I have had a smile on my face for the last couple of days. I can’t give you a reason. I just do. I’m happy. I went to a café with Bobbie and the barista looked at me and said “You look very pleased with yourself”. I was surprised. I told him it must be because I was going to have a chi tea. When we left his comment bothered me a little bit. It sounded like I was full of myself or something. But then I decided that it was a sad comment on the state of his clients – does nobody smile in the this town? In the end, I decided just to be glad that I my inner happiness was shown on the outside.
That isn’t to say that I don’t have my bad moods too. This morning, for example, I was incredibly irritable and just wanted to cry. I had planned to couch surf this evening until Tuesday, but I had forgotten about my “date” with Bobbie – to see the rolling stones movie, “Shine a Light”. I really like Bobbie and she had no one else to go with, so of course I wasn’t going to flake on her. I was really disappointed when my host didn’t want me to come back so late. I’m so tired of making people’s beds and was looking forward to having a free couch that I let my disappointment make me cranky and unhappy. But on the upside, I am going to spend time with a friend and have someone to talk with in the evenings for a few more days.
It rained this morning, which didn’t help my mood, but then the sun came out. I made the decision last night to buy the car I drove yesterday. Then I saw a van for super cheap and tried to look at it. They were out of town, but offered to show it to me tomorrow or Sun. That cemented my decision. I walked over to Flavio’s hostel, kicked the tires, checked the engine, and told him I would buy his car. It was a good deal for both of us – he doesn’t have to advertise, I don’t have agonize. We cemented the deal with a hug. I left walked back up the park with a HUGE smile on my face.
I walked down the main drag looking for a store (which I never did find – I am the most unobservant person sometimes, I can’t see the things right in front of me because even when I’m looking for them, it really crack’s Bobbie up). I checked out a souvenir shop and thought about all the things I could send to Kristi – a stuffed Kiwi, a moveable animal alarm clock – but didn’t buy anything. I walked on and then stopped and gave a homeless guy my change (<$3). That put another smile on my face and made me feel good. I then ran into a guy on the street with a clipboard