West Stow-Personal Narrative

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On the tenth of September, it was a rather dreary late summer evening. Not wanting to start on my homework, I skimmed through some old travel books attempting to plan a trip. The most promising place seemed to be the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, however the Aztecs were known for human sacrifices and I didn’t want to take any risks. I doubt “being sacrificed by an extinct civilization” is a valid excuse for late homework. After searching a bit longer, I decided on the rather small Anglo Saxon village by the name West Stow. Upon arriving, I’m greeted with the bustling excitement of the villagers. Most of them seem to be gathering near a large building near the center of the village. The houses all seemed to be similar but on a smaller scale, one story houses with walls made of wood and a roof thatched with dried grass or twigs. A group of about five men stood off to the side, lifting large rocks in what I assumed to be some kind of competition. To my left I could hear children laughing as they played with rough wooden swords with some sort of fabric tied around the handle. After a couple minutes of standing in the same spot and looking like an idiot, an older woman came up to me and started talking. Since I’m not fluent in Germanic English, I had not even the slightest clue as to what she was saying. Her voice was rather sweet, yet slightly raspy and her breath didn’t smell very well either. She had dark blue eyes and wispy brown hair that was held back by a white cloth that was wrapped around her head. Her tan dress was scratchy looking with a white blanket around her shoulders, much like a poncho. I assumed she wasn’t very rich, but she looked comfortable and warm in her clothes. She urged me inside, lightly holding on to my shoulder to guide me. The inside of the building was full of people, but not over crowded. There were two long wooden tables placed around a fire that was in the middle of the room. Food was arranged on both tables and there was some kind of hog or pig being roasted on the fire. We weaved through groups of laughing men and women, and I noticed some had already begun to eat or drink. She led me to a richer, more official looking man who was seated at the end of one of the tables. The woman started speaking and motioning to me every now and then, I assumed he was a leader of some sort. He nodded and responded, and the woman led me down the table a ways and urged me to sit. After a short while, it seemed like everyone had filled in and started eating. …show more content…
The smell of body odor and musky clothes was rather strong, almost completely drowning out the smell of the boar. I loaded my plate with bread, chicken, boar, fish and what I assumed to be a mix of onions, cabbage, and something that looked like a white carrot. It was rather delicious, especially the fish which seemed to be seasoned with some kind of herb. People were drinking what I found out was a sweet alcoholic beverage, and laughing together. Then the leader stood up and started talking and everyone quickly quieted down. Once he had finished, more men stood up and talked loudly. By the time

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