West Stow-Personal Narrative

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 …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