I had several boyfriends before I met my husband. It was an adventurous period. I had a boyfriend from Brazil. We both spoke Portuguese. It made me feel like home away from home. I loved Juan very much. He came with his parents to Portugal and met my parents, but then I discovered that he was not faithful; he was a bit of a Don Juan.

Then I met Martin. He was English, and had lovely blue eyes. He really loved me, and wanted me to meet his parents and his sister. The problem was that I liked him like a friend, but I wasn’t in love with him…

Martin kept giving me presents, and I continued to hang out with him, but I was also involved with Juan. I loved him, although I knew he was unfaithful to me. We were all young and looking for love. All the girls were looking for boyfriends, and there were plenty of boys we could hang out with. This was a vibrant group of young people from all over the world who came to London to study, to work and to have fun.

Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse