Knowing how much some Russian couples like to display their affection in public, I wondered if venturing out today would be worth all the soppiness I knew I would encounter. Luckily I didn't have a choice as I found myself being tempted into doing so with a phone call saying, "Be ready and downstairs in 20 minutes."
My friend Dean is always full of surprises and the most unpredictable person I know. Sometimes I feel like he pushes me out of the nest and screams at me to fly. This mostly results in a bit of panic and hesitation from my side and then later I am very thankful to him. Today he treated me to a lovely lunch before the shove.
This is how the conversation went.
Dean: Take bus 2 or 44 until you see Dunkin Donuts and then get off at that stop
Me: Wait, which side of the road is Dunkin Donuts?
Dean: The same side the bus is on. Kay. Then take the underpass to get to the other side of the road. Then look for a building, it looks just like all these other buildings (pointing around). If you get lost just say "Dom knigie. Dom knigie. DOM KNI-GIE."
Me: Dom.....?
Dean: DOM kniGIE...House of books. Dom- house. Knigie- books. DOM KNIGIE.
Me: Dom knigie, dom knigie, dom knigie...okay...
Dean: Just say that to people, they will help you.
Me: Okay!
Dean: Then, when you finished, walk in the same direction down the road to the Metro Arbatskya...and get onto the red line.
Me: Right. They join.
Dean: Now say the whole thing to me.
Me (confidently): I must take bus 2 or 44 until I see Dunkin Donuts. Then I must get off and take the underpass to the other side of the road. Then I must walk straight down the road and say DOM KNIGIE to someone if I get lost. Then when I'm finished, I must follow the road straight down to get to the Metro called Arbatskya to switch over to the red line.
Dean: Good! Here's your bus. (Hugging me) Go!
PANIC AND EXCITEMENT!!!
Texts along the way (loss of confidence)
Me: Is the Dunkin Donuts quite far up the road??
Dean: Yes
Me: After all these malls and stuff?
Me: Does the bus say Dom Knigie
Me: Oh. I got off at Dunken Donuts (this was not planned, I got off coz I panicked) and I'm in the underpass
Dean: If the bus takes a turn right and you begin to drive next to a park you've gone one stop too far
Dean: Yes after the mall, yes. When it says dom knigi you get off at the next stop. Dunkin Donuts on right.
Me: I found it!!!!
(Baby bird has found her wings)
PRIDE AND ACHIEVEMENT!!!
This was followed by me exploring the bookshop for about an hour. It is the best place (other than Moscow) in the world. Three stories of complete amazing-ness. The ladies that work there are wonderful and I wanted to buy everything in it. Hello Roald Doahl and Winnie the Pooh and Hans Christian Anderson and Wind in the Willows and Fairy Tales of all kinds...hello heaven. The best part about this place (other than it being the best place in the world) is that I found it all by myself.
Today I looked at myself in the mirror and I saw someone else in the mirror. Living with boys, there is not too much mirror space and the one in the bathroom is mostly shared by three people at once so it's been difficult to see myself for a while. I saw someone who could accomplish things and had done a lot of it over the last few days. I saw someone who believed in herself and her abilities. I saw someone I could learn to love.
The different kind of love that I felt today was a love that I have not been exceptionally familiar with a lot in my life. This Valentine's Day, I did not need to receive flowers or a note from a secret admirer to feel loved. I just needed a push on the bus by a long time friend, a smile from a lady who worked in a bookshop and a good look in the mirror.
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