Days after my last bus ride from Zagreb to Motovun, I can still hear the humming of the engine: “Pa-paaa-woom, pa-paaa-woom…” Each sequence would take about a second. But it was insistent. And it never changed an iota. For some reason, I remember the make of the bus, too: it was an elderly Mercedes, no less. “Pa-paaa-woom,” it kept humming over and over again. At some point I started chanting along: “Pa-paaa-woom, pa-paaa-woom…” It took me about half a trip to understand the humming in my own terms. It was but a slightly odd version of the old Aum, no doubt. Which is perhaps why I cannot shake it out of my mind so many days later: “Pa-paaa-wooom, pa-paaa-woom, pa-paaa-woom…” The first word for ever and ever.