Stuck in a Furrow
Monday, June 02, 2008
Roland
His name was Roland Peterson.
We spent the summer both doing the same thing; drive-by evangelism and trying to make ourselves feel like we were making a difference in the hot African sun. He was Nampula Hospital and I was Mozambique Film. And the first time I met him was at debrief in South Africa.
It was almost open season. That was when the boys got to ask a girl to the final supper. This was a big deal as for the entire summer, relationships with the opposite sex were not allowed. I guess they feared that if they let a bunch of hormone crazed 16 year olds have free reign there would be a bunch of TMI babies running rampant. I got my share of 'SB' (Special Blessings - aka work duty) for spending my time with a certain Josh. He was a skater and dreamy. I was 16. He was not.
I wanted to go with Josh but he was forbidden to ask me, so it appeared I was going to be dateless. No biggie. That was the story of my life so far. Josh found a replacement. Did I mention he was a skater and dreamy? Girls loved him. Roland was on another team (it was uncommon to mix teams), older and always had girls nearby. He was popular and witty and everyone said what a nice guy he was. We said hi in the lunch line and chatted on the way to quizzing but never really talked.
He asked me to be his date one afternon. He caught up to me as I headed across the obstacle course and seemed nervous as he asked me.
I said no.
My teammates were shocked that I turned him down. Did I not realize he was prime date material? I figured his invitation was a pity invite and it was set up by one of my friends. I was shy and awkward and figured that I was destined to go alone to the open season banquet.
My friends were not convinced of my reasoning and talked to Roland. Told him my reasons for saying no and encouraged him that if he asked again, I surely would say yes.
There was a knock on our lodge door. I opened it to find Roland standing there. His entire team was behind him, maybe for moral support, maybe because I was less likely to say no if there was a crowd. He asked again.
I said yes.
We had fun at the banquet. He picked me up at our lodge, held doors open and we laughed through the entire meal. We spent our plane ride back to NY talking on the in-plane phones and becoming fast friends.
We said our goodbyes at the airport. We exchanged numbers and details on airport pamphlets and promised to write and call. I kept that pamphlet for years. I never did call or write for fear that he would have forgotten me or thought I was crazy. I never heard from him.
I found him on Facebook. I am not a stalker, we are just members of the same group. I am not going to add him or message him, once again for fear that he won't remember the awkward 16 year old he asked to be his date at open season. That was almost 11 years ago.
But it is one of my favourite memories of the summer of '98.
We spent the summer both doing the same thing; drive-by evangelism and trying to make ourselves feel like we were making a difference in the hot African sun. He was Nampula Hospital and I was Mozambique Film. And the first time I met him was at debrief in South Africa.
It was almost open season. That was when the boys got to ask a girl to the final supper. This was a big deal as for the entire summer, relationships with the opposite sex were not allowed. I guess they feared that if they let a bunch of hormone crazed 16 year olds have free reign there would be a bunch of TMI babies running rampant. I got my share of 'SB' (Special Blessings - aka work duty) for spending my time with a certain Josh. He was a skater and dreamy. I was 16. He was not.
I wanted to go with Josh but he was forbidden to ask me, so it appeared I was going to be dateless. No biggie. That was the story of my life so far. Josh found a replacement. Did I mention he was a skater and dreamy? Girls loved him. Roland was on another team (it was uncommon to mix teams), older and always had girls nearby. He was popular and witty and everyone said what a nice guy he was. We said hi in the lunch line and chatted on the way to quizzing but never really talked.
He asked me to be his date one afternon. He caught up to me as I headed across the obstacle course and seemed nervous as he asked me.
I said no.
My teammates were shocked that I turned him down. Did I not realize he was prime date material? I figured his invitation was a pity invite and it was set up by one of my friends. I was shy and awkward and figured that I was destined to go alone to the open season banquet.
My friends were not convinced of my reasoning and talked to Roland. Told him my reasons for saying no and encouraged him that if he asked again, I surely would say yes.
There was a knock on our lodge door. I opened it to find Roland standing there. His entire team was behind him, maybe for moral support, maybe because I was less likely to say no if there was a crowd. He asked again.
I said yes.
We had fun at the banquet. He picked me up at our lodge, held doors open and we laughed through the entire meal. We spent our plane ride back to NY talking on the in-plane phones and becoming fast friends.
We said our goodbyes at the airport. We exchanged numbers and details on airport pamphlets and promised to write and call. I kept that pamphlet for years. I never did call or write for fear that he would have forgotten me or thought I was crazy. I never heard from him.
I found him on Facebook. I am not a stalker, we are just members of the same group. I am not going to add him or message him, once again for fear that he won't remember the awkward 16 year old he asked to be his date at open season. That was almost 11 years ago.
But it is one of my favourite memories of the summer of '98.
