The Idiot

After final exams, Svetlana asks Selin to accompany her to Paris for two weeks on very short notice. Originally, Svetlana was meant to go with a close friend, Robin, Robin’s boyfriend, Bill, and another friend, Fred. However, Fred cancels his travel plans. All the living arrangement and even the plane tickets are already taken care of. Svetlana knows Robin and Bill from before they became a couple and seems to have unresolved feelings or, at least, to feel sexual attraction to Bill. She does not want to be the third wheel on the trip, so she asks Selin to accompany her.

All four young people meet at the airport in New York. While waiting to board the flight to Paris, Selin and Svetlana see a girl from Russian class standing next to a man who looks like Ivan, but has much shorter hair. Eventually, Selin works up the courage to approach him and realizes that it is Ivan. She is surprised since Ivan’s original plan was to fly to Budapest from Boston. They continue their conversation on the airplane and Ivan tells her he plans to stay a few days in Paris, go to Geneva to visit a friend, and then hitchhike to Budapest.