The Journey to Paris

Even though my train wasn't departing until noon, I was dropped off at the Padova train station bright and early on that Thursday morning. You see, this was the only time Chiara could take me. Mattia had a doctor's appointment in Padova that morning, which would last a few hours, Marco had work, and there is no form of public transportation near my house.

So at 8AM I found myself in line at the help desk inquiring where the left luggage station was. I made my way to platform one to the office where I could pay a small fee to leave my suitcase for the day.

By 8:30AM I was across the street at McDonald's ordering a croissant with cream, while noticing a man standing awkwardly close to me. 

I had planned to pass the time away by leisurely eating breakfast and reading my book until it was time to meet up with an Au Pair who lived nearby. As I was scoping out the sitting area looking for a good place to hangout that morning, I realized there weren't any good spots. It was full of students grabbing breakfast and studying before heading off to class for the day. So I found myself sitting at a table in the middle of a long bench where two tables were on either side of me. A girl occupied a table to my right. Unfortunately, no one was to my left. Two dirty trays were setting on the table directly to my left though and I figured that would be enough to ward off any unwanted company.

I was wrong.

The man entered the sitting area with his tray of food, proceeded to set his tray on the tall table across the way (I breathed a sigh of relief). But it was only to free up his hands so he could move the dirty trays setting on the table to my left, so he could sit directly next to me. I still had hope that maybe I would be able to enjoy my morning.

Once he sat down I decided to scoot closer to the girl who was to my right. As I did this the man said, "No, No." (Great. He had made contact with me. Morning ruined.)

He started speaking to me in Italian. I thought "Perfect, I'll just tell him I speak English and this will end. I will be free to enjoy my reading". No, of course, homeboy knew how to speak English. Just my luck. 

He began the conversation with what I'm presuming is his go to pick-up line: "Do you come here often? I have this extra discount for a coffee and croissant for one Euro, I'd like to give it to you."

I found myself trapped. I was speaking to this man whom I had no desire to be speaking with. I got asked the usual questions: Where are you from? Are you studying? Why are you here? You're a what? How long will you be here? Will you learn Italian? 

The last question, "Will you learn Italian?" was the kicker. I replied, "I want to." He then said, "I think I may be in the profession to help you. I'm an Italian teacher at the University!" I said, "Oh cool." He continued speaking with much excitement about meeting up with me again, showing me around Padova, teaching me Italian. All the while, I was sitting there thinking, "Oh great. This is miserable. He is not attractive at all. Will he please just stop talking?"

I answered each question with as little enthusiasm as possible hoping he would get the hint and let me be. 

He didn't get the hint. 

And thus began my statements of lies. 

I finally said, "I have to leave to meet my friend", which was a lie. He replied, "How can I contact you? Do you have a phone number?" I lied and said, "No" thinking that would be the end of it. Nope. Thanks to social media he then said, "Do you have Facebook?" If I had said no then I would've been strange. I mean who in this day and age doesn't have a Facebook?! He then handed me his phone to add myself as his friend. I lied again. I said, "I can't find my profile. There's too many to scroll through." He said, "What if I add myself on your Facebook?" "I need WiFi for it to work", I said. That was lie.

But did this deter him? Noooo! He then said, "Why don't I give you my name and you can add me later?!" So he typed his name in my notes and I thought, "Finally, I can leave!" 

No, not before he tried doing the European greeting with me. It was the most awkward thing ever. Even more awkward than my first meeting with Chiara at the airport when I was totally not expecting the "kiss kiss" thing and it turned into an embarrassing, awkward hug. 

This one with the random guy takes the cake! I was not trying to get up close and personal with this man. He shook my hand and then leaned in for the "kiss kiss", but I was sure not to let him touch my face. So it was just this awkward hand shake with him trying to kiss my cheek, but I was making sure to keep my distance. 

He then made this awkward laugh and said, "I look forward to getting your request on Facebook." I gave him a fake smile and by 9AM I was walking down the streets of Padova annoyed that my morning plans were ruined.