Scene: Sharing a long, uncomfortable bus ride with Sue, self-professed ¨crazy Korean.¨ We had met at another hostel days ago, and now, by coincidence, are both heading south from Popayán, Colombia, hoping to cross into Ecuador before the end of the day. She had been bussing since the night before, and by the end of it will have been traveling for more than 24 hours straight. Crazy Korean, indeed.
Highlights: The Colombian scenery zipping by, interspersed with fits of napping--a bleary-eyed journey through gorgeous, green mountains. I think it must have been a dream... On the way to Pasto, one man in particular was becoming increasingly excited as the hours rolled on. His personal bottle of aguardiente (the national spirit of Colombia) may have augmented this process, not to mention the 6 or so beers. As he loosened up, he became prone to fits of dancing and clapping, pleadly loudly with the driver to pump up the jams. After the 3rd or 4th beer he seemed to be the lone spectator of a very exciting sporting event--¨Pasto!!!¨ (fist pump) -- His compañera in the adjacent seat politely refused the offers of booze, coyly inspecting her well-pedicured feet. And finally, with the liquid confidence came the broken English.
Looking over his shoulder at me, he slurs ¨Hey, meester, hey!¨ After establishing that I´m from the States, he continues--¨I have leeved in Chicago... 4 years!!¨ I tried my best to respond with a similar level of enthusiam, eager to see where this was going. I must have given the proper number of thumbs-ups, because almost immediately he went for it: the well-meaning, unsolicited offer. ¨Hey, you wanna beautiful friend, you call me... (drunken cackling) Anything you want, just call me, ok?¨ How polite! Attractive friends just a phone call away. He made no attempt to give me his number--I assume I´ll just need to shine the ¨Colombian hooker¨signal from the roof of my hostel to get in touch. Occasionally he would temper the exchange with ¨Sorry, I´m juss a little fucking drunk¨ - please, sir, no apology necessary. A few minutes later, I noticed him staring at me, and I turned to meet his gaze. ¨Hey.. I juss want you to know.. I really appreciate you... yeah, I really appreciate you.¨
And there you have it! What a sweetheart. I graciously accepted this sentiment, and a little part of me wished I had brought my own bus-bottle of aguardiente, so maybe I would have been compelled to stand up and embrace this man in the aisle, with the rest of the passengers, gingerly cradling their little bus-bottles, cheering and applauding our newfound friendship.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment