to make you feel lonely, even when you aren’t alone.

I heaved my ridiculously over packed suitcase up 5 flights of stairs to the aptly named “Stinky Pete’s,” the only hostel that had vacancy. The walls were splattered with cartoon Scotsmen crudely lifting up their kilts in an attempt at humour. That night, I lay on a bed of springs that was more suitable for a prison and looked up at the stained mattress above me. The bunk shook with the quake of a middle-aged man snoring. Grimacing, I contemplated my life for the next four months. I ultimately decided I wasn’t going to be incarcerated by my own negativity.

The following day, the weather was so unusually sunny that I thought it was purposely encouraging optimism. I strolled through the Meadows, a park that unapologetically interrupts city life. It stretched its well-manicured greenery through to the transcendent hillside that protects Edinburgh from the outside world.

Surrounded by the peaceful chatter of passers-by, they linked arms and murmured to each other along with the wind in the trees. I gazed upon the Gothic architecture that seemed characteristic of a Tim Burton set; the way the haunting shadows contrasted against daylight almost felt as though I was walking through a fantasy.

I was intrigued by Edinburgh’s gruesome history and I expected it to be more ominous. Yet, the city seemed to be welcoming me. Perhaps it was the saturated blue of the sky or my own positivity, I felt comforted by it.

I reached the peak of Arthurs seat, the highest mountain in Edinburgh, and welcomed nightfall with open arms. I marvelled in the magnificence of the twinkling lights below and wondered how a city could be mistaken for stars in a galaxy. The way the landscape reflected the night sky made me feel as though I floated weightlessly.

I realised where I slept was insignificant. All I needed was a new perspective.