"Huda, come here! You have to remember him!"
Him?
A big bear of a man with white hair was sitting at the same table as him, but with his back towards me. My groupmates from the next table were grinning widely. What is going on?
I approached the table and the man turned around. He is Caucasian in origin, with apple-red cheeks and beady eyes. Oh My God.
"Hello, nice to meet you" he stood up and offered his hand in that gentlemanly manner. Not wanting to offend, I shook it.
Memories from the year 2003 came rushing back. The year when I first came to Dublin. The year I almost lost hope in becoming a medical student. The year which marked the beginning of a journey which brought in many memories, both bitter and sweet.
Memories that came flooding back, the moment I saw Alex Elliot.
He was my Biology teacher in premed, and how I used to dread going to his classes! He was not a bad teacher, it's just that his Irish accent is difficult to follow, especially if you are not Irish (hehe)
I was an outspoken student back then (now I mellowed a bit, grown old, I guess hehe), and I would voice out my opinions and threw out questions to lecturers without a single thought. With Alex, it was never the case. Because, you see, he never gave a chance for his students to ask any questions.
Other premed teachers often recognised me due to my outspoken personality, but I doubt that Alex did, because I can count with my fingers how many times I'd spoken to him. But as I joined him for lunch and he started to tell stories about Dublin and reminiscing about the good old days when we used to be his students, I began to have doubts about my doubt.
Of course, he could have just been polite to me. But one thing about having lunch with your lecturers is, that you might discover the other side of them :)
Dublin is still the same, nothing much has changed since you left, he informed us. However the recession has caused decrease in housing values, and more and more people have to commute in and out of Dublin for hours to work because the could not afford to live in the City.
And, oh, Kevin McGuigan and Kenny Winser and Kevin Nolan (all premed lecturers) are still teaching, with slight changes in their job descriptions and such.
Some things have changed, too.
The Pre- Medical course have a change in scheduling. They now implemented the Semester system and was still adapting.
During that lunch, me and Lobo called him Mr Elliott, not Alex, as we used to do in Dublin. I guess being in Malaysia taught us to use respectful titles like Mr, when in the West it was not so much an issue.
Professor Peter Lee came in the cafe and was introduced to Alex. I don't know why, but seeing two huge, elderly Caucasian men conversing and making jokes only they could understand just tickles me. After having some good-natured exchanges Alex sat down and the conversation continued.
This time it was about alcohol. How good Guinness in Dublin was, how terrible it was here and elsewhere outside Ireland. Where are the hottest pubs in Penang. The hangout in Dublin, the pubs and the bars. It was sooo not in my department. Thus I kept quiet and only talk when spoken to.
He noticed me being quiet and said, good-naturedly,
"You have not been to any of those places, have you?"
I shook my head and smiled "No, I haven't"
Thank God, some things never change.
May He continues to protect us from those evils :)
