Ehrenfeld

After ten minutes of waiting under the stairs, planning to surprise Budi in front of the Cologne Central Mosque, Sarah feels the urge to explore the area more, maybe ask someone when the Friday prayer would be finished. She goes up the stairs to the open yard and feels blend in with the tourist who keeps taking selfie and family picture in front of the mosque amidst the sound of sermon coming from the inside area. She offers her service in taking picture for some people, the wide smiles that she gets from them always become an instant serotonin, and everytime she feels the rush, she keeps thinking to forget university and just starts an Ausbildung and her life would be so much more fulfilled. Budi caught her in action while taking pictures of a Somali family that takes navy blue as a group color. He teases her to offer her service for one Euro every Friday, while waiting for him praying. She wonders if that’s an invitation for a routine, but she is too afraid to ask. As for now, she is officially someone’s girlfriend and all she knows, he thinks that she is racist.

They stroll too slow to be scorched under the hottest day of the year, no one dare to open the serious talk first, no one wants to break the easy breezy banter that’s too fun to break. Sarah doesn’t feel the need to talk about racism because talking about random fact like, which country has the biggest duck population on earth feels better, she doesn’t want to incite something that makes the possibility of losing her new best friend that she probably gonna lose anyway in four months, higher. There are so many questions and too little time. She knows that he will just be in another country but she knows herself, she wouldn’t be able to keep long distance anything, no matter hard Budi would try. She once lose a best friend, for her move to another end of North Rhine Westphalia, Münster is five hours away, but what’s the point of sharing your thoughts in text and spending quality time with your voice on the air.

Budi chooses Simitland to introduce her to a Gözleme, he stops them midway, even though Sarah was planning to bring him to the famous grill joint Kebapland, but when he finds out there is a restaurant that specialize only making the his favorite stuffed Turkish flatbread, he insist that one, there is no grilled chicken better than Indonesian grilled chicken and two it’s destiny to see a restaurant that has his long forgotten favorite dish with his new favorite person.

„Am i still your favorite tho?“ truthfully what Sarah really wants to know if she is his only favorite, but the card is not on her side. Budi slides his gözleme order to Sarah’s direction, gesturing that she should try his. He looks at her carefully, waiting for her mind to blow with this meat pancake. Right after Sarah, „I was really bummed out last time, because before the grill party, I got the news that they won’t support to extend my stay here.“

„Maybe it would be nice if you be jealous for once!“