Meeting Up With Destiny

Valencia Plaza de la Virgen 2
Originally uploaded by uncsuperman.

It felt good to get an early start for Valencia. To have a direction. A destination.

In Spain, the preferred method of travel by most people is by bus. They are more frequent. And cheaper. Cheap is good. I caught the bus around mid-day, for the trip was only about 4 hours.

The night before, I had secured a place to stay in Valencia for 3 nights. It looked nice and it sounded cool. Rooftop terrace. Weekly parties organized by the hostel. Part of me was looking forward to it. But part of me dreaded it. I just wanted to get to Granada and meet up with Jeremy and Bridget again. Valencia would be a layover. A breather before another series of crazy days in another big city.

How wrong I would be.

Directions given to me by the hostel were impeccable. Although I still got lost once, it took no longer than 30 minutes to actually get there from the bus station. It was warm - no, it was steamy. The hostel was attached to the side of a cathedral. Odd.

It was a 3 story building. 5 rooms per floor. Upwards of 150 beds in total. The guy behind the desk handed me the key. Told me "thank you - enjoy your stay. And leave the key here when you leave."

With 30 pounds strapped to my back, I climbed the (luckily, only one) flight of stairs to the first floor. Walked to the very end of the hall and opened the door. Mixed room. 6 beds.

2 beds were occupied, and the bed in the farthest corner was untaken. Now, it was mine.

Dropping those 30 pounds upon my new place of rest, I sat down and gave a sigh of relief. For the next 3 nights, I was secure. No worries - no plans to make.

Walking in, I had barely noticed her. A quick "hi" was all the attention I gave. But taking a few seconds to soak in my surroundings - she looked for all the world like a porcelain figurine. Sitting upright in bed. Journal on her lap. Eyes closed as if cleansing herself from the day's toxins.

Quite unlike myself - I lost all train of thought, my eyes fixated on her. Realizing I was staring, I intentionally started fumbling with my pack. Unzip. Zip. Unbuckle. Buckle.

My shyness setting in, I went to the restroom to freshen up. The sun was still casting its glow upon the city. Shoot, I still had nearly 4 hours of daylight left. So in an attempt to avoid making a fool of myself in front of the girl in my room, I left to do some preliminary exploring.

When I had arrived, the guy at the desk had told me about some party the hostel was throwing at a bar. And a free drink. I thought nothing of it, until I got back to the hostel that night. The girl was still in the room. She asked me if I was going to celebrate the 4th of July. For a brief moment, I actually thought about going. Then images appeared of me dancing very, very badly. And stumbling trying to make conversation with her.

I said "no" - I was too tired from traveling. I wanted to go with her.

She came back early that night and we talked for a few minutes before retreating to bed. The next day, she had to move rooms. I could not gather the courage to ask her to dinner, so I left that day not knowing if I'd ever see her again.

The day and the night went by without a sign of the girl. I woke up the morning of my 3rd day there. I walked around the hostel, hoping to run into her. The floor restroom. The kitchen. The common area. The computer room. Bingo.

She was getting up as I walked in, but we said not a word to each other. Sitting down, I put money in the machine. 30 seconds went by. I stood up. I was going to ask her out.

"What are your plans? Where are you going from here?"

"I'm not sure, really. You?"

"Well...if you were going to be here tonite, I was going to see if you wanted to get some dinner or something."

"Oh, okay. Well, we'll see."

Uhhh. What? "We'll see."????
What the hell does that mean? I walked away from that "conversation" feeling like a moron and positive that I'd never see this girl again.

I wandered around Valencia for several hours that day. I saw every corner of the city. Getting back to the hostel in late-afternoon, I plopped on my bed, exhausted from the day's explorations.

My journal needing writing in, so I obliged. Not 5 minutes into my writing, the door to my room opened up.

That porcelain figurine turned the corner and was standing at the foot of my bed. I was stunned.

"So...do you still want to eat dinner?"