In early June, I had a party at my place. I invited many people and I made them Iranian food. There were 14 people and I cooked everything on my own. There were Russians, Italians, Brazilians, Ukrainian, Malaysian, and one Iranian person. I guess they all liked the food a lot. I also had so much fun.
I ended up talking to an Italian guy for 2 hours continuously after everyone left. I can’t believe that we talked for hours without even realizing time passing by. He showed me his diary. Much as it was in Italian and I didn’t understand even a word, the fact that he occasionally writes drew my attention to itelself. I somehow believe that people who write usually think about topics that could be some level deeper than the ordinary life, (unlike most of the people). He cared enough to think a lot and ask himself questions. For him, it took two years to figure out what he wants to study at university level. He didn’t just want to go to university as everyone else does, he was overly curious to find out why.
I was born and raised in Iran where is remarkably different from Italy. I started living in another country at the age of 24. He lived in the US when he was 18 or so. He is a bartender, and I don’t drink. He speaks Italian and I speak Farsi. He is 21, I am 25. He is studying bachelor in psychology and I am studying a master’s in astrophysics. He smokes weed and I don’t. God, there are many huge differences here. But Although my life is a far cry from his, I’ve kind of gone through the same thing. I felt him unexpectedly so similar to me. He left his lasting impression when he challenged me by asking about the thing here in Italy that I am not willing to bring it back home when I leave. I still don’t know the respond to that question honestly.
The story that I just mentioned happened a few months ago, but surprisingly I still remember my Italian friend. As today is my birthday and did not get any happy birthday from the people that I know abroad, I can’t help but wonder how do we get ourselves unforgettable in one’s life? Can we really live a fingerprint on the lives that we touch? If it’s that so, how do we know?
I guess I pretty know how someone can touch my life in a way that won’t easily fade away: it’s when they care about me, or when they make feel understood. It can also happen if they teach me something or make me think about something. These all normally imply good effects on my life that probably last. But I still need to think about the bad impacts as well.
I celebrated my birthday this year in my country with a few of my friends in a desert lying down under the night sky, waiting to see the shooting stars. Every year a meteor shower occurs the night of my birthday. And I have always been so eager to watch them. But this year, I realized that even going to desert to watch the shower is not that important to me anymore. There are real stars in my life that I like to be around them. There is absolutely no need to drive far away to watch the sky night. They are just there, right beside me. And I have never been happier to have them shine in my life. This time I know that my friends and family are like stars that make my life much brighter. Sometimes I don’t see them, but I know that they are just there.
Summer 2021 …
A slice of me 