Last night, against all my desires, I met Jalal. Ha!
Hani, Suzanne and I went to dinner last night at Cafe Perugia. Nom. I had the soup, Lo Zuppo di legumi... translated into English as "Organic Pulses Soup." Clearly I had to order it. It was AMAZING. It was thick lentil soup with a meat base broth and olive oil drizzled on top. Yes, please. Can't wait to go back. We had some fantastic wine and food. Hani has been battling a terrible cold so Suzanne ordered him to get a shot of whiskey- PRONTO. So we hopped over to the bar and got a drink at this bar right next to "the Steps" and our apartment. The Steps are the steps of Chiesa di San Lorenzo, the cathedral of Perugia. Every night, young people from all over the world go there to mingle, chat, smoke and drink. In Perugia, you can have an open container if it isn't in a glass bottle. They have a littering problem. Anywho, we got a drink and I gave Hani the rest of my delicious and cold Newcastle so I could go home and pass out. I live maybe 2 minutes from the steps and live off a main street. I knew it was a safe place to go for sure and I wasn't tipsy or anything.
On my walk to my apartment, I spend 90 percent of it on a main road where a bunch of Umbra Insitute students live and a few of them hang out in the street too. So I knew it was fine. It wasn't even 11 PM for heaven sakes. But I notice this lone guy walking far behind me. I slowed down and pretended I was doing something so he could keep walking past me.
Nope. My tactic failed. I hear his steps quicken and all of a sudden I hear "Ciao. Italianoitalinoitalno, parli italani, scusi, italianoitaliano blah blah blah." He has caught up with me so he can talk my ears off. I was silent for 15 seconds CLEARLY ignoring him and he kept talking. No discouraging this guy...
So because I was 20 steps away from my apartment, I couldn't go home because he would know where I lived. Well here's what I learned from the very little I could understand of his RAPID Italian.
His name is Jalal. He even showed me his id because I couldn't understand his name. I figured I was safe if he was taking out his wallet in front of me haha. I found out (maybe?) many things about him.
1. He lives with his sister and her two children.
2. He might be Moroccan.
3. He wanted my number and to take me for a coffee EVEN THOUGH I COULDN'T COMMUNICATE WITH HIM. Am I weird for thinking this is a problem? This happens a lot actually. Italian guys will take out American girls even if the girls can barely speak Italian.
4. He thought I was very beautiful and told me that meeting me made him happy.
5. He doesn't like the Steps. I feel like this is because he might be running from the law. HA. Safety first.
6. He is legally registered in Italy as a citizen so if he assaulted me I could easy find him with the police. The police worry the most about illegal immigrants because they can commit a crime and completely disappear.
Fortunately, I told him my phone didn't work, I wasn't going home but going to the steps and I said "I don't understand" multiple times. You'd think all of those things would be a turn off/ make him realize we were not meant to be...
Nope. Something tells me that I will see Jalal again real soon... Yay Perugia for being my new TAC sized life...
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