frunzar

În fine, iată-ne în gara de destinaţie, cu o oarecare întârziere şi cu un regret incipient. Înainte de a ne despărţi hotărâm să împărţim un taxi către centrul oraşului. Taximetristul ne zâmbeşte afabil; este un fost şofer de tir şi înţelege limba engleză. Mai mult, adoră să se implice în conversaţie în momentele cele mai neprielnice.

-Do you know any decent hostels around, less expensive and somewhat livable?
-Believe it or not, this place is as fresh to me as it is for you.
-You’ve never been here?
-Not yet.
-Silly. I thought… Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. Where are you staying?
-I have a reservation at a three star hotel near the Botanical Gardens.
-Is it decent?
-All I know is that it has a funny name. Look, this is the print-out.
-Oh, yeah, it’s quite psychedelic! And it’s painted fluorescent orange, too. Do you think they sell drugs?
-Necessarily, yeah. But only recreational.
–Der gud restaurant, tradişional. Ciorbă de burtă, sarmale, piftie, zaibăr, ţuică, papanaşi. Gud, laic madăr fud.
-What did he say? I didn’t get the last part.
-It’s complicated. Basically, you don’t want to eat or drink anything there, or you’ll end up like Alice.
-Cooper?
-No, the Wonderland kind. Although both would fit perfectly, I presume.
-I might go with that. But listen!
-Yes?
-Would you care to accompany me someplace else first?
-I still have to…
-Yeah, I know.
-…meet someone.
-Who is not there.
-Precisely.
-Well, you’re not exactly time-bound.
-What do you have in mind?
-Sorry sir, how far is Bulzeşti?
–Thărti kilometer la Nord, zmol viligi. Fildz, cauz, hors, oi.
-Oi indeed. How much to take us there and back?
–Milion end haf, miss. Long rod.
-Sorry, what’s a million and a half? I only have tens and hundreds.
-It’s the old currency; a million is a hundred now; people still count by millions though.
-I see. We also took six zeroes off the lira ten years ago and people keep doing the same.
-Nevermind that; what’s so fascinating in Bulzeşti, except its droll name?
-The memorial house, of course.
-Sorescu?
-Sorescu.

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