I decided to write about today while it is still fresh on my mind. I am currently sitting in one of the communal areas of one of the most notorious homeless hostels of all; Cedar House.
There is a smell of stale smoke lingering in the air. This smell actually made me very sick several months ago. I was in bed for two days, heaving, and having to hold my breath while walking past this particular communal area. A Brazilian man I met in a tourist hostel a few weeks ago is sitting in the corner. It is an awkward situation, because this is always a grim place to catch up in. There is a small Slovakian (who looks Pakistani) in the corner making tea for himself. Finally there is a capped forty year old watching tv. We are all positioned as far away from each other as is humanly possible.
Now, on to last night...a sleepless night, but by no means, the worst. I was in a four dorm room last night. This news always sinks my heart, as there is always the chance of being in the same room as a user. I will get into some of these experiences in a later blog. However, for now, I'll just talk about this particular night. In the bedrooms there is a particular sickly smell...I can't quite put my finger on it...but it makes the experience all the more temporary. 'In-and-out' like an unhealthy takeaway. Last night, there was only one user...thankfully, she was so 'out of it' on 'the gear' that she flung herself on the bed and was out like a light before she even pulled the duvet over her massive stomach. She came in later that night. Thankfully the other two were 'normal', as far as normal goes. One was a young pock marked woman with bleached hair from Drimnagh. She wore crop tops and spoke to her boyfriend on the phone. She has clearly worked in the past, as she looked very responsible and motivated. She greeted me with an assertive 'howiye' and I knew I'd have no problems there. The other 'normal' one was a bit stranger. She is an older woman who dresses like a thirteen year old. Her arms were adorned with dozens of plastic bracelets, and she laughed uncontrollably at, well, frankly, nothing. However, she kept to herself and I knew she wasn't on drugs. Hallelujah.
Back to the drug using Bull. We all groaned when we saw her enter the room. She was accompanied by staff, and the first thing she did was fling her cigarette packet on the bed. This was seen clearly by the staff (an obvious gesture of disrespect) and nothing was done. She was assisted on to the bed. However, she only managed to use the bed as a sofa, leaning her head against the wall, and falling asleep. The snoring started immediately. It was a cacophonous snore interspersed with pure gargling noises. She made a considerable raucous. However, I was just so relieved that she was too drugged up to start using, that I fell asleep immediately. Someone had stolen my pillow, so I lay my head on the mattress and dozed off. I was awoken at 5am as the bull was making 'groaning sounds'. 'The weird one' added her own commentary by saying (rather ominously) 'she's crying in her sleep, she's crying in her sleep'. It was an eerie setting, like something out of a thriller: one conked out obese zombie, a peculiar woman (who stares and smiles) ...and me. I had a strange dream, about a door stopper and my grand dad...a welcome distraction. My dreams are always my escape from these places...although, more often than not I wake up to a strong smell of heroine, and it usually takes me a while to rise because the passive smoke is slightly paralysing. That wasn't the case tonight. I simply forced myself out of bed when the pink pyjamas adorned bull decided to 'light up' at 8am.
There is a smell of stale smoke lingering in the air. This smell actually made me very sick several months ago. I was in bed for two days, heaving, and having to hold my breath while walking past this particular communal area. A Brazilian man I met in a tourist hostel a few weeks ago is sitting in the corner. It is an awkward situation, because this is always a grim place to catch up in. There is a small Slovakian (who looks Pakistani) in the corner making tea for himself. Finally there is a capped forty year old watching tv. We are all positioned as far away from each other as is humanly possible.
Now, on to last night...a sleepless night, but by no means, the worst. I was in a four dorm room last night. This news always sinks my heart, as there is always the chance of being in the same room as a user. I will get into some of these experiences in a later blog. However, for now, I'll just talk about this particular night. In the bedrooms there is a particular sickly smell...I can't quite put my finger on it...but it makes the experience all the more temporary. 'In-and-out' like an unhealthy takeaway. Last night, there was only one user...thankfully, she was so 'out of it' on 'the gear' that she flung herself on the bed and was out like a light before she even pulled the duvet over her massive stomach. She came in later that night. Thankfully the other two were 'normal', as far as normal goes. One was a young pock marked woman with bleached hair from Drimnagh. She wore crop tops and spoke to her boyfriend on the phone. She has clearly worked in the past, as she looked very responsible and motivated. She greeted me with an assertive 'howiye' and I knew I'd have no problems there. The other 'normal' one was a bit stranger. She is an older woman who dresses like a thirteen year old. Her arms were adorned with dozens of plastic bracelets, and she laughed uncontrollably at, well, frankly, nothing. However, she kept to herself and I knew she wasn't on drugs. Hallelujah.
Back to the drug using Bull. We all groaned when we saw her enter the room. She was accompanied by staff, and the first thing she did was fling her cigarette packet on the bed. This was seen clearly by the staff (an obvious gesture of disrespect) and nothing was done. She was assisted on to the bed. However, she only managed to use the bed as a sofa, leaning her head against the wall, and falling asleep. The snoring started immediately. It was a cacophonous snore interspersed with pure gargling noises. She made a considerable raucous. However, I was just so relieved that she was too drugged up to start using, that I fell asleep immediately. Someone had stolen my pillow, so I lay my head on the mattress and dozed off. I was awoken at 5am as the bull was making 'groaning sounds'. 'The weird one' added her own commentary by saying (rather ominously) 'she's crying in her sleep, she's crying in her sleep'. It was an eerie setting, like something out of a thriller: one conked out obese zombie, a peculiar woman (who stares and smiles) ...and me. I had a strange dream, about a door stopper and my grand dad...a welcome distraction. My dreams are always my escape from these places...although, more often than not I wake up to a strong smell of heroine, and it usually takes me a while to rise because the passive smoke is slightly paralysing. That wasn't the case tonight. I simply forced myself out of bed when the pink pyjamas adorned bull decided to 'light up' at 8am.
No comments:
Post a Comment