As I have mentioned before my housemates and I get along fabulously. What am I going to do without them? This weekend I have laughed so much; last night I was almost crying from laughing so hard, and that isn't the first time that has happened!

They are all great, and I knew from the beginning that we would be good friends. But I also wanted to meet lgbt folks in Bath, and to find a community to feel a part of. So I looked up groups on the Internet and checked in the information office outside Bath Abbey. Turns out there are quite a few groups here in Bath, which was neat to see. One, run by a group called GayWest, is called The Rainbow Cafe, and it meets every Saturday.

The first Saturday we were here we had a market tour led by Mark, a friendly Bath Uni student who helps out at ASE. It started at the time that GayWest begins, and didn't end till 12:30, so I figured that the Rainbow Cafe would be over. Still I decided to walk over and at least check out the location so I would know where to go the next week.

To my surprise I found rainbow flags in the windows, and the building, basically a large one-roomed community center, was still filled with people. I dithered a bit outside wondering if I should go in or not and then somehow plucked up the courage to go on in. Once inside the door way I realized the room was filled with about 35 to 40 middle-aged men, and one elderly woman. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do, who to talk to, looking for someone who looked like they were in charge.

Finally, a man in a black t-shirt came over and introduced himself as "Pip," one of the organizers. He got me a cup of tea, but then had to go and do something. That was when I met Rod, who immediately made me feel welcome. Things were starting to come to an end, and people were leaving, but he invited me to join himself and some of the other members for lunch, which they have together each week after GayWest, up at the Pavilion near Victoria Park. And that was the beginning of my GayWest experience.

I have gone back each weekend that I have been here. Perhaps it was odd for me, a young 20- year-old woman, to hang out with a bunch of older folks, but I really look forward to the Rainbow Cafe. The people there are so welcoming. And I always have a fun and interesting time.

The only awkward moment came in the second week. For our study program we can get credits for what they call a Certificate of Cultural Enrichment by going to events around Bath and interacting with Brits. It's a way to make sure we aren't just hanging with Americans, since that is sort of missing the point of study abroad. I would be getting involved regardless, but it is nice to get credit. To verify that we have gone to events we have to get someone to sign a paper for us. So, the second week I brought it up with Paul, one of the organizers. Apparently I didn't explain it properly, and while I said that I would be coming regardless, he looked puzzled about the connection between my involvement in the group, getting credit, and my sexual orientation.

There was a very awkward moment when he asked, "You are gay, right?" Feeling like a complete idiot, I assured him that I really was, and that if it he wasn't sure about signing my sheet then it didn't matter, I would just come and forget about getting credit. But it worked out okay, he talked it over with the other coordinator, and then brought it back signed for me.

This past week, I was once again questioned about my sexual orientation by a member I haven't met before. An elderly man, with a bit of a stoop in his shoulders, and fuzzy white hair, he clearly didn't mean any harm or offense, he was just curious. As I have said before, it is a bit odd, me, a 20-year-old, in a room full of men who are all over 40 at least. (There is also another woman, Peggy, who is in her 70s. She is a hoot.)

"So, are you a lesbian?" he asked wonderingly.

"Gay, bi, somewhere in between." I said, "I'm studying abroad, and was looking for an lgbt community, and found GayWest."

All the people in the group are great, fun and friendly. They all seem delighted to see me each time I go, and ask me how I am, and I enjoy talking with them, and drinking tea. Just socializing in general. Since I usually get there a bit before Rod and the rest of the group that eats at the Pavilion each week, I have slowly been getting to know the rest of the members.

This past week I had a really interesting talk with Phillip, who used to be one of the coordinators. He wanted to know how I had heard of the club, and was pleased to hear that I felt really comfortable there. He told me that the club used to be about 50 percent women and 50 percent men, but something had happened and the women split off. The group members also used to be a lot younger, but they have aged with the group, which completed just completed its 25th anniversity. The first topic of conversation that always comes up when I meet one of the members for the first time is always where I am from. I say, "Maryland" in a typical "Meriland" way, and then remember that they won't recognize that pronunciation, so repeat Mary (pause) Land. Ah, they nod, then ask if that is near New York. At least they know it is on the East coast. And hey, I had my British geography all mixed up before I came here, and I am British-American!

Philip and I had a very interesting discussion about the states, as his brother and family lived there and in Canada for 20 years. Phillip visited when they lived in Ohio. Sometimes it takes leaving one's country to discover new things about it, and sometimes that "oh yeah" moment comes through someone else's description. He said, "The small towns are just like the movies, with large verandahs, and swings on chains, and the traffic lights, at the town's intersections, all hang above the road on wires."

That's so true, I thought, thinking of Centreville, the town I grew up in, with its houses with large front porches, and porch swings. And the traffic lights, I had never thought about it before, but they do hang on wires. Here, they are all on stands at the side of the road. His comment made me think of the intersections in my home town and also the scene in The Notebook, when they dance in the road in the middle of the night. "And I have never been so HOT in my life," he said. "It presses you down."

"Yeah," I agreed, "Where I live in Maryland, it gets really hot and humid."

"You don't get that in the movies, how incredibly hot it is. But all the houses have AC of course. Although that means the heat hits you even harder when you leave." So then we had a long talk about the pros and cons air conditioning, (which they don't really have here).

Ug. I know when I return to the states in August, and I leave the air-conditioned airport the heat and humidity will hit me like a wall. You feel like you can taste the air, and it weighs so heavily on one's shoulders and in one's hair. Here the summers are much milder. Right now it is starting to warm up into spring, and while we had a weekend of rain, today was lovely, with (mostly) sunny blue skies. Several weeks ago the snowdrops were out, and then the dafodils raised their bobbing yellow heads in masses everywhere. The trees in the backyard are blooming pretty pink white flowers, and the birds are starting to yammer out in the shrubbery. Spring is on its way!

But, to conclude my discussion of GayWest: All in all, I have really been enjoying my Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, I shall go now. I was hoping to also tell you about my involvement with Bath Uni LGBT, where I have met a lot of lgbt students, but I need to call it a night, so hopefully will get to that in the next few days before I go away for Spring Break, which starts this Friday.

(I finally got my plans figured out. I am going to Edinburg to visit a fellow Bucknellian, woohoo! then down to Scarborough to visit my dear Auntie June and Uncle Raymund, and Auntie Mary and Uncle Gordon, who are all my great-aunts and uncles, but like grandparents to me. I can't wait. And finally, I shall end the break with a visit to my cousin Julia, who is studying in Nottingham, which is conveniently between here and Scarborough. It'll be neat to see her. She is actually my mom's cousin, although only eight years older than I am. I think the last time I saw her I was 10? or so, which will make this visit all the more interesting. *insert smiley face here*)