There will be love wherever you go

Some stories have to begin at the end. My trip to Prague is one of them.

I had a great trip to Prague but was ready to come home. I said my goodbyes, took my last pictures and headed to the airport on Monday night. I stood in line, thankful to be heading back to a country with a comprehensible language. But as soon as I hit the ticket counter, my luck reared its ugly head. Actually, it was more like my mindless idiocy. My name was not in the system what so ever. “Sorry, your flight was yesterday”, said the woman.

…I was completely speechless. I felt tears welling up and though I could have held them back, as soon as she told me that I could buy a new ticket from the counter for 145 EUROS, I burst. Tears streamed down my face and the only word that came to my mind was “Fuck!!!!”. My mother said I could use my credit card in emergencies and I think me being stranded in Prague qualifies as a pretty big emergency. So I tried to use it but it was declined. DECLINED?!?! I haven’t even used it since I’ve been here!! Even more tears were coming as I dug through my wallet. I found my personal bankcard and figured, well, I was the one who royally screwed myself; I should be the one to pay for it. THANKFULLY, that card was accepted.

I headed back to the check-in desk and stood in line. As the line was advancing, this bitchy woman said to me, “Sorry. There is a line.” It was one of those awkward lines with an obstruction so two semi-lines had formed at this certain point. I was confused and tried to defend myself but then the rest of her crew, a big group of people all in their mid-20’s, chimed in with, “Yeah. Sorry. There is a line.” I start crying again, so disappointed in myself. This woman clearly thinks she made me cry now. Great.

I go through the motions with the rest of airport check-in and find a nice secluded corner at my gate. I sat there, alone and brooding, about to be miserable for the next 10 hours because not only was I pissed off, I was going to have to sleep in the Geneva airport that night. To get to Prague, I took a train to Geneva and then flew from there. Well, on Monday night, there were no trains back to Lyon until the next day, so I was screwed. Feeling pessimistic I start thinking, “watch, that woman and all her friends are going to sit right by me and its going to suck.” Guess what? That is EXACTLY what happened. All 13 of them sat around me. I shook my head and thought, “You create your own reality…”

So I sat there, listening to music, failing to cheer myself, wanting to be home…basically reveling in self-pity and irony. I tried repeating my new motto, “There will be love wherever you go” and it actually sort of worked. I stopped crying and did calm down. Then, all of a sudden, the girl sitting next to me, a part of the group, tapped me and offered me some grapes. I stopped my music, smiled and laughed and accepted gracefully. She told me to take more. “haha... thank you, again” I said. I really was thankful for the food because I had convinced myself that I was going to starve to death because I just had to buy a 145 Euro ticket and would have no money for food. I was smiling and appreciating their generosity. 15 minutes prior, we had all been involved in an angered, awkward situation and now, they were offering me grapes. “How kind, loving and…amazing,” I thought. We got into some general convo and I found out that they were all Portuguese. They had been on vacation in Prague for 4 days and were headed back to Lisbon, with an overnight in Geneva. Once the ice had been broken, the woman who had scolded me at the check-in counter awkwardly reminded me that she was “the one who told me about the line earlier and that she was sorry that was so bad.” I proceeded to explain that in fact, I had already been crying and that I had to buy a new ticket and was so upset and just wanted to be home. It turns out that she almost had to do the same thing because she misplaced her ID. We were getting along very well, joking and sharing info about ourselves. “There will be love wherever you go…” I thought. I had once again convinced myself that you create your own reality.

I would have been totally satisfied with what was going on; pleasant conversation, culture swapping, food but the next part completely blew me away. The lady from the line, Vennea, asked me what I was doing in Geneva.

“Well, I live in France and I have to catch a train to Lyon from Geneva but it turns out that there are no trains until the next day so I’m just going to sleep in the Geneva airport tonight. That’s pretty much it.”

“No! Absolutely not! You will come with us!”

“Oh my gosh, I couldn’t. You are so many people already.”

“nonononono…you will come with us. You are a part of the group now.”

…I could have cried. Every single one of them was nodding and smiling and looking at me like I was a long lost sister. I held back tears. I couldn’t help think of the Merritts (you guys come up in my blog a lot…) when, instead of protesting, I looked them all in the eyes and said, “Thank you so much. Yes, I will come with you. Wow.”

Lets just pause to let that sink in because, well, I was definitely mentally shocked.

I was then introduced to them all by name. I am not good with names but was trying so hard to get them all down. Vennea, Christina, Paulo, Eric, Juán, Lino, Stephanie, Piedro, and five more whose names I cannot pull from the depths. But hey, 8 out of 13 is damn good for me! I sat by Christina and another girl on the plane and we talked the whole time. It turns out that they are Merchant Marines and do the EXACT same thing as my dad! They told me about their jobs and I told them stories about my dad. They URGED me to go on a trip with him through the Panama canal, “Do it for us! We never get to do anything like that!” they said. Then we talked about what I was studying. As if the merchant marine thing wasn’t enough, Vennea, is an interior and graphic designer and Lino was studying architectural design. HELLO FATEFUL COINCIDENCE…

We got off in Geneva and I helped them get around with that whole French thing. Vennea’s friends made fun of Vennea and I because we both had cool glasses, nose piercings, MacBooks and were designers. On the train to the hotel we both pulled out our black Moleskein journals and laughed. It was like I had met the 28 year-old Portuguese version of myself. Anyway, we were headed to the hotel and Eric asked me if I had money for a ticket. I said yes and then he told me, “Well, don’t you worry about the Hotel. You are our guest.”

At the hotel, sitting there, surrounded by 13 Portuguese chattering away, I retreated into my mind and wondered why more of the world couldn’t be more like these people. So willing to give and share and accept anyone into their…hotel (homes/lives/you get it) I mean, look at what happened! I was down and out, crying, going to sleep in the airport and they just took me in, no questions. In fact, I don’t think they would have had it any other way. I don’t think I have ever experienced that kind of selfless, completely random generosity in my entire life.

The next day, when all woke up, Vennea let me use her shampoo and everything because I had none. We all ate breakfast and went out for a walk in Geneva. I went into a smaller group with Vennea, Eric, Juan, Lino, Piedro and Paulo. It was an amazing day; warm with clear blue sky. We walked around for a few hours, ate some lunch (which we all shared) and then, they all walked with me back to the train station to bid me “adieu”. I hugged and kissed all of them on the cheek, waved goodbye and “Abrigado!” (thank you in Portuguese) and boarded my train. I have an official invitation to Portugal and you can bet your ass I’m gonna go.

It’s so hard for me to get everything out right now. In the past 15 hours, I’ve learned so much about Portuguese culture and myself. I have never felt more alive yet at the same time completely surreal than at this present moment. This past week definitely goes up there as one of the biggest and best adventures of my life, and I haven’t even told you about Prague yet.

Just remember, there will be love wherever you go.