Little Pleasures

I've just come back home.
Tonight I went out with a friend, we played pool, I won. We then went to his place to watch Cincinatti Kid, Steve McQueen was indeed kind of awesome. On the way home I noticed it was snowing! Yes, snowing, in april, in Sophia. So curious! And in two months it will be so hot your brains will melt. I walked on the way home, I took advantage of the modernisation of technology by putting my music on loudspeaker, listened to it and hummed. Already climbing the 4 floors of my building, I kep singing and dancing, thinking of the beatiful and curious snow.
I just wanted to share the little beauties of life, the ones we almost  miss. I hope you don't miss them.

On the train

At the time of writing this, I am on the top bed of a sleeping compartment on a train from Belgrade to Sophia. In the same compartment are two girls, Jessica and Jacqueline, two young Americans from Michigan. I first saw them in the full outfit of a travelling American, backpacks and all, trying to get a ticket for the train, conversing in English with a middle aged Serbian lady. The man on the train had told them  they only needed to pay 15 euro for a ticket, but this lady said 80. Of course, they were pissed off with the prices, with not being able to communicate well enough with the lady, and as I later found out, with not having had a shower in 2 days. I was behind them, I offered my help, which they happily accepted. In some made up Bulgarian-Serbian language, I spoke to the train conductor, who said only 7 euro each were needed for an upgrade, all good. To show their gratitude, and maybe because we all figured out that 3 girls is better and “safer” than two (or one, in my case) so we decided to share a 6-people compartment.

Conversation went on for half an hour, they are travelling across Europe, thanks to a Europass, because one of them is starting a post-grad degree and the other one is starting “a real job”, as they  classified it. They liked Switzerland best, weren’t impressed due to tiredness with the Netherlands, and were looking forward to Germany. They thought Prague was magical and I suggested they went to see the Baltics, if they want more fairytale-like experiences, Venice was too touristy but Verona was absolutely astounding. (the word they actually used was “awesome”, the accent you can imagine for yourself) They were unsure about Sophia and how long they’d stay there, they were “playing it by ear”. Being a true Sophianite myself, needless to say I tried to convince them to spend  at least a night there, see the nightlife, enjoy low prices and good food. They were more excited about Greece, but, if my few experiences with Greek tourism are anything to judge by, they’ve got another thing coming. Conversation died out and one is now falling asleep, though my typing is probably not helping, and the other is reading a book on what I suspect is a Kindle.

I read my book for a bit, a lovely fascinating thing called “Quirkology”, where Richard Wiseman is exploring “the curious science of everyday lives”. A study he talks about suggests that luck is not as inexplicable as we may think. It is not even random, but every person makes his or her luck- people who are more closed, introverted and pessimistic take fewer opportunities, meet fewer people and thus miss out on many opportunities that more sociable optimistic and trusting people do not miss out on. I put my book aside and started writing this, because I realised I was in an indicative situation at that same moment. There is nothing extraordinary in my story. But because I spoke to these girls and offered my questionable skills as an interpreter, I have met new people, learned a bit about the story of people who I’ll probably never see again and we exchanged experienced that, who knows!, can be helpful one day soon. At the very least, I have some company and I feel safer in this train tonight.

There is no reason not to speak to strangers more often. You will always benefit from a chance encounter- it can be a thing as insignificant as some help with a ticket and teaching someone how to say “thank you” in Serbian (Hvála!) or it could be as life-changing as later being introduced to your future partner by that person you first met unexpectedly. But that’s another story. 

I imagine Jacqueline would prefer it if I stopped typing, so she could sleep.

Airport Experiences

I was at an airport on my way home. In front of me I saw an elderly couple, who were just about to give their boarding passes to be inspected by the security guard. Even while they were doing so, they held hands. 

Passengers continued caterpillar-ing towards security check, which is the most annoying bit of airports, without a doubt. My eyes wandered around, as I slowly tagged along, and fell at the holding hands of the same couple. They hadn’t let go and felt a compulsion to be as close to each other, regardless of the external influences, queues, Bush’s security measures, screaming kids. I don’t know where they were going, who they were, but for the 15 minutes during which they were a part of my life, they made me wish that I could be this in love at their age. Love is a beautiful thing, but sadly we need a reminder that it isn’t a privilege of the young but a gift and it comes in all shapes or forms.

Hugging trees

If I told you right now that I hugged trees this weekend, most of you wouldn't have peeled off the floor laughing by the time I finish writing the article.

As the term ended and all dissertations were submitted, I decided to take a long weekend and stay at my partner's house for a deserved rest. The weather was lovely, this is England we're talking about, so I suggested taking a walk. Strike one. The only walk I tend to take is the 40 meters between my door step and the pub.

It was refreshing to see nature, play with the shapes and greens, climb trees, hold hands, laugh, kiss and feel the sun stroke my face. The birds were chirping, jolly and free.

On the way back, we saw a field, just grass, nobody there. I felt so strangely draw to it, so we went in, I took off my shoes, and walked barefoot on the slightly cold grass. Maybe you know from experience, nothing is as freeing as feeling your toes touch the grass. I jumped around, screamed, danced, did cartwheels, shook my whole body, ran. Then I lied on the ground, I felt like all my negative energy was slowly absorbed, I became calmer than I have ever been in my life. Not ecstatic. No. Just serene, relaxed, at peace and aware of every being around me.

My partner has a lovely backyard, so when we went home, I went out and felt the desire to hug every tree, to achnowledge its existence and thank it for being there. The beauty of nature, its overwhelming presence, its patience and perfect balance was too much to comprehend, I had tears in my eyes.

I wonder, what was in that apple juice that I had, just before we left the house to take that walk?

I've finished writing. Are you still laughing?