Riding on the train from Bratislava I met a bunch of kids and parents returning from a soccer tournament. Surprisingly, my train car with seats for 6 had only one non reserved space. I was there first and in minutes surrounded by 15 jubilant third graders-- victoriously happy after their soccer matches.
My son's team is loud. These kids were loud. The mothers tried to "shush" them but the boys could care less. They wanted to drink their victory juice and feast on cookies.
I got up. I gave my seat to one of the moms. She smiled. She thanked me. Her husband did too. He spoke English and welcomed me to Slovakia. He told me the team was from Martin. I told him I was going to Martin. Smiles all around in the train car--now about nine little boys and three mothers and one father and the American.
I made my way to the dinning car. I sat down at a table. I ordered a beer. It was cool.It tasted of wheat. The space quiet. For awhile anyway. Then, soon enough, the soccer dads moved in and together we began to visit. They bought be a shot of juniper liquor. The drink of Slovakia! We tossed it down. We smiled. We weren't strangers any more. It warmed my belly.
By the end of the trip--about three hours-- I was sharing my booth with parents and kids. They celebrated and snapped a photograph at the end. One of the mom's gave me her soccer scarf. I put it on around my neck and with the kids in the rail car we all cheered the team cheer...over and over getting louder each time.
Then the conductor came. He scolded us. We were still and we smiled when he left!
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