Gate 24

Chapter Ten

Three days have passed since the eating competition and the early water polo match and such. That was all on Wednesday; it's now Saturday morning. Thursday was my day off and I spent a lot of it sleeping and packing away my stuff for the next three weeks or so. Friday was filled with more water polo and games that I've never played before. I ended up getting the kids involved with some fun game. It was with the swimming academy; one of the men was away so I offered to help supervise. The game was like the swimming pool version of bulldog, where you have to swim from side to side without "Mr Shark" catching you.

It is Barlow's day off today, so I'm gonna be doing a lot of things in the hut, including the quiz and the music and such. As I enter the restaurant to get some breakfast and a drink that I've craved for so long, I realise that I've only had one cigarette a day. The busy routine means that I have to cut the nicotine and replace it with the representative activities such as water polo. Thankfully, the addiction has left me slightly for I don't crave the tobacco sticks quite as much as I did less than a week ago.

Deciding I only want a small breakfast today, I head over to the cereal section and let my childish side out; I grab a bowl and fill it with chocolate flakes and warm milk. Immediately, the milk turns a light brown colour as the cereal soaks in its liquid companion. Coco pops were my childhood and having access to chocolate cereal every day is absolutely amazing; no other adults judge me as I walk past with my chocolate bowl. It turns out that there are others feeling the same craving as me. It's nosy, but I can't help but notice the chocolate liquid spilling over the sides of the white china others carry.

Along the way, I also grab myself a glass of the good plain stuff: ice cold water. Ice in Turkey is the biggest lifesaver of them all, for I sweat consistently under the blazing heat of the August sun. The chilling liquid spills over the side of the taintless glass as I walk along with it in one hand; my bowl is balanced on my other hand. An unreserved table for two lurks in the corner, so I make my way over to the quiet area and let the silence consume me as I munch on my food.

The warmth of the milk contrasts with the cool water that I switch between. As I slurp more of the chocolate milk from the spoon, I let the soft flakes of chocolate melt further on my mouth before they're nothing but mush on my tongue. They slip down my throat with ease as I slip more into my mouth and crunch on the less soaked flakes. The milk just helps them shrivel up more in my mouth; the water isn't placed inside of my mouth whilst cereal lingers on my tongue.

As I finish the last of the cereal, I glance around and make sure no children are watching me as I lift the bowl to my lips and begin to drink the excess chocolate milk. No one glances at me as I slurp slightly; it's not how an adult should behave, but I'm beyond caring right now - it's seven in the morning and no one is telling me not to drink the liquid from the bowl. Honestly, I can't see why it's so bad mannered - it's essentially a larger cup or glass of some sorts. As I lick the last drops from the bowl, I stand up and leave my stuff out for cleaning and walk outside to the hut.

Making my way outside, I see the Turkish masseuses lurking around, ready to give out towels to those early comers. I used to have a key card that allowed me to take a towel a day; every resident has one, even the reps - although we never use them outside of an emergency. You hand the key card in and they provide you with an indigo towel. At the end of the day, you hand it back and they give you another key card - it's very rarely the one you had to begin with - and wash all the towels ready for the next day. In my opinion, it's a very good system.

Walking along outside, I also see the photographers for the hotel - there are three at the store and they usually make the two nicer looing lads stand outside. Not gonna lie, it really works for their business. Women rush up to them and ask if they can arrange an appointment to have photos taken of them and their unwilling families. When I was on my vacation, this family of five were booked in to have their photos taken. The teenage girl was not impressed in the slightest as the Turkish man eyed her up and down. I guess that is one downfall of the Turkish men - they do not leave the blonde girls alone.