4th March - 10th March

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." ~ Ana Nin

I arrived in Manchester at around 5pm. During the whole bus ride, I talked with the bus driver, Dave. He was a really nice guy and gave me an insight into Mancunians (people from Manchester), as he was one himself.

I was couchsurfing in Manchester for the second time. I loved couchsurfing because I got to meet and learn from really open-minded and adventurous individuals. My host's name was Alex, a Swedish guy that moved to Manchester for work and wanted a change in life. His friend, Elena, was meeting me at the bus station. Elena is an adorable French girl that is studying translation at university. She lived in Spain for a while learning Spanish. She spoke fluently, however the only language that she was uncomfortable with was English. I thought she spoke well, but I was told that many of her friends in Manchester tease her so she feels self-conscious.

Elena brought me to a café where I met other couchsurfers. Manchester had a really strong couchsurfing community where everyone met on a regular bases. After having a tea, Elena had to do some things before we met up with Alex at the grocery store. We were all going to make supper tonight.

As I walked around with Elena, I got to know her some more. The more I got to know her, the more I was attracted to her. She was different though, I wasn't attracted to her in a lustful way like the other girls during my trip; she was one of those rare girls that actually make a guy start thinking about her in a serious way, a relationship way. The last time I felt this way during my travelling was in South America with Daniela.

While at the grocery store, Alex came to meet up with us. Alex greeted me with a hug instead of a handshake, which I thought broke the ice right away. Alex was one of those guys that tell it as it is, direct, blunt, and straight to the point. I loved it because I am like that. I guess that is why we got along so great and so fast.

We got back to his apartment, and I met up with John (Alex's very metrosexual roommate, but with tattoos), Jonah (an Aussie who has travelled and bartended around the world for 11 years, and who is staying at Alex's apartment for free), and Carolanne (an Irish girl who moved to Manchester to work as well). Alex was living in a three-storey apartment with 7 rooms. Any vacant room was used for couchsurfers. Therefore, I had my own room and bed (awesome!).

Supper was really fun because it made me think of a family dinner. These were people from different parts of the world who were all away from their families. The friends they met in Manchester have become their new family and eating together was an important thing to them. I became very tired early in the evening. I felt bad because I really wanted to get to know Elena some more. Alex and John ended up smoking a joint and giggling all night, and just before I went to bed, I met Leon, an even more metrosexual guy that claimed to be the ultimate ladies man.

The next morning, I saw Leon in the kitchen. We talked for a while until we decided to wake up Alex. We then decided to go to the Science and Industry museum. The great thing about England is that most of the museums were free. I did learn much at the museum because I was with Leon and Alex (mainly the reason why I like to go to museums alone), but I did not regret it because I got to know Alex some more, and realized that we were more alike than I thought. Leon, however, was your textbook male jock/dits. He was joining the navy in a few weeks and was clearly anxious about it.

As we walked back, someone stopped us and asked us if we wanted to be audience members for the Jeremy Kyle show. I did not know who he was, but I was told that his show is really popular and comparable to the Jerry Springer show (in other words, a white trash show).

We all looked at each other, and agreed that it would be a cool experience. On the set, we met people that had been waiting four months for tickets. Like all shows with live audience members, the set manager came and coached us. Eventually Jeremy Kyle came on the set and greeted the audience. He asked if there was anyone from very far. I raised my hand and told him I was from Canada, but did not know who he was. That proved to be a big mistake because the whole show, he would not stop teasing me. I guess I deserved that since I made a fool of him in front of his audience. The show was hilarious and pointless, but nevertheless it was a great experience.

For supper, Carolanne was picking Alex, Jonah and I up and bringing us to her place for fajitas. Afterwards, we all went to a couchsurfing night at a bar. I got to meet other cool couchsurfers like Annie (a Pakistani-Swedish girl), Mika and Zoe (two Greek girls), and many more. I could not help but think of Elena though. I wanted her here to party with us, but she as working until very late. She eventually showed up for a bit, but then left home because she was really tired. Most of the people from the bar decided to continue the party at a nearby club called Factory. Factory was a three-floor club with music ranging from electro-funk to pop-rnb. Alex decided to leave early leaving me alone with no keys to enter his apartment. Mika however was nice enough to let me stay at her place for the night. Annie also stayed the night since she lived really far from the club. Mika, Annie and I smoked a joint before going to bed. I got to know a lot about both girls. Mika was an awesome girl that was very mature and knew what she wanted in life. Annie, however, was a sweet girl that unfortunately had had many problems with guys. She was a bit clueless at the fact that she was attracting these kinds of guys and did not know how to behave to attract the right kind. I tried to give her a little advice by being very direct with her. Hopefully, I gave her an insight in how guys think.

The next morning, I had to wake up early because I was invited to see a professional (league 2) game. I was refereeing on Sunday morning and my contact in Manchester (Eddie) invited me to watch a game where he was evaluating the referee. I met up with Eddie at his place (I had to wear a shirt and tie in which I borrowed from Jonah), and we drove together to the stadium, which was about an hour away in Crewe. We got VIP treatment having access to the lounge and really good seats. I met the referees for the game and learned a lot from their style of refereeing.

