Bubbles

In this day and age, it’s hard to believe there are some moments you can’t capture with a camera. On this trip there have been a few moments I have no picture of, but I will never forget, and I’d like to share them as best as possible.

One happened on my way from Switzerland to Milan. I said goodbye to my brother that morning for potentially 2 years (thank god it only ended up being 6 months.) As I hopped on the train by myself, I saw the most amazing sunset in the Alps through my window. There was no point in trying to get a picture. The beauty and emotion could not be shown through a picture.

A second happened as I jumped into the sea in the moonlight in Ulcinj, stark naked with Robert. On the same trip we got to drive through the snowy Balkan Alps, and I couldn’t believe the beauty around me. I knew the pictures just wouldn’t turn out.

Another happened tonight. I was feeling quite exhausted after a stressed out day due to the International Fair preparations at school, and an intense Insanity workout to follow it up. I was thinking to myself about how I just needed to get out of my house and spend some time with my friends, and at that precise moment one of my best friends called me on the phone.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing much, just got done working out. What’s happening?”

“Want to come over for dinner?”

“Sure, but I really stink, so I’ll have to go shower first.”

“No problem. What time do you think you’ll be over?”

“Well I think I can be pretty fast (in my head I thought a cold shower sounded fantastic.) So about 6:30?”

“Sounds great! See you then!”

I rushed home, showered and then realized my manners and quickly messaged Robert to see if I should bring anything. I packed up the random veggies I had in my house (my cooking has become atrocious) and headed out. On my way I passed a decent super market and ran inside to purchase 3 good beers (at about 2 dollars each) and continued on my way.

We spent the first hour or so just talking about life, looking up pictures of poisonous spiders in Indonesia, reading the itinerary for our potential winter break trip, and having a few drinks. While all this was going on, Robert managed to cook up a delicious meal of spicy chicken in a tomato cream sauce, served with rice, and a pepper salad. Yum!

We ate, and headed out to the balcony for post dinner beers, which is where the story gets to the good part. We saw a random bat flying around and marveled at how intriguing bats are. Then there was some screaming and some very loud thumping sounds, which I was informed were normal sounds, and were probably just from the kids downstairs running their scooter into things. About a minute later we saw the kids in the tiled area below the balcony, running around with their new dog on a leash. They were so happy and care free. Robert felt like blowing bubbles. I mean, who doesn’t? And as it turns out our German friend had brought some from Germany on her last visit to Tirana. Robert informed me that they were the best bubbles in the world, and boy, were they! He began blowing them and they slowly floated down toward the tile flow, and more importantly the kids. They began to chase them and pop them, dog in tow. They had no idea where the bubbles were coming from, and didn’t have any desire to know. The sight was something I will never forget: Those kids running around in the moonlight, chasing bubbles, their dog dragging behind them, and Robert, Scott, and I looking down at them, giggling, while we admired their free spirit and happiness. I’m not sure why, but in this moment I felt like I was right where I was meant to be. Life was everything it was supposed to be. Nothing more, and nothing less. I kept saying I wanted a picture, and yet I know that no picture could ever capture the way I felt.

Eventually, we ran out of bubbles and sat down to talk more about life. We looked at the stars, we saw a flying plane, we discussed our plans for our time home, talked about our hopes and fears for Indonesia ,and made plans for our last 3 weeks together in this country. As I left Robert said quite simply, “Love you!” And as I walked home, I thought once again about how lucky I am to have people that I love, and that love me so much in return.