Last Meeting

We met for the last time today. It was laborious, we both knew. We didn't weep over the small things. We talked about video games and we sat in silence. We played with little plastic cups for over half an hour, just looking at each other and giggling--the language barrier vanished in that childish moment. We had no need for words.

I looked at his face as he pretended to sleep for the last ten minutes of our tutoring session and had the sudden urge to take his picture. I had no camera, and knew the chance would never come up.

As we were leaving, he hesitated as if he wasn't ready to go. He opened his wallet and gave me 500 czk. After I put the money in my wallet, I pulled out my school ID and showed it to him. He smiled and laughed, then saw the more embarrassing photo behind it. Suddenly he doubled over in laughter. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of me, then took my ID, aiming his camera to take a picture of it. I snatched it back and said, "Jerk!' (He probably didn't know how to translate it). We gathered our things and walked out of the room.

He stopped me and showed me the picture he took of me. I smiled because I knew he had the same urge to need something to remember these past few months. The two of us met, every week, to talk about stupid things and English grammar. And in the end, though it was a part of our lives, we would have almost nothing to remember these short moments with.

As we left, he joked with the security guard in Czech. The guard started spoke to me in broken English. He put his hand on his heart and continued in Czech. I would be leaving him too, it seemed, with nothing concrete to remember him by.

How does one hold on to so many people? So many drops of water wanting to fall or just fade into the air.

Well

Studying abroad is:

"Oh, why, of course I can do whatever I want. Next year I'm moving to Berlin."

Going back to New York is:

"Shit, rent, work, subway fair hike?! school, boyfriend, I don't have any time!"

Coming home to Texas is:

"I just want to relax and stop moving."