I hosted a guy named Hector a while ago. He was friendly, intelligent, but stubborn, impetuous and sometimes tending to overestimate his travels.
A profile with positive reviews from all over the world, he spoke seven languages, including Russian. He was a man with a million interests and the attention span of a cocker spaniel.
As soon as he came in he’d started talking, well, bragging about his journeys: "You have no idea ... that’s an incredible thing … I have to tell you ... I have been on the road for three days and I only slept a couple of hours ... I have been traveling around the world for three years, I guess ... that’s unbelievable ... you have no idea”
However, I had already got an idea of Hector after just five minutes. I tried to cut the discussion short. I asked if he wanted some food, but he wasn’t hungry.
"Thank you very much! Why don’t I cook dinner for you? Come on, I’ll make you a plate that I learned in Turkey, in prison ... that’s an incredible thing … I was arrested unjustly... you have no idea ... I spent a week in jail… that was an experience, but I wouldn’t want to go through that again …when all was clear I went to Peru to see a shaman … I’ve been up to the Amazon for a year on a raft built with my own two hands ... that’s an incredible thing …. then in Indonesia, I built myself a pile over the water so the fish could watch me do it … I survived abduction in Iraq pretending to be a deaf-mute Arab ... you have no idea”.
In short, throughout his stay, I could barely get a word in edgewise. Only once I could shut him up when I asked if he had ever worked in those years. "Well you know, my father cut me off ... I was forced to go to work to support myself on a farm in Armenia and I had to learn Armenian (the eighth language) ... that’s an incredible thing ..."
One evening I took him out to dinner with my friends, and, incidentally, one of them was Aram, a boy of Armenian origin. When Aram found out that my guest Hector had lived on a farm in his country, he didn’t even believe he’s hearing this, therefore, he walked up to him and said: "Barev, anun's Aram e, shat hatcheli e!" (Hi, I'm Aram, it’s very nice to meet you!")
The panic in my guest's eyes while he looked around him, lost and scared, and replied "What did you say?” was simply priceless.
Because sometimes incredible things really do happen.