Eddie drove me back around 5pm. When I got back to the apartment, there were new guys that moved in. One of them was a 32-year-old from Uruguay (Emerson) that barely spoke a word of English. He was in Manchester to learn. He was thrilled that I spoke Spanish and used me to translate everything and teach him a little. He made supper for all of us in the apartment. There was also another couchsurfer, Liz, a Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro. We talked a lot about my time in Rio, and the things I did there.

After supper, we all went out to Temple Bar. This bar used to be lavatories. It was converted to a cute, little bar. We met other couchsurfers there that were going to leave and go back to Factory. I was not really in the mood because I was really tired and had to get up early tomorrow and referee. Even though it was a Saturday night, I was being wise in getting a lot of sleep before my game.

Sunday morning, I got ready to go to the game that was at 10:30am. I invited Emerson to come with me (seeing as the Uruguayans love soccer). I got to meet other referees and was warned about the game I was about to referee. Sunday morning football (as they call it) was a league that was more physical and more vocal then other leagues. I was going to get an authentic feel of what English football is like. I quickly became the talk of the crowd, and although there were six soccer fields and six games playing simultaneously, my game attracted the biggest crowd. I learned that in England, players play more physical and it is accepted. If a referee calls to many fouls, he is screamed at for not allowing play to continue. I had to adjust the way I referee and noticed that players in England complain for completely different reasons than players in Canada. At the end of the game, I was congratulated for refereeing a good game. Hopefully, I represented Canada well!

Emerson and I got back and spent most of the afternoon taking a snooze. Alex messaged me at 4pm and told me that I should join him at a bar called Big Hands. He was with other couchsurfers. I was also meeting up with June. June was a Spanish girl from Basque country in which I met on the couchsurfing website. I really liked her profile and noticed that we had a lot of things in common. We agreed to meet at the same bar (Big Hands) for 7pm with Emerson.

When I met June, we hit it off right away. We could not stop talking with each other. It was exactly how I predicted; we had similar views about life and had similar interests. June was someone that lived passionately (like most Latin people), and saw life events as moments you must cease and not wait for. She inspired me a bit when she spoke. I obviously felt like she did, but felt that at times I did not always have the courage to take the bull by its horns.

Throughout the night, I would turn towards Elena and see her talking to Emerson (Elena was the only other person that spoke Spanish). She had adorable facial expressions, and was always so invested into any conversation she was in. Even though I was really enjoying my conversation with June, I could not help but think how I really wanted to talk to Elena. Just the thought that she was still single, and no guy had been lucky enough to date her since her time in Manchester intrigued me. I also wondered why I could not talk with her as easily as I was doing with June. She seemed to have some sort of wall, and only few guys have managed to break through it. I certainly was not going to be one of them.

The night continued on, and most people left, but June and I stayed there. We had so much fun together, and although I knew she spoke Spanish, and she knew I spoke as well, we only spoke in English. As I told her about my time in Cusco, and how I wanted to return, she said something to me that resonated in my mind: a place that you enjoyed never feels the same when you go back. What if she was right? Will Cusco not feel the same? Will it loose its magic? I guess only my own experience will reveal the truth of this statement. June and I agreed to meet again before I left.

Monday was my lazy day. I got up late and went grocery shopping with Alex. We were going to cook supper in an hour (Yes, I got up tat late!). We invited Elena over as well. Alex was an interesting character that travelled to many places around the world. He was your typical Swede with futuristic hair parted in an unconventional way, and he loved electro music. He was still looking for a job in Manchester (it had been two months!), and was currently borrowing money from his grandparents to survive. You would not think of this guy as a guy that picks up a lot of girls but he does. He had this charm to him that girls were attracted to. He was someone that had "lots" of experience, and had some interesting stories about some of them.

After supper, Alex had to wait for another couchsurfer (from Taiwan) that was coming at 11pm. I was too tired to go into town, so I went to bed (like I said, this was my lazy day).

Today was my last day. I was leaving early tomorrow morning. I spent the morning going to the Manchester United museum and tour. I got to go into the changing rooms and the players' lounge. I also got to learn a lot of history about the infamous club. I would have liked to see a game (since they were playing the next night against AC Milan), but tickets for these games were very expensive.

I got back at 4pm, and met up with Alex and his two couchsurfers (An from Taiwan and Marc from Germany). They were planning on going to the movies, but An did not want to go so I invited her to come with me for supper with June. I was meeting her in half an hour. We went to a famous pub chain called Witherspoons (they are all around the UK). An was a very free and open girl. She had many tattoos and loved to smoke weed.

After supper, I went back home to pack. I was planning on leaving this evening, but decided last minute to leave tomorrow morning since I was not going to be able to give a proper goodbye to anyone until later tonight. Alex did not expect me staying another night and had no more room for me in his apartment, however June had offered her couch for the night. This is exactly what I loved about the couchsurfing community: everyone is always willing to help.

As I said goodbye to everyone that night, I could not help but think that the friends I made here and the feeling I had was very similar to the feeling I had in Cusco. I realized and now believe that everywhere around the world, you have friends that you have not met yet, and it is only when visiting these places you get to discover how many friends you truly have in the world. As I took the bus the next morning, I put my earphones on and listenned to Oasis. It only seemed appropriate since they were a band from Manchester..."and after all, you're my wonderwall..."