Is it .. empty ?

The silence is only disrupted by the habitual mysterious buzzing. Otherwise, the house is still. No water being boiled in the kettle, no door smashed, no crakling of the stairs, no voice singing bollywood songs or arguing on skype. I am witnessing a rare phenomenon : our house is empty.

A few days ago, our last roommate arrived, raising the number of house occupants to six. Three french girls on the bottom floor, an italian girl, a spanish girl and an indian boy on the top floor (Yes, we think he may feel a little overwhelmed). As a result of this crowdedness, the house is rarely empty. And I don't recall having the house to myself, ever.

I usually wake up around 11 or 12. School hasn't started yet, don't blame me for having a wrecked rhythm. I jump in the shower, when it's empty, and then go upstairs to the kitchen to make some tea. There begins the "kitchen ballet". Go to cupboard, wait for the person in front of me to move and take a mug. Go to the other side of the kitchen and turn on the kettle. Watch it not turning on and proceed to unplug it/plug it again. Turn it off and on again. Turn it off, unplug, plug, turn it on, unplug, etc, until it lights up. When it finally makes up its mind and decide to work, move so that someone can grab whatever they need from the cabinet next to me. Grab a tea bag, put it in the mug and move so that someone can toast some bread. Find a spoon, add sugar, sit on the stool and wait for the water to boil. Move your legs out of the way every thirty seconds. Pick up the water, stop by the fridge, push the person in front of it and add cold milk. Fly away to the couch and enjoy the well earned tea.

Despite my grumpy story, it's pretty nice being surrounded by people. I get to practice my italian from time to time, I always have someone to complain to about the kettle, I can trade food items, ask for pieces of advice on recipes, or be handed something from the other side of the kitchen without stopping to stir what's in my pan. We're going shopping together, watch movies or just hang out on the couches and, once again, complain, about our agency this time. I believe some friendships are build on mutual dislikes, complaining being a great way of sharing feelings. Tonight, the six of us are going out to eat. I know that, because even when the house is empty (for 5 minutes though, as soon as someone leaves it, another one comes back), I still text my roommates. I like my crowd.