AUGUST 8th: Sohaila

It was our third day in Miami. We were a bunch of fresh international students overwhelmed with new emotions and at the same time so naive as to try to go to South Beach on the Metro Rail. "Fortunately" there was a self-elected shepherd for our flock of sheep. His name was Ali and thanks to the intense light coming from his distinctive fluorescent yellow tiny Speedo matching his yellow hat, there was no way he could have been missed.

By the time the twenty of us arrived to South Beach (took us almost 2 hours) it was so hot that even Mexican Mariano got sun sick. Most of the sheep decided to lay down next to the Baywatch hut, far from the shore. I took our shepherd's baton for a second to suggest that we should move as close as possible to the shore where it was probably breezier. The darkest German I have ever met after Chocolate German stretched her never ending legs and moved up a little bit while saying: "We are fine here, but you guys can go wherever you want". That kind of crisp answer was probably the only sentence that Sohaila and I exchanged in Miami.

Almost a year after we moved closer to the shore without Sohaila and her friends, Amanda and I were crossing the Slovenian-Austrian border to go pick up Sohalia at Graz tiny airport. Life puts me all the time in these situations. I love life.

By the time we arrived to Graz Airport and checked the Arrival Screens, we read that Sohaila's Ryan Air flight was delayed. Guess how late. TWO MINUTES! In Spain, in order to consider a flight delayed it has to be at least 30 minutes late. Quoting John Travolta's character in Pulp Fiction, "I love little (cultural) differences".

So Sohaila's electrifying hair showed up at the gate followed closely by the rest of her body. When Amanda warned Sohaila on the phone the day before that I would be around for a couple of days, Sohalia could not remember who I was. After a long and "jumpful" hug with Amanda she looked at me and said "Of course I remember José! Now I know who he is!". I resorted to one of my favorite Kevin Spacey's sentences in American Beauty: "Don't worry. I wouldn't remember me either."

Once again my first impression of someone was totally wrong. This Moroccan-German ended up being a lovely girl with a witty sense of humor. Amanda, Sohaila and I had two awesome days together and Amanda showed us around Graz(Austria), Maribor(Slovenia), a SPA nearby (SPA in Slovenian=SPeedo feAst) and of course the Amon Empire where we played golf and enjoyed the best food and delicatessens.

Even while we were waiting for almost one hour to get our food at that horrible Greek Restaurant in Graz (probably with Spanish employees), we had fun. Not to mention that it would have been way more fun if Amanda and Sohaila had wanted to follow my advice about DINE-AND-DASH at the restaurant.

Three days later, when I had to say goodbye to those two crazy girls I felt pretty sad. Amanda was an angel lending me her jacket that literally saved my life during my trip back home. In my last sentence with Sohaila I used another Spacey's quote later on the same movie, and I told her:"I think this time you are going to remember me".