a fantastic brazilian surprise on bus number 20

I was walking down the aisle of a nearly full bus 20, looking for a spot to sit, when I heard someone say my name.
"Rachel?"
I looked to the guy sitting in the seat I was standing next to. He was very familiar.
"Hey!" I said.
Where do I know this face from? He's an international student from last year. Or...?
"Do you remember who I am?" he asked.
And as soon as he asked that question I had put two and two together...all this took about seven seconds.
"Thiago! Geez! What...how...God, it's great to see you!"

Thiago was an AFS student from Brazil living in Tromsø when I lived in Alta....almost seven years ago now. We were really good friends and kept in touch for a year or so after we went back home. But as life goes on and email addresses change, all of us AFSers lost touch with one another. But the thing about groups of AFS students is that they become such close friends under such strange circumstances that you never really forget about those people. When I came home this summer I was looking at all my old photos from my AFS year and I wondered what all of them are doing now. Many of them remain a mystery, but not Thiago. He is studying at the University of Tromsø (and living with his AFS host family) for a semester - or maybe longer - and then plans on starting a three year program here next year or the year after. I was thrilled to see him and I look forward to rekindling a friendship that I thought was just a wonderful part of my past. We also decided while sitting together on the bus that we would try to get in touch with some of our old AFS friends and invite them to Tromsø this fall or winter. Who knows...maybe they'll show up one day, too.