A stranger for a friend

Saulis and I...
Originally uploaded by The Enforcer.

Today felt like the longest day of my life. This morning I flew out from Berlin, saying farewell to Steph. I won't see her again for at least 3 months. I decided to take a bus out of Riga to Sauliai, because the direct bus to Klaipeda wasn't leaving for another 5 hours. The layover in Sualiai was supposed to be 2 hours, but my bus never came. An older Lithuanian man who was waiting for the same bus kept asking me where it was, in Lithuanian of course, and I kept answering simply, 'I do not know.' Eventually he got frustrated and took me to the info. booth, to find out that the bus wasn't coming. Both of us were quite upset (me completely confused as to how I would get home). Well, this man kept rambling off things to me, none of which I could understand. I tried to explain to him that I didn't know Lithuanian, but apparently he didn't really seem to care as he kept talking to me a mile a minute. Through much confusion, he eventually led me to the train station and talked to a lady, setting us both up with tickets: him to Plunge, and me for Klaipeda. But it was another 2 hour wait until the train would come. So we hung out in the train station. Train stations in Eastern Europe are never heated, so this place was warmer than the -10 deg. celcius weather outside, but definitly not warm. I went the entire day being cold, but with the weather here, the feeling of coldness is something you get used to.

The man, Saulis, continued talking to me, until I faked sleep and then actually did fall asleep. After what seemed too long, the train finally came and we gratefully loaded. Once seated, Saulis continued talking for the next 2 hours, until he had to leave. We parted with many thank yous and farewells. An hour later I arrived in Klaipeda, grabbed the closest taxi, hiked the 5 flights of stairs and collapsed on my dorm bed. Never had I been so happy to be in a warm bed. It wasn't until I laid down to sleep I realized how crazy of an experience i had had that day, but how God had provided me with a stranger to be my friend. Perhaps Saulis wasn't an angel, but today he was mine.