I’d not, I explained, actually been to Romania. But I had at least seen the place, across the Danube from Serbia. But Diane, my host for the evening, had visited, studying traditional dance. She’d travelled a good deal with husband Dennis. Had forgotten more Mandarin than I’d ever learnt.
I’d slept on the floor of their study. In the early morning light lying there gazing at a world map covering an entire wall. Pondering. In awe of its physical enormity, struggling to reconcile this with a new sense of smallness. Sometimes I dozed.
Equally intrigued by a couple of familiar works on their bookcase. Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond’s analysis of societal developments across the continents. Third or fourth copy I’d seen in North America.
