what follows is one of my diary entries from a nice day when i lived in the basque country.

13/1/2020

Hello my friend.

After I finished writing yesterday, I went to Getxo to hang out with Sasha. I went to Algorta on the train just as the sun was beginning to set, and there was a golden misty halo cast in the bay. It looked like a peachy sun shower, and I was struck by the seemingly heavenly beauty in the light shining on all the people out for a Sunday drink/stroll in town. I found Sasha reading a Vladimir Nabakov book on a bench overlooking the ocean. Getxo has a walking path which winds all along the edge of the cliffs, complete with little benches and knobby trees every couple of feet. Sasha was planted at one of these benches. I brought my candies I bought from Dallin, we each ate half and sat and talked about dating and romance, and I told him about the weird things Dallin has done recently. I like hanging out with Sasha though also because I can sit in silence with him. When I first arrived, I hardly felt like saying anything at all. We sat in silence and watched the translucent coral-golden halo sink over Getxo. I should describe the halo more -- it is a tangible depth to the air which gets caught in the light because the air is so thick with condensation and ocean water. It is a glimmering fog the color of the sunset dwelling in the bowl-like bay of Getxo.

And Sasha and I talk. We go back to his apartment once the sun has set and eat some of the applesauce we made and he broils asparagus. We eat butter on bread, too. We realize the movie we’ve been trying to catch is in 22 minutes and it takes us 20 to walk there. We take the asparagus out of the oven and eat it with our hands. We begin our walk to the movies, along the Playa de la Concha-esque ornate metal girded riviera beach front. My memories of the walk there are much different than the memories from the walk back. We arrive at the theater and buy tickets from the machine because its €.50 cheaper. The auto-clerk eats Sasha’s €20 bill, coughs, and sputters for a solid minute and a half before returning our change and our tickets. We get popcorn and soda and sour sticks. We go into the theater. We are seeing Clint Eastwood’s new movie “Richard Jewell”. I begin to laugh right away, as soon as the actor says “Señor Brian”. Sasha and I are giggling together in a theater mostly full of middle aged Spanish people seeing the movie for (?) Lord Knows what reason. We eat our popcorn and drink our soda. Halfwayish through the movie Sasha hands me half a sour stick. I eat it slowly, cautiously, peeling apart each little strip with my teeth and rolling it around in my mouth, savoring it. Three quarters of the way through the movie, Sasha hands me the other half of my sour stick, and I eat it in the same deliberate manner.

We finish the movie. We review it on the way home, laughing and recounting. He walks me to the metro and we say goodbye with a hug and a see-you-tomorrow-probably. I sit on the platform reading the Miranda July book of short stories Abby gave me and DMing Mateo on Instagram. I feel harmonious because the yellow and black cover of the book match the black and yellow logo of his Instagram icon.