Wait a minute!

The sun was cutting the continent in two parts. I was on the better half, the warm part, Portugal. After crossing the river Tagus by a ferryboat

I was walking on a hill, which felt like a mountain. I am from the Netherlands and live pretty much below sea-level. So, I was climbing a mountain and arrived in a cozy youth hostel.

There were 28 people from different countries of Europe. We had to form a group for the first assignment. I became a member of the group Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Luxembourg and Russia. The German consists of half German and half Mozambique and I consider myself as half Dutch and half Sri Lankan. The collection of these three continents was sitting around the table, well almost…

Sir German had difficulty with being on time. At ten o’clock he entered the lounge. Slowly he walked to the wrong group. I became slightly annoyed, since we had already lost an hour and had to create a name for the group. Finally the German found the right group and took his breakfast from each of his pockets. He said: “Guys, just wait a minute.” We said: “Fine, that is our name: Wait a minute!”

We went to the Portuguese coaches to present our name: “Wait a minute!” The Portuguese coaches responded: “Come on, you had an hour of time?!” “No, ‘Wait a minute’ is our name!” (Don’t be surprised that the Portuguese responded like that, they also have a time-schedule).

We were the last group, who were leaving the building to discover Lisbon. We had to complete different assignments, such as finding a typical Portuguese proverb. While we were walking in the small and hilly streets, the German took from each of his pockets (same as the breakfast before) a book about the history of Portugal and a map. He was looking at me and said: “Yes Holandesa, I am German and very organized.” I thought in silence: “Yes, only after 12 o’clock.” We walked to a police officer and asked him about the most typical proverb in Portugal. He answered: “If you want to go fast, you need to slow down.” Great, that was what we needed! We were the slowest group of the new arrivals, therefore we could use a proverb that might lift our spirits. Sir German found it very interesting and started a conversation with the officer.

Meanwhile the police officer was completing all the questions. The Latvian and Lithuanian were very aware of the time and asked the German if he could start to move again. Of course the German responded with: “Just wait a minute.” The idea that we could win this game was, from the beginning, an illusion.

At that point another girl asked me if I would like to eat something.

I asked: “What is the time?” She responded: “What has time got to do with it?” I thought: “Good question!” I answered: “Most Dutch people eat at six o’clock.” She asked: “Even if you are not hungry?”

I thought again: “Great, I lost two illusions in two minutes. My whole life and meals were managed by a clock and now I had to wonder if I was hungry or not? Gosh, the harder you try to deny your origin, the more it shows up!”

Meanwhile the German was disconnected from the officer by the Latvian and Lithuanian. And we were moving on and looking for a place to eat. It was not easy to decide where we could eat, a bunch of cultures with different tastes. We figured out that pizza is something like an agreement of peace, so we went to the pizzeria.

In the pizzeria the German was saying that he was really good in doing two things at the same time, but he needed more time than other people. So, he read his book for the next assignment and meanwhile he was twirling the spaghetti around with his fork. The point was that he remained twirling his spaghetti around his fork. He continued until there was almost a hole in his plate! The Latvian and Lithuanian asked him, if he could start to eat because our free-time was done. The Luxembourger was pretty silent and neutral in this situation. After this day of investigation, we went back to the hostel for the results of the game.

And the winner was…wait a minute…

No applause.

Ah, ‘Wait a minute!’

Applause!

Maybe the police officer was right. Start slow and finish as a winner.

Just wait a minute for the next step.

Just wait a minute to give an answer.

Wait a minute to make that important decision.

It is a lesson, a statement, may be a way of living:

Wait a minute to explore yourself in your own time!

By Meliza de Vries, The Netherlands

August 2, 2010 | Categories: Authors, Meliza de Vries | Tags: English, Portugal, The Netherlands | 5 Comments »