/// saint simon

saint simon makes a lot of noise wherever he goes. the moment he steps into a room, the happiness level of everyone else ups by at least +5. at least that's what i feel whenever i'm around him. in corridors and stairways with good echo-acoustics, he would always make this screeching sound, a cross between a bird and a donkey. its hard to explain! maybe you will hear it someday.

one lonely day, we went to portugalete. going up the escalator in moyua metro exit, i saw him standing there waiting for me, making noises with an orange pedestrian cone, shouting my name. it was the start of a great day. and a great friendship.

you know, my first impression of him was that of a know-it-all and someone who is full of himself. well that turned out to be true. haha! ;) but then i realized, he really is saint simon, a nickname that stuck when i gave it to him that lovely day at the park. we were taking a study break, me, him, bas. we listened to the shins, ate from my junk food bag, i did cartwheels. saint simon. 

the last night in olomouc, he held me while i was crying. we both understood what everything meant at that moment: the fleetingness of everything, the beauty of everything, the tragedy, the joy. ten thousand different impressions all at the same time, and our hearts struggling to embrace it all. i guess that's why i feel close to him: our hearts are built the same way, everything comes inside it magnified ten thousand times. 

simon, bas and i. i don't know why, but i've been thinking about them and our days together everyday since we've parted. i always find myself wallowing in memories that feel like something that happened a long time ago. countless sunny days in the park. sparkling nights, crossing the zubizuri bridge after going to residence. sitting on the backseat of the car, listening to them discussing the traffic in dutch, on our way to the beach. and every time i hear a-ha's take on me, i think of us dancing in their living room with the lights off, and me shouting "80s party!!!" (and that's how it started...) the now is still happening, and it doesn't have to end. 

apart or together,  i know that life would never be the same again because i met simon. happy birthday! may you live up to 120, like the real saint, if you like! cheers!