i'm sorry, is that title gonna get the song stuck in your head? if it does, that is just unfortunate for you, because i have come to realize how (obnoxious, but) true that song is. for having been in this country for just barely 3 weeks, kendra and i do manage to bump into a lot of people we know. several times people from train or the street recognize us from the oasis. or we just run into random people in two different places at two different times, and we just recognize each other from these occurrences.
but ok, maybe austria just isn't as big as we thought it was. but what if i told you that i met up with people from greece here? i recently met a guy at naschmarkt (outdoor market) who was from porto rafti (a place frequented back home in greece), but that is still nothing. what about meeting people here who recognized me from the ARC??! last week i was leaving the oasis and i pass julie standing outside with a young afghan couple and their 7 month old son, and i stop to say hi and have julie introduce me. the husband looks at me starts saying something to his wife, who speaks english fairly well. when he stops, she says to me "you are from yunan?" (yunan is the farsi and arabic word for greece) and i tell them, yes i am. and then the husband goes "helping hands. susie. canada." (yes, susie, they really did mention you. i think they may even had mentioned your red hair too haha) aah i was so excited!! people who had been to my home country and passed through the arc!! people who had recognized me sitting at the computer next to kate, handing out hundreds of meal tickets. this would be exciting enough having just happened once, but yesterday at the womens clothing giveaway there was an older-looking woman sitting all by herself who caught my eye, mainly because she was staring right at me. in the back of my mind i recognized her, but i didn't dwell on it, because i figured i knew her from around the oasis. not so. she walks over to me and is smiling and talking to me in farsi. the only words i could pick out of her chattering were "yunan" "athens" "helping hands". i excitedly start talking to her in english "you were in yunan? you were at helping hands??" it was then her turn to go into the clothing room, but before she left she did give me a hug and we parted smiling. my day was made. it may be a bit silly, but i guess running into people who i had previously come into contact with in a completely different country just makes me feel close to home. was this an accident? i don't think so. i just hope they come back around the oasis so i might get a chance to talk to them more.
it's a small, small world..
that's one bit of excitement from the past few days. not to mention our dear, dear friend bekah was able to come visit us from germany. EXCELLENT TIME!!! we celebrated her 18th birthday and really just enjoyed each others company, laughed a lot, and had fun pretending to be more mature than we actually are even with our newfound "independence".
:)
this is getting long, so i will end this soon, but i just want to bring up this iraqi girl that i am becoming friends with. she has been coming around the oasis with her mom and her sister, but she is the one who speaks english. we have kinda become what might be called "fast friends", the only problem being the slight difficulty with communicating with her limited english, and my non-existent arabic. (i know one word - la. it means "no". oh, and i can count to three and i can say "thursday" and "shower"). but she is a great girl. i guess i will wait and say more about her next time. i will see her tomorrow and on friday. she wants us to take a picture, so i will post a pic too. making new friends :)
OH and there is this austrian girl who is volunteering this week and get this: we are both named rebecca, but both called becky (as apposed to bekah), we have the same converse shoe size, we are the same height, we like a lot of the same bands, we both like art, and we are both planning on studying art therapy in university. uncanny.
small, small world
i can't wait to see the pictures... it must be hard making friends and knowing you're not going to be there much longer. i'm so glad you're enjoying your stay there. and yes, that song will probably still be ringing in my head when i wake up in the morning - you're so bad. (maggie's) mom
ReplyDeleteyeah, i know what you mean by small world. i found those dutch waffle cookies at lidl the other day. sure, not the same as your stuff, but it made my day.
ReplyDeleteIt's true; around Europe I ran into people I knew all the time. It happens sometimes in the States, but I think if you meet someone in a particular place, you're more than likely to meet them again in a similar local along the way.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, if you fly somewhere in the US, there is a 50% chance that the person you are sitting next to knows someone you know. There is a more than 90% chance that you know someone that knows someone who knows the person next to you.
When I was touring Europe, I met a girl on the ferry from Cork, Ireland to France that I'd met in a hostel in Dingle, Ireland. In Prague I met 6 Mexicans at my hostel then ran into them again that night outside a McDonald's all the way downtown. We ate dinner together and one of them even let me use the last bit of his phone card to call home. We promised to meet up after the night train to Budapest, but we had different seat assignments. When I got off the train in the morning, I waited for everyone to get off the train, but no Mexicans.
A few days later I was walking around in the park in front of the big palace/museum in Wien, and who should I see walking down the sidewalk toward me but the 6 Mexicans! We celebrated our reunion by going to McDonald's again (and paying 5 cents for each package of ketchup). They had been kicked off the train at the Slovakian border because they had visas for the Czech Republic and Hungary but for not for that pesky country in between.
They taught me a fun game. Whenever you see a Japanese tourist, point at something mundane and oo and ah at it. Then laugh while they aim their cameras.
yeah, it's fun running into people you know...happens all the time at the mall for me. in fact, one time when I went to the mall with steph last year we were walking and talking and we hear someone say "cody? stephan?", and we turn around and it was this girl who had gone to school with us for one year like six years ago. I have no idea how she recognized us, she didn't even see our faces...it was kinda weird. anyway, that's my story. I really want waffle cookies now. thanks a lot, steve...
ReplyDeleteOkay, I don't have any fun stories like Jonah and Cody, but I think that is GRAND that you are able to reconnect with folks along the way. You are the friendly familiar face of Jesus to them, Bex. Love you!
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