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Last night, before going to bed, my roommate Nora warned me I might be kept up by the wind. She lived for a period in this room and told me she had trouble sleeping.
“It took me three nights before I could sleep through the night,” she said.
“I like it,” I told her. “It’s somehow romantic, as though I’m out in nature, even though I’m in a condominium in an urban area.” It reminded me of my stay at the bird reserve in Buena Vista and how I felt united with the nature that lay just outside my window. Here I could feel the same.
Not long after falling asleep I woke up. The wind screamed and roared and shook my window. I repeatedly imagined it breaking. And should that happen, the glass would fly right into my face, as my bed is right across from it.
This kept me up for much of the night. At one point, I got my ipod, and tried to blast classical music into my ears to drown out the sound of the wind. It helped, and it was 28 songs before I turned it off, but I could still hear the harsh whistle behind the soft melodies.
The next morning, when my roommates asked me how I slept, they laughed when I told them I was up half the night.
“Yes, the windows shake,” Nora agreed as we rode to work in a taxi. “And it feels like they will break right into the room.”
“You should get used to it in three nights,” Renata said. “But there are some people who can’t get used to it at all.”
I didn’t look forward to three sleepless nights.
“How did the woman living here just before me adjust?” I asked.
“She got lucky. There weren’t any winds while she was here.”
But I moved in during the coldest week of the year. The temperatures ranged from 7 to 16 degrees Celsius today. People on the street dressed in winter coats and scarves. There was less traffic than usual, with those who had the option of staying home, avoiding unnecessary ventures outside. Right now in my bedroom it’s a mere 16 degrees.
I’m spending next week in Ecuador. Today I looked at the forecast and saw the exact prediction I received for Germany – cool, cloudy and rainy, every day that I’ll be there. I’m starting to wonder if it is me.
“It took me three nights before I could sleep through the night,” she said.
“I like it,” I told her. “It’s somehow romantic, as though I’m out in nature, even though I’m in a condominium in an urban area.” It reminded me of my stay at the bird reserve in Buena Vista and how I felt united with the nature that lay just outside my window. Here I could feel the same.
Not long after falling asleep I woke up. The wind screamed and roared and shook my window. I repeatedly imagined it breaking. And should that happen, the glass would fly right into my face, as my bed is right across from it.
This kept me up for much of the night. At one point, I got my ipod, and tried to blast classical music into my ears to drown out the sound of the wind. It helped, and it was 28 songs before I turned it off, but I could still hear the harsh whistle behind the soft melodies.
The next morning, when my roommates asked me how I slept, they laughed when I told them I was up half the night.
“Yes, the windows shake,” Nora agreed as we rode to work in a taxi. “And it feels like they will break right into the room.”
“You should get used to it in three nights,” Renata said. “But there are some people who can’t get used to it at all.”
I didn’t look forward to three sleepless nights.
“How did the woman living here just before me adjust?” I asked.
“She got lucky. There weren’t any winds while she was here.”
But I moved in during the coldest week of the year. The temperatures ranged from 7 to 16 degrees Celsius today. People on the street dressed in winter coats and scarves. There was less traffic than usual, with those who had the option of staying home, avoiding unnecessary ventures outside. Right now in my bedroom it’s a mere 16 degrees.
I’m spending next week in Ecuador. Today I looked at the forecast and saw the exact prediction I received for Germany – cool, cloudy and rainy, every day that I’ll be there. I’m starting to wonder if it is me.
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