I know my parents. (I think this is generally apparent.)
My parents have friends named E and S.
E and S have a son.
This son has a friend named D, who used to teach in Peru.
A former colleague of D's from the school in Peru, named D2, now works here in Barranquilla at the British School. I've been in e-touch with D2, but have yet to meet him.
This morning I hopped on the bus to get to school, and the first face that greeted me looked out of place - another whitey! Like me! After staring each other down for a few seconds (not really), he decided to make idle white chatter. But it wasn't just any chatter - he asked me, out of the blue, in English, without having heard me speak, if I was Canadian. How did he know?!
It was weird, though a stranger on the bus knowing who I was isn't unprecedented. So we got to talking, and it turns out he's been here for a while, after having spent 16 years as an accountant and also some time in the Canadian Forces (though he didn't look old enough to have done all that, maybe I mis-heard the 16).
Another Canadian! My excitement caused me to forget about his strange, unexplained knowledge of me. I haven't spoken to a Canadian (apart from a few static-y minutes of failed attempted Skype with my family) in several weeks, which is almost definitely the longest streak of its kind since I didn't know how to speak.
I eventually discovered that he used to work at the school I presently work at, and he recently ran into the senior school principal, who informed him of my existence (my legend precedes me, apparently). And when he saw me enter the bus with another teacher who I eventually figured out he already knew, he put 2 and 2 together.
So what does this story have to do with the opening lines of this blog post? Well, my new Canadian friend, J, now works at the British School, and knows D2. A very satisfying completion of the circle. Kevin Bacon would be proud.
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