The coincidences continue in Dublin, epicenter of my own personal and mysterious vortex of concomitance.
Today, the fluke of fate had me cross paths with familiar faces from Virginia. I was having tea with friends at the IFI when in walked two sophisticates, urbane of manner and stylish of dress. I managed to pull off the rarely needed quadruple-take when I realized that I knew these people, and not from classes or a recent random pub chat, but from gallery openings on Broad Street and the studio spaces of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the leafy streets of The Fan. These were people from home.
The approach was made and the appropriate astonishment was expressed by all parties involved. My old friends met my new friends. We chatted for a while and had to keep expressing how wonderfully bizarre it was to meet again so unexpectedly. They were only in town for the weekend, visiting a friend who, also from Richmond, now lives in Dublin. I heard all the news on both their own absorbing doings and that of their children (children who are my contemporaries, so their accomplishments and talents stretch far beyond that of 4th grade piano recitals and science fair dioramas, should that mistake be made).
I hope they didn't think it incredibly rude when I took my leave after 20 minutes or so and essentially fobbed them off onto my tea drinking companions. I was hell bent on getting to the library for some much needed research for the forthcoming essays. Email addresses were exchanged and warm embraces of farewell were traded (because, yes, I will actually embrace people when the situation warrants it, I'm not a total aphephobe, contrary to popular opinion).
It struck me later that this sort of thing, meeting folks from home in odd locales happens quite a lot to me. There was that time I ran into a girl I knew from Kansas City in a coffee shop in Manhattan Beach, CA, or the random old friend walking down the street in NY, or, best yet, the lovely and talented Amy from Richmond whom I ran into at a Chinese restaurant in Rome. This latest go around in Dublin may even top that.
But what I took away from the whole thing surprised me. Instead of it being, "Oh God, the whole world is turning into one big homogenized shopping mall and it's the same everywhere I go," it was more along the lines of, "Wherever I go in this world, my home will find me." And for me to think anything that devoid of cynicism and self-mockery puts me in the odd position of feeling fairly at ease with myself.
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3 comments:
Jenna, do you remember when you when we were in Italy at the same time and had plans to meet up but we were unable to reach each other because my phone was a malfunctioning piece of crap and you stayed the night with Jackie at her villa (and suffered an attack from bloodthirsty mosquitos) and we happened to fun into each other on the street? I know that it is less unexpected, we knew we were in the same country, but I think about that all the time....
some friends of mine may well be moving either to Dublin or Sheffield depending on how his interview goes (he's a scientist and his wife with be looking for work) and you must meet them should this move across the pond transpire...
Jane! Of course I remember, how stupid of me not to include that memorable meeting in this particular blog. I love that your typo expresses how we happened to "fun into each other", because ultimately, that's what it was, fun darling, the best possible kind. I recall that it was on the piazza of The Duomo where we so fortuitously ran into each other. Nissa cooked a glorious meal in the flat and an old woman implored us to pipe down with our late night giggling by crying out, "Silencio, ladies!" into the courtyard.
Ah, Jane, you are much missed. Bring your bambino and come to Dublin!
I'm just posting about the meet-up at the IFI and am amazed by it, too, tho' Noah said, "Of course, why wouldn't it happen that you meet someone you know." It was really special and lovely. I'm still smiling about it.
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