Interested in traveling and discovering all kinds of cultures and places, Caleb decides to go on an exchange program to Beirut and spend a semester there. He directly surrounds himself with both international students and citizens. A short while int...
I am sitting at the OSB cafeteria -the one that overlooks the sea- again. This time for lunch.
It is only my second day here and I have still not made friends. I spoke to people in my classes today. But it is not enough. I am not here to stay alone. I am here to meet people.
A group of three people who were sitting together in my last class barge into the cafeteria. Stepping harshly on the ground as if coming to war. Their voices are loud. They are trying to decide on what to order, fight a little about what is good and bad, and whether or not they want to share the food.
I understood all of this not because I had become better at Arabic on day two, but because they are talking in English.
They take seats at a table near me. After a couple of minutes of laughing and chatting, the guy gets up and goes to the counter. He brings all three sandwiches with him and gives one to each of the girls.
I finish my lunch and pass by them as I walk out.
Without preplanning, I stop when I reach their table.
"Excuse me. Hi."
They turn to me and keep their smiles on.
I get Hellos and nods back.
"I'm new here. I'm here on an exchange program. I was wondering if it would be okay to have one of you's phone number."
I notice how weird that sounded.
"I meant, we just had a class of 420 together. I was thinking it would be good to have a phone number of a classmate in case I needed anything."
I knew I was not going to need anything. This was my third year and the system here was exactly the same as back in the US. I never needed to ask a classmate anything before and I will not need it now. But I had to start meeting people. That is what this was all about.
"Yeah, sure." one of the girl says.
I know who the girl is. I am not going to forget the only face I focused on yesterday. And I am happy that she is the one who decided to give me her phone number. She seemed quite interesting to me yesterday and still looks so today. She is taking a couple of classes with me, which makes it more likely that she becomes a friend faster than the other two.
I unlock my phone and wait for her to spell her number out to me. She smoothly takes the phone from my hand and dials her number. When her phone starts ringing, she takes a look at it and ends the call.
She hands me back my phone.
"Mariam." She tells me, nodding towards the phone.
She repeats her name with her family name right afterwards. But I find trouble understanding what she is saying. I type Meriam and wait, trying to figure out how to spell her last name by myself.
She looks over to my phone. "No, no, no." She says taking my phone away again.
"Ma-riam" she corrects me and the name on the phone at the same time. "Not Me-riam. Ma-, like the French ma."
"Sha-hi-ne" she spells out while typing her last name in. I do not think I got it, but I nod.
She gives me back my phone when she is done.
"I'm Caleb by the way."
"Andrew." she says pointing at the guy sitting, "and Lea" pointing at the girl. Both of them smile at me.
"It was nice meeting you. I'll see you around." I say.
"Don't hesitate to contact me if you needed anything, Caleb. Not necessarily for the class. Anything else."
"Thank you, Meriam."
She shakes her head, obviously disappointed that she wasted a couple of seconds hoping I was going to pronounce her name right, and I did not.
"Just go." she says in a joking tone. But I am not quite sure if she is. I am a little confused. I smile and wave goodbye. Not knowing if I should have laughed or been angry. Or maybe I did the right thing by leaving.
I leave the cafeteria feeling satisfied with the step I made. And so the journey begins.
At 2pm, I attend my laboratory class. A total of eight or nine students are there. The instructor says an Arabic word every now and then and I wonder if I just missed something important. Then I reassure myself that if they laugh after what he says; which is always the case after he speaks in Arabic, then I should be fine. Less amused, but fine.
I leave my laboratory class at 5pm after having spent three hours of work. I feel tired so I decide to go take a nap before planning anything else.
I have booked a bed in a double room in the men's dorms of the university. I have been staying in there for three nights now. And no roommate whatsoever showed up yet. I am starting to wonder if I even have one.
The dormitories are nice and clean. The internet is fast. I have not yet had any trouble with the room or the building. There is always electricity, which is unlike most if not all places in Lebanon as I have read on the internet before I came.
I throw my backpack and jump on the bed right away. I hate 8am classes.
I open my phone and scroll through Instagram until I feel myself falling asleep. I lock the phone and put it away. I stop myself from thinking about anything.
Don't, Caleb.
If you do, no more nap for you.
And I feel myself drifting away.
——— Author's note:
The Men's Dormitories (the Penrose Hall)
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What did you think of this chapter? The story starts smooth but changes into something much more dense soon. This chapter was particularly a little shorter than the rest. But I will update the story very soon and hopefully you won't feel it.
