a german, an italian, a pakistani and a malaysian

With Sarah leaving early and Karine on the ESS trip, I became a temporary member of Room 4 in the villas. Now I’ve been faced with numerous challenges ever since arriving at UWC, but most can’t compare to the level of difficulty and amount of effort demanded by this particular challenge - climbing up the bed. Anna had strategically taken Sarah’s bottom bunk bed, and Huma’s flag enveloped the ladder as though marking its territory, so I was forced to adapt and overcome. After several attempts and many near-death falls, I can now proudly say I am skilled in the art of mounting on and off that bed.

This room has presented me with bountiful memories, from trips to markets (with Sarah too!!) to hikes in the National Park (an excellent story for another time). But there is one in particular that I have etched in my mind for life, and this is when I knew I loved this bunch of idiots. I had come back from school with one of the worst headaches imaginable and was in desperate need of a nap. It must have been about 7pm and I must’ve been asleep for about 2 hours when hushed tones filled the room and echoed in my ear. I tried to suppress them and return to my slumber, but these hushed tones quickly turned into screams of words my brain could not yet process. I opened my eyes only to be greeted by Elisabeth, who having climbed up to my bed, lunged forward towards me with wide eyes, proceeding to hug me. Anna and Mariam had climbed onto the bed frame while Huma stood with a beaming smile on the floor, all of them still screaming. You can imagine my irritation and confusion, with me thinking this was all a wicked prank. My irritation quickly turned into elation and delight when I finally understood what they were saying: I was staying in the villa!! Words could not describe how ecstatic I was to be staying, and my face obviously wasn’t doing a great job since their faces looked more excited than mine, but I blame that on the fact that I was awoken from my nap.

I think I owe a brief introduction to the readers of the people in the room so you catch a glimpse of why I love these people so much. My descriptions in no way do their amazing personalities justice, but it will have to do for now.

Elisabeth. She assumes the role of most mentally stable in the room. Also an expert in the field of efficiency and timekeeping but then it’s expected of her because she’s German. From procrastinating with Nicolas Spark movies and Christmas treats to Grease jam sessions, Elisabeth is always there just to chill or provide somewhat sensible advice. Her love for snow and Iceland is something I had the pleasure of sharing with her over the two weeks, seeing her staring at a screen for a solid 20 minutes in the hope of catching a glimpse of snow. She was always there to check up on me even when I was fine, and there to talk whenever we felt like not doing work. we probably also set the record for most number of awkwardly positioned hugs ever, but I wouldn’t trade those hugs for anything in the world <3

Huma. A wildcard in friendships. We were always friends, but never close. But one day, Elisabeth’s and Anna’s absence was all it took to spark endless discussions from social stereotypes to religion as well as sharing the excitement of the thought of going home. This one Sunday alone in the room lead to many more instances of impromptu baking with any ingredients we could find around the villa, to making rasam for the villa party as well as our infamous cheese roti (to be fair was actually Andrew’s creation) that we savoured on multiple occasions - the most memorable being waking up at 2am to eat them while watching the shooting stars (and competing on who could see more, final score: Huma - 26, Me - 25). We may not share the same mother tongue or come from the same country, but something about Huma just reminds me of home.

Anna. One of the most relatable people I’ve met. We had spoken before, but something about living in the same room formulated a whole new level of trust and friendship. Anna and I are about the most indecisive people I know put together, but never have I seen Anna more decisive than being confronted by a dog, turning me 180 degrees and speed walking on one of our late night walks. Despite seeming somewhat haphazard, Anna is the perfect reflection that there’s never a need to stress, always time to chill and still get your shit together in the end. She also has some of the best tv show recommendations, and thanks to her I’ve kicked off a habit of watching a foreign TV show every break (Norwegian in October and Italian in December). She’s responsible for getting my sleep back on track, pestering me even from Italy at 4am to go to sleep (you can see being away from her for too long messes up my sleep schedule).

Mentally unstable, demented and psychotic are words someone foreign to the inhabitants of this room would use to call them. I call them family.