Random Encounter

So life in Switzerland is never dull. It's just been very busy and interesting.

So this week I've been trying to finish working out the problem with my visa. I been sent to one person after another and who knows where the end is. But Thursday I was in downtown Lausanne getting lost (as is normal is the city with crazy skinny curvy streets that change names every block or so it seems) trying to find the Office of Population. I guess I was pretty obviously lost cause this guy stops and asks if he can help me. And I'm like I'm trying to find this building and I had the address and he's like okay I'll help you out. So we walk around and find the building, but just my luck, they are already closed for the day. Everything closes so early here it's obnoxious. I don't know how anything gets done. No so then this guys continues to talk to me and follow me as I'm trying to go shopping to grab some bread and other stuff for the night. All of a sudden he's like I want to give you something for letting me talk to you. And I like, k, this is strange, but yeah.... So he takes my hand and takes off the diamond ring he is wearing and gives it to me. I'm like no, no, I can't take that and try to give it back to him, but he's like I'll just throw it into the street if you don't take it, it means nothing to me. And I'm still like no, I can't have it, and through confusing French that I don't quite understand I end up with it. Then going k I need to get away from this strange person, but no matter which way I go he's still just going along following me and talking to me where I have to stop him every few words to get him to explain what in the heck he's saying, trying to be somewhat annoying so that it's a very interupted conversation, but he's still there. Eventually as I'm getting down to where I actually kinda know the city he's like, oh no come this way cause there's a grocery store right along here that you can go to, and being me, I'm like okay, so we go and I can see it and I try to go to go get my stuff, but then somehow I'm not quite sure what was said, end up not going in and somehow still walking with this random person. He was very nice and patient, but I'm like this is strange..... So then as we pass all these little cafes, he's like come have a drink with me and I'm like no I don't drink. I don't want a drink. After being asked for the millionth time, I'm like fine, I'll have a coke. So then he orders me a drink and doesn't get one for himself and I'm like k what's up with that? And he explains that he's a Jew and that today is one of there fast days. So I'm sitting here drinking this coke with this strange person that is trying to get me to trust him, and I'm just trying to figure out how to get home without him following me there. So, yeah, basically this guy follows me around for two hours before I lose him and that only because he had to make dinner for his friend, and I'm was finally like no, I'm not going to go eat dinner with you. So I finally get to do my shopping and go home, but that's was not until after he's bugged me about what I was doing Friday night cause he wanted me meet him again. I told him I already had plans, so he's like what are you doing Saturday? And again I already had stuff planned to do, so I'm like k, I'd rather not see you again. But then he's like what are you doing that you want to do instead of see me? (Basically anything or even nothing...) But so I told him every Friday I go to Yverdon-les-Bains for a religion class with some friends. So he's like well what are you doing Saturday then, and I told him I was meeting up with some people from school to go to Geneva and I didn't know when I was leaving conviently or when I was getting back. So the crazy guys like, well I'll come with you to Yverdon Friday, and I'm like great.... I couldn't say no, so since he had my cell number he was going to call me so that we could go together on the train cause he didn't want to go with the people I knew in their car....

So I made it home, hoping that he really wouldn't want to come Friday, but overwhelmed and crazy and kinda freaking out and just out of my head. I was like what in the world am I supposed to do with this diamond ring? Cause it's real, and seeing that the guy was wearing an Armani suit, and some kind of designer shades and he'd explained that he had a lot of money, I don't know what to do with the thing. It's pretty and all, but yeah....

So why I gave this guy my cell number I don't know, but he called my incessantly Saturday night. It just makes me laugh. He was definitely infatuated with me and the more he called the stranger he got in my head. Till I'm like with guy is psychotic. I'm like there is no way I'm meeting him alone Friday night and I'm going to try dang hard to figure out how to not ever meet him again.

Friday, he again called incessantly, and so I found some other people to ride the train with. But Fridays I meet with my Tandem partner until six at school and then meet up with Serge at 6:45 at school to go to Institute. So as soon as I was done, I hop on the metro to get downtown to the train station. I buy my ticket and then take off for the track cause I'm not sure if I'm going to make the train. All thoughout this time, this guy, Joseph, is calling me cause he doesn't want to miss me. I'm just trying to not miss the train and meet him just as I'm getting on board, figuring that I can find Eric and his sister once I'm on the train. So I get on and the train leaves and Eric calls to see if I made it on, I told him it did, and he's like okay I'll come look for you. So Joseph's like come sit down and I'm trying to explain that I'm trying to find my friends, but there is a definite language barrier, and I don't know if he's just choses to not understand what I'm saying or not. So Eric calls again cause he realized that the train were on is two separate ones hooked together so you can't walk the train from end to end and of course we are on separate ones. Luckily the train ride was only like a half hour, but I'm not interested at all in this guy and he just doesn't get it.

So we get to Yverdon and I'm so relieved to see Eric and we walk to Institute, but no one but me knows the strange story of this guy and how I really don't know him at all, and I can't quite explain that with him right there and talking with people later, they all just assumed that I'd known the guy for forever. So we go to class and it was fun and amusing and Joseph had a good time cause he told me that he wanted to come with me every week afterwards, and I like this just isn't working cause I'd really rather never see this guy again in my life. So left at like 10:30 to go home earlier with some other girls cause I didn't want to end up alone with this strange man, and I didn't want him following me home, so I figured even though I had no clue where these two other girls lived I'd just follow them until they got home and if this guy was still following me I'd just stay with them. But luckily after waiting forever for missed buses and being close to downtown, he left, and I'm was relieved to finally be able to tell them the strange story and try to figure out where in the world I was and where I was going so that I could eventually get home.

So since then I haven't run into the guy although he keeps calling and texting me incessantly and wants to try to get me to meet him somewhere.

So that's my random story of the week.

Hope your lives aren't quite as exciting

Stephanie