Reminisciences 8

Reminiscences

In through the door of the kitchen, walked a youngish man with spiked hair and slightly darkened skin. The spiked hair was obviously a nod to youthful exuberance whereas the dark skin was evidently a feature of people in this part of the world. Not dark like in the Middle East, but ever so slightly noticeable.

Ben thought to himself that maybe this was Stefan, the person who he had been in touch with about staying in the flat.

'Hello! I am Stefan,' said the man. Ben’s suspicions were quickly confirmed.

'Salut! Eu sunt Ben', said Ben, trying to impress with his Romanian.

'I am speaking English', replied Stefan.

At first, Ben thought to himself that this was a case of stating the obvious, but then he realised that Stefan had just got his tenses a bit muddled up. Ben had arranged everything through a middle man, a friend of a friend as it were, and so hadn’t actually talked to Stefan directly.

'How are you?' continued Stefan.

It was reassuring to Ben to hear someone speaking his language and to think that he would be able to more easily clarify the things that he needed.

'I am fine. Just a bit tired after the journey. And you?', answered Ben, deciding against going for another foray into the Romanian language, particularly as Stefan seemed comfortable in English.

'I am good. I work in city in blana fabrik. I want I go bed now, stuttered Stefan; Ben began to think that maybe he had jumped the gun regarding Stefan’s English abilities.

'Ok, well, have a good rest', said Ben comfortingly.

'Yes, we see us maine and more talk', replied Stefan, before turning away to leave the kitchen.

Perhaps Stefan had only been to the first few English lessons thought Ben. He started well but quickly declined in his English.

As Stefan started to head for the door, Doina called out behind him, “Dar, dragul Mamei, nu o să arați oaspetul nostru cameră lui și clarifici cu el despre bani și alte detaili?”

Without even turning back, Stefan snorted a response, 'Sunt obosit. Lăsăm pe mâine. Nu are să fuga nicăeri. Arați tu cameră și baie'.

'Dar cum să ne înțelegm? El nu prea stie limba Română', protested Doina.

'Mama, nici tu nu prea stii cu accentul tau. Vă descurcați și oricum am înțeles ca el vrea să învața română. Hai ne vedem mâine.'

With that, Stefan was gone. Ben hadn’t quite followed their discussion. One could describe it as friendly arguing; voices raised, but no blows and a harmonious ending.

A little later, after Ben had been given good opportunity to practise his skills in refusing hospitality, Doina showed him the ropes as far as his living arrangements were concerned.

The flat was a bit like a rabbit warren, with a long l-shaped corridor that you entered into directly through the front door.  Straight ahead was the living room, sharp left was the master bedroom, second left the spare bedroom, which Ben was to receive as his living quarters. At the end of the L-shape was another bedroom, which was inhabited by Stefan, and to the right were both the small kitchen and next to it, a toilet and mini-bathroom, complete with bathtub come shower and washbasin.

Doina practised her charades skills as she tried to explain certain details to Ben about the living arrangements.  Ben understood which was his room but didn’t quite get what he was supposed to do with towels or how to work the shower. It was of no real consequence though. He was just glad to have finally reached the destination that for such a long time he had dreamed about.

That night, he lay in his bed reflecting on his past journey and new surroundings. The bed was more like a fold-out sofa, somewhat firmer than the usual springy affair that he was used to, but it was satisfactory. He would have liked a good wash after the ardours of his long journey, but it was hard to work out how to get the showerhead working that was fixed to the tap in the bathtub. Instead, he had just crouched down in the tub and splashed some cold water on himself, as much as he could stand. That was all that flowed out of the bath tap. He had been embarrassed to call out and try to get some help partly because he was undressed, but also because it had already been explained once, maybe, depending on what Doina had been saying.

Anyhow, a little clean, is better than not clean at all, and Ben felt sufficiently refreshed to be able to relax in his bed and begin to let his thoughts drift away. He remembered the days of his youth when he’d had many plans about what he would do in life, but then he thought about how it had all gone awry. Nothing raucous or radical, simply he hadn’t really understood himself or what he had to do in life. For reasons that were now hard to fathom, he had launched himself into a scientific career path, studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths (Physics he couldn’t stand!) and was thinking that he could develop as an academic at a good university; maybe even discover something new and become famous. As things had been going along though, he felt like something was not right. Surely, this was not him. He had found it hard to make friends at the university he had strived so hard to reach and upon which he had pinned so many hopes. His passion for science had quickly waned too with his loneliness and gradually everything had seemed so meaningless. In those days, he thought to himself that even if he managed a great and successful scientific career, what did it matter? One day he would be gone and so everything he achieved would only be fleeting and afterwards, he would be quickly forgotten.

These thoughts had left him churning inside, seeking meaning and purpose in life. That’s when, after much time, he had met someone who had changed his life. There was a girl at his university called Alexandra. At a distance, he had known her for a good while as she was a fellow student on his course, but it was only during the end of his university days that he had come to actually interact with her and discover that there was something different about her.

He had thought that ever since he first saw her. For some reason, she always came to classes wearing a long skirt and headscarf. This was not exactly high fashion in central London, especially not amongst university students looking for adventure and acceptance. There was something more than this though. She also had some sort of calm and serene aurora about her, not to mention was very diligent and faithful in her class work. Others quickly knocked together their coursework the morning before it was due after spending nights in drunken debauchery. Ben was sure that this wasn’t the case with Alexandra. He couldn’t see her wasting her life away down the local pub or out indulging in the tantalising delights of London nightlife.

Some branded her a weirdo and even made fun of her behind her back. Initially, Ben had been tempted to think the same, except that he realised he was as much a weirdo, according to the other student's standards, as she, except he didn’t have the same inner calm.

As Ben reflected on these things, he began to drift away. He had already reached the state whereby he was conscious of what was going through his mind, but no longer in control. His mind approached the moment that had first made him think about coming to Romania, but before he got there, he entered the land of nod.

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