Maryam could not quite pinpoint when love turned to loathing. She just couldn’t get her hands warm however close she held them to the small wood burner in the canal boat. Her stomach growled, her skin felt dull and was turning an odd shade of yellow. Nothing to do with her diet of bread, cheese and beer…
Maryam’s income from peripatetic English teaching and occasion au pair gigs seemed to disappear on wood, tram fares and hot chocolates consumed slowly in warm cafes. And the odd bit of hash to warm her lungs.
Amsterdam, when she arrived in summer, was the dream. Chilled beers by the sunny canal, the cute crooked houses, pop-up markets with tulips flaunting all the sunset colours. Maryam fell in with a cool crowd of Dutch youth and Antipodean travellers; moving into the shared barge was the obvious next step while she established her journalism career. A few odd jobs and plenty of time to write. It should have been perfect.
A ping from her phone startled Maryam from her depressive stupor.
Caitlin: howdy. you ever coming back??
Maryam: maaate, I wish! I’m so fricking cold ? it’s like minus 5 here & the sun sets @ 4.30pm
Caitlin: 30 degrees here!! ? we went to movies this arvo just for the air conditioning.
Maryam: what I’d do for a swim at Coogee, or a walk along the coastal path for a gelato at Bondi.
Caitlin: I thought it was going so well there
what about the cool barista artist guy you were seeing?
Maryam: oh Maarten? Yeah, I thought we were A Thing. Turns out we weren’t ‘exclusive’ ? not my decision – maybe I’m not as bohemian as I thought I was?
Caitlin: come back to Sydney then, get some journo experience on the local rag?
Maryam: gaah, I’d be stoked but I can hardly afford to eat, let alone pay for a ticket back to Oz
heyyy, gotta go and prep for my evening class. Catcha later?
Caitlin; Sure mate, I’ll see ya at Contis for an iced matcha ?
A tsunami of memories kicked Maryam in the guts – the salt on her skin after a morning swim, her mother’s mee goreng, lavender jacarandas blooming… friends who had known her since primary school.
Her Big Travel adventure had started so well. A deferred university semester. Shopping in Singapore, visiting family in Malaysia followed by a lazy trawl through the beaches and jungles of South East Asia. A Malay girl growing up in Sydney, she never felt she belonged anywhere so being misidentified as a local in so many countries was a novel bonus.
Yet here she was – cold, malnourished and broke. Dutch winter was not the deal.
Maryam picked up her phone, opened the Exotic Escorts app, uploaded her most alluring portrait and biting her lip typed:
Ethnically ambiguous 24-year-old female. 162 cm, petite build. Coffee coloured skin, hazel eyes. Available for girlfriend experience – companionship, nights out, holidays and maybe more.
Maryam could not quite pinpoint when love turned to loathing. She just couldn’t get her hands warm however close she held them to the small wood burner in the canal boat. Her stomach growled, her skin felt dull and was turning an odd shade of yellow. Nothing to do with her diet of bread, cheese and beer…
Maryam’s income from peripatetic English teaching and occasion au pair gigs seemed to disappear on wood, tram fares and hot chocolates consumed slowly in warm cafes. And the odd bit of hash to warm her lungs.
Amsterdam, when she arrived in summer, was the dream. Chilled beers by the sunny canal, the cute crooked houses, pop-up markets with tulips flaunting all the sunset colours. Maryam fell in with a cool crowd of Dutch youth and Antipodean travellers; moving into the shared barge was the obvious next step while she established her journalism career. A few odd jobs and plenty of time to write. It should have been perfect.
A ping from her phone startled Maryam from her depressive stupor.
Caitlin: howdy. you ever coming back??
Maryam: maaate, I wish! I’m so fricking cold ? it’s like minus 5 here & the sun sets @ 4.30pm
Caitlin: 30 degrees here!! ? we went to movies this arvo just for the air conditioning.
Maryam: what I’d do for a swim at Coogee, or a walk along the coastal path for a gelato at Bondi.
Caitlin: I thought it was going so well there
what about the cool barista artist guy you were seeing?
Maryam: oh Maarten? Yeah, I thought we were A Thing. Turns out we weren’t ‘exclusive’ ? not my decision – maybe I’m not as bohemian as I thought I was?
Caitlin: come back to Sydney then, get some journo experience on the local rag?
Maryam: gaah, I’d be stoked but I can hardly afford to eat, let alone pay for a ticket back to Oz
heyyy, gotta go and prep for my evening class. Catcha later?
Caitlin; Sure mate, I’ll see ya at Contis for an iced matcha ?
A tsunami of memories kicked Maryam in the guts – the salt on her skin after a morning swim, her mother’s mee goreng, lavender jacarandas blooming… friends who had known her since primary school.
Her Big Travel adventure had started so well. A deferred university semester. Shopping in Singapore, visiting family in Malaysia followed by a lazy trawl through the beaches and jungles of South East Asia. A Malay girl growing up in Sydney, she never felt she belonged anywhere so being misidentified as a local in so many countries was a novel bonus.
Yet here she was – cold, malnourished and broke. Dutch winter was not the deal.
Maryam picked up her phone, opened the Exotic Escorts app, uploaded her most alluring portrait and biting her lip typed:
Ethnically ambiguous 24-year-old female. 162 cm, petite build. Coffee coloured skin, hazel eyes. Available for girlfriend experience – companionship, nights out, holidays and maybe more.
