Ana and Gabi were married on a sunny Sunday afternoon in June in a little white church in the historical part of Iasi named Copou. Somewhere on the hills of Copou in this north eastern Romanian city where Ana grew up is the country’s oldest university, as well as a tree famous for the poet who once penned verses below it.
Incidentally, Ana and Gabi were married on the same day Romanians across the country elected their local administrations – no clear winner emerged, by the way, with leftist Social Democrats and center-right Democrat Liberals splitting the spoils.
On that day in the little white church built in 1750 Ana and Gabi looked happy and determined on their way to their happily-ever-after. When I think of that day I think of their hands entwined during the service - their long graceful quiet mathematician hands holding each other as if they’d never let go. Candy was thrown at them at some point during the service.
Give or take a heart beat or two, a meal course or four or a hora, a traditional Romanian dance, their wedding had a little Cosmopolitan Coffee Hour feel to it – you know, a few Romanians, one Chinese, one Indian, one fierce German and one Argentinean discussing the fate of the euro and the stamps in their passports. And along everything else, human rights, horoscopes versus physics, politics, bad habits of smoking Romanian drivers, absent housemates, dreams. One world.
It had been four years since I was last in the living room at Cosmo experiencing the joy and wealth of stories my house mates could tell. Yet during the two sunny days in June that I spent in Iasi I felt as if I had never left. We were back at Cosmo, young and loud and full of promise and dreams. I could almost hear Young Jae playing the piano from my room on the first floor.
Except, you know, we grew up a wee bit. We built careers, bought real estate, traveled the world, got started on those dreams from long ago, got new ones, tried to help others, fell in love, got engaged, planned weddings. We now have a few more stories to tell.
To keep with the wedding theme, if all goes well, Daniela will marry Inaki in Munich next year. It should be an elaborate Bavarian wedding that will start with soup, despite Inaki’s protests. They will dance a wedding waltz to the Spanish version of Bryan Adams’ Have you ever really loved a woman and they will look beautiful.
Anand, who you wouldn’t believe what cool things is doing at work, will marry a smart beautiful girl in January, but not before Ajay. Elsewhere, Zhong-ning (Nihao, wo de pengyou!) will probably circle the world a few more times all the while becoming an expert in salsa dancing. Florin will likely unscrew the last unknown nuts and bolts of Romanian politics. And that is just scratching the surface.
While we now live different lives spanning the globe, part of the process of growing up took place within the safe warm walls of Cosmo and a big part of that was shared. If my stay in Iasi has taught me anything is that some things endure. We will always have Cosmo.
Luiza is a journalist and former Cosmo resident. She lives, dreams and acts corny in Bucharest and sometimes misses the Illini prairie.
Cosmo friends gather after the wedding in Romania
L to R: Florin, Anand, Daniela, groom and bride,
Inaki, Luiza, Zhong-ning, bride’s sister