New Friend Crushes

After the three hours of building we don't want to stop being together...or we want a chance to be even more together, without distractions. Mondays after the build-a-bike class my co-teacher and one of my really cool students and I lock up the bike shop, board the doors, extend security gates and put chains in place (I have 5 keys on my key chain for all the shop locks). Then we ride through the late night alleys and almost empty streets.

First date was a yuppie bar, Cleo's. A place I would never have gone to on my own..or really if I had any choice. For some reason with them I'll trust and realize it really doesn't matter where we go. There are a bunch of cool acquaintances who are wowed by the fact that we are bike mechanics; I'm wowed by the fact they are all PHD students, with extreme degrees and years of living in Berlin under their belt. This is my first time having ten cent chicken wings. They are really good, but I feel real sick after eating 7 of them. Remembering that it was only 70 cents helps me feel better.

Second date, way better. John takes us back to his house. He lives in a neighborhood no white people live in...well no hipsters or 'young' people at least. He is like a colonist in the completely roughing it sense. JUST KIDDING. He lives in a warehouse with a bunch of other manufacturers and artists in an industrial and poor neighborhood. (People really have machines and are making things here.) John's apartment looks like an un-organized antique shop, the kind that is hard to walk through. There are stacks and stacks of books, globes, old long boards, and statues. There are antique bikes hanging from the ceiling on pullies. He is a map maker. There are trails through his apartment, no open space. He has one of the first Thermoses ever invented...it does not look like a thermos. I spend my life trying to have nothing attached to me. Throwing, donating, or mailing everything away every 5 months. I keep my walls bare. You can't even see the walls in John's home. You can see the lofts he has built. The space is kind of small, but has high ceilings. The second floor was built by John. It hangs out over the room, suspended by huge metal chains from the ceiling. That is where his bed is and something else...more storage? He lives in a play house. He gets to climb a ladder to go to bed, and his bathroom doesn't have a door. You can tell he is a bachelor. He wishes he wasn't...I recommend he get a door for his bathroom, ladies like that kind of thing.

We didn't come over to look at his maps and lofts. We came over because John is a serious beer brewer. He has all kinds of machines and actually has two really good beers on tap that he made himself. We sit and drink and his crazy neighbors come in to visit. I do not think they are used to seeing women.

Third Date: Alexis's posh apartment. Alexis is a fabulous person who becomes friends with many people, some friends have incredible connections/wealth. She is currently living in a fabulous apartment for free. It is owned by her friend who is 'eccentric' and has left the country for Belize while Alexis holds down the fort. The fort is amazing. It reminds me that even if I had a ton of money I probably would not be able to decorate or even buy such a keen sense of style. There are huge rubber trees growing in the house. The walls and furniture seem expensive and in good taste. The rooms have secret fabulous things like electric guitars and exotic gay art. She has the left overs of a catered mediterranean meal. We eat trays full of stuffed grape leaves. Drink smoky whiskey and then smoke on the roof. She has a fabulous view of the city on the well manicured roof. This time it is just the 3 of us. We explain what we used to be; how the people we dated are now getting married or pregnant or even more crazy; how we do or don't get money and how that changes us. Things that are nice to talk about, but you know most people don't care about so you keep it to yourself. I am really glad to know that John had to buy his own clothes when he was 14 or that Alexis mistakenly lived in Panama for years and now she turns down jobs that offer to pay her big money because she doesn't think they are what she wants to spend her time on. I am the youngest and it seems to show in that I know the least about my direction and what I should have learned from the past. oh well.

Date 4: It is Monday again. It is my turn to host. What can I do to compete? I don't brew my own beer, I don't live in a fabulous apartment or even really own anything cool. I have been planning this for about 3 weeks. I think my best bet is to make a squash soup and bake bread from scratch. What kind of beer should I buy? Should I get whiskey? Young people and those without much money are generally happy with crap (PBR) but what do older people with money like? Do I really want to know?

I guess it really doesn't matter. We'll probably just end up sitting on my porch sipping and smoking and talking to each other.

*IMPORTANT NOTE* this new friend crush does not in any way threaten old friend crushes and actual friends. You gentle readers of this blog, who have been my friends for years, are still too dear for words. I wish I saw you more. Maybe we should teach a night class together.