Mauricio and V-DayFeb 14, 2005
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| We spent yesterday in Brindisi. When we got there and got off the shuttle bus to town, Melissa and I walked around trying to find signs for our hostel. Apparently, ours is the only one in Brindisi, and there are supposed to be signs all over the place for it. There weren't any signs, and eventually we had to stop in a really fancy hotel and ask them to call us a cab. When we got to the hostel, we were greeted at the door by a short man with a shaved head serving a few people coffee. He let us in and when we told him we had a reservation, he responded in perfect English. He said his name was Mauricio, and that he owned the place. Our beds weren't ready, but he let us leave our things in the lounge and offered us tea or coffe while we waited. He was very nice, and after his other guests left, he sat and talked with us for a long time. We talked about ourselves and our trip, and he talked about his family. He told us that his English was so good because he used to work for the government in Kosovo. He had a degree in physiotherapy, but he liked working in the hostel better. He was really nice, and he made us feel right at home. While we were there a few more people either woke up and came out, or showed up and rented beds. One girl was Regina. She was our roommate, and she spoke no English. She was young (17) and clearly needed someone to want to be her friend. She immediately cam up to Melissa and me when we were unpacking and asked for clothes. It was chill, so I lent her my sweatshirt. She then tried to have a conversation with me about I'm not sure what. All I know is that it ended up with us sitting on the steps of the hostel and reading our phrase books, me teaching her English, her teaching me Italian. It was fun, and it gave me a new appreciation for what my mother had done when trying to talk to Amer's mother in Bosnian. It's very difficult to understand anything when you have no words in common. People filtered in and out all day, some coming, some going. Mauricio's seemed to be a popular place to just show up at, have a drink, and leave again. Half the time we had no idea what was going on because we didn't understand what people were saying. After a few hours, Melissa took a nap, and I settled in with my book. An hour or so later, Mauricio made lunch for everyone (steak, potatoes, green beans, bread, cake...very delicious) and after that he took Melissa and me down to the water taxi so we could find an internet cafe and catch up with people. The taxi took only a few minutes to cross the harbour, but by the time we got into downtown, stores were all closed up, except for the restaurants. So, we walked around for an hour, waiting for the time when we had to meet up with Mauricio again for a ride back to the hostel. Brindisi is a cute little town, and for some reason everyone was out walking around. It was after dinner time, and maybe people were just walking, but there seemed to be a lot of people everywhere. Entire families were just strolling down the wide main streets. In the middle of town was a brightly lit, very modern looking fountain. Around it were little street vendors selling everything from scarves to pizza. It was cute, and nice to walk around in. We walked slowly back to the taxi stand, commenting on the couples walking around, and stopping to window shop in the expensive store lining the streets. Back at Mauricio's, we sat down at the bar with a few of the other girls there for a drink. A drink turned into a few drinks, and before we knew it, we were bartending and checking people in for Mauricio while he drove to pick up more travelers from the train station. It was a great night and we spent most of it chatting with Mauricio. We didn't go to bed until 4 am when I escaped to the bedroom, stranding Melissa in the lounge with Mauricio where he tried to make a move on her but she successfully evaded his advances. In the morning we woke up late and wandered out to find the cleaning lady mopping the floor. She snapped something to me in Italian, and I, understanding that she was not happy with me for walking (in my socks) on her nicely cleaned floor, tiptoed over to the door and joined Mauricio and Regina outside on the steps. We discussed breakfast and Regina and I played our "who can understand the other more" game, and when Melissa came out we talked about train tickets. Mauricio wanted us to stay and work for him, but Melissa and I had places to go (and living in Brindisi would be nice, but is not for either of us), and so, after a filling breakfast of cakes and fruit and hot chocolate, we packed up and checked out. Mauricio drove us to the train station, we said goodbye, and that was that. We both though it was going to be a tearful goodbye, but it wasn't. More about the rest of the day later. Time to go. |
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