Sunday, October 23, 2005

The Cave, the Damsel in Distress and the Baby on the Road

Life has become exciting once again. Exhilaratingly, shockingly, exciting.

I went caving yesterday. The experienced members of the club thought it would be fun to bring us to one of the wettest caves in the area for our first trip. On the way there, the brake pads of the minibus we were in caught fire and the smell of burning rubber prompted us to stop. The thick black smoke coming from the front left wheel informed us that the minibus could go no further. Alternative transport by car was arranged but there wasn't enough space for everyone so we had to draw lots. Four people went back. I didn't. (maybe I should have)

When we reached the cave area, it was raining heavily. We had to strip to our underwear in the open to get into our caving gear. How fun. The cave gear consisted of a fleece under suit, an over suit, wet socks, Wellington boots, knee pads, a battery belt, a battery, a helmet and a light attached to it. We looked like extreme miners as we trudged up the hills to the cave entrance.

Imagine a river. Imagine a dark confined space. Put the two together and you might have some idea of the cave I went into. It was very cold in there and breath was misting all over the place. When I scrapped my hands on the rock, it bled for a while and then stopped because it was too cold. Thanks to my great height, I was completely submerged in some parts. There where also parts that were so narrow you had to go on your belly with your head turned to one side to get through. Remember the muddy shitty water of the Yorkshire dales I told you about in a previous post? Yes, I was walking, crawling and swimming in that. And just to liven things up, I did a lot of girly squealing. Wasn't really scared, just felt like squealing. LL will remember how my good squeal sounds like. Why do I go caving? Obviously because I have very strong survival instincts. I mean, nobody with a death wish would submerge themselves underground in cold, dark spaces in rushing water on slippery rocks, right?

When we finally emerged from the cave, we once again had to change in the open. Trying to change your wet underwear in the open, on muddy, sheep shitty ground, holding a little towel for modesty was a fascinating experience. It is not polite to stare.

On the way back, we stopped by a pizza takeaway. On the way back to the car, we decided to jump over a chest high stone wall to get back to the car instead of walking the long way. Cold, dark and wet night. What better time and place to go jumping over stone walls right? One girl slipped and whacked her elbow. After being on the road for about half an hour, the pain became too much for her to bear and we had to make a detour to a nearby hospital A & E. I went with her and spent about an hour and a half being Florence Nightingale to a girl I barely knew. It's not the first time I've impersonated Florence Nightingale. I always seem to be doing things like that for injured people of all sorts. It turned out to be a hairline fracture. She was given a sling and some painkillers. We drove back to the University where I took her up to her room. (the Florence Nightingale inclination again) Then I walked back to my college in the rainy night. I arrived at my house at 11 pm, dead tired, dripping wet and shivering and aching (from the caving) but nobody was around to give pity so I had to self-pity.

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed to go to mass. Am I stupid? Not really. I had motivation. I went to confession on Friday and I clearly remember the Father saying to me," See you at mass on Sunday" (translation: I'll be keeping an eye out for you so you better be there) Well...

After mass, I walked back to my room along the busy road that cuts through the university. On the way, I met a Chinese girl who was lost. Luckily, I had my trusty map (one of the three I carry all the time) and was able to show her the way. She was heading in the same direction as I was so we walked together. On the way, she got a call from her friend who was waiting for her, so we walked faster. Suddenly, I saw a baby crawl out of an open gate from a house beside the road and onto the road in the path of an oncoming car. I started running. Luckily, the car was going quite slowly and the driver managed to stop in time. I picked up the baby and walked through the open gate. The mother had just come out of the house and was looking for the baby. When she saw me holding him, she realised what must have happened. She was so shocked that she only remembered to say thank you when I turned to leave. Not that I minded. The baby was cute and blond.

Strange happenings, don't you think? I don't know if they are coincidences or just Somebody trying to send me some incomprehensible message. I wouldn't have become Florence Nightingale if I had drawn the lot for going back (it was a 1 in five chance). I probably wouldn't have gone to mass today because I was so tired out from the Florence Nightingaling last night. But I somehow decided to go. I wouldn't have been there by the road at the crucial moment the baby crawled out if I hadn't been walking with the Chinese girl. It's all been so strange. I assure you it's all 100% true and I'm making anything up. I'm not even exaggerating like I usually do. The actual events are more exciting than anything I could make up.

Coincidence? What do you think?

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