Another night of Firsts

We decided to spend our evening in Convent Gardens. The Lamb and Flag is a pretty well known pub; all it took was asking a man on the street and he immediately directed us down an alley. Around Convent Gardens, it's evidently protocol to buy your drink and take it out into the street to socialize--it's a pretty friendly, open environment.

The girls and I followed suit and started hanging out in the roped off street. I had my first taste of alcohol there: less than a sip of Mo's Cronenburg beer. We were met by 3 gentlemen that some of the girls had met a few days prior, 2 Italians and 1 Mexican. I became engrossed in a Spanish conversation with the Mexican, delighted that I could practice my more-than-rusty language skills.

Without warning, one of the girls dropped limply into the arms of one of the Italians. We laid her out on the ground and it felt like ages 'til she woke from her blackout. The pub employee quickly called an ambulance. By the time the paramedics arrived, she was sitting up and felt fine...she just couldn't remember what had happened. Evidently, the issue was that she just hadn't eaten much at all that day and had a small amount of beer on an empty stomach.

Nevertheless, the EMTs wanted to check her blood pressure, etc. so I went with her into the ambulance and sat as they took her info and test results. It was awesome to be in a British medical vehicle--I hadn't expected to be in one. The ambulances here are pretty pyschedelic-looking: neon green and yellow reflective-checkered on the outside.

As I have already found with the British police officers, British paramedics are likewise very jovial and open to fun while getting the job done. I really appreciate their ability to be light-hearted in every situation & to not take themselves too seriously.

So it's accurate to say that I had my first drink and ended up in an ambulance.