The morning after the night before

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The unmistakable feeling of stomach churning nausea and pounding headache that can only be associated with uncontrollably mixing your drinks was passing over me in waves this morning. I felt like whatever slight movement I made was going to make me violently sick. It was safe to say that I had had a pretty good night last night and my body would pay for it heavily today. I got out of bed to find my clothes in that neat, methodical pile which tells you everything got taken off whilst stood on one spot the night before.

Having dragged my body into a hot shower and brushed my teeth, I headed upstairs for breakfast still feeling delicate. As I arrived in the bar I found people in various states of sobriety, some of whom looked as though they hadn't actually stopped drinking and partying from the previous night. I sat quietly, watching the BBC world service but try as I might, I couldn't manage more than half a bread roll and a few sips of my tea.

Abandoning all hope of eating until later, I donned my plastic poncho and headed into the city in search of an Internet cafe that might be open. The streets were surprisingly busy as I walked from place to place asking for a video connection. People were out walking, shops selling cake were open, and there were even a few of the street vendors selling their wears. Having thought that South America was a relatively strict Catholic stronghold, it was a real surprise to see the streets so busy. Nevertheless, I eventually managed to find an Internet cafe with Skype that was open. Eternally grateful to the tired looking guy sat at the desk, I made myself comfy and called home. It was wonderful to see all my family there waiting for the call, and my feelings of nausea were soon replaced with floods of tears for not being able to be with them today. After talking for what seemed like hours and catching up on what had happened over the last week or so, it was time to say goodbye so that they could enjoy their Christmas lunch.

The walk through through town had left my head and my stomach feeling much better and thankfully ready to eat again. I stopped at one of the street stalls and bought two pieces of cake to keep me going till the hostels Christmas lunch. As I walked back to Wild Rovers I passed quite a few homeless people on the street trying to shelter from the awful weather. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor souls and began giving away food and money to each one I passed, hoping that it might bring them a little Christmas cheer. I arrived back at the hostel and had some time to kill before lunch, so I decided to do that traditional Christmas day activity of watching a movie.

I soon met up with Tim and Harrison, and the three of us headed up to the bar for lunch. We sat together at one of the huge tables that had been laid out specially for the occasion, with white table cloths, paper Christmas napkins and Christmas glitter. Even with all the effort the hostel had gone to with decorations and music, it still didn't feel like Christmas... and not just because of the lack of paper party hats. It just didn't have the same feel to it that it usually had, because I hadn't had the same build up. I hadn't gone and chosen a tree with Mum, I hadn't gone on the annual shopping trip to Bluewater with Will and I hadn't been at The Coach to sing carols on Christmas eve. Nevertheless, I made the most of the situation and enjoyed the inconceivably huge lunch the hostel had served.

Although the mushroom soup tasted as bland as though it had come straight out of a packet, our main course was big enough to feed two people! Lovingly placed a top an enormous mound of mashed potato were all the things you'd expect to find in a roast Christmas dinner, even down to the Brussels sprouts. Given it was nowhere near as good as the Christmas dinner that your mum makes, but it did it's job and we all left the table not needing to eat again.

Seeing as it was Christmas day we had to observe that age old tradition of falling asleep in front of a movie. Having made my way to the already packed TV room, I hunkered down in a corner and was soon drifting off to sleep, ready to take on whatever the next day was going to throw at me.

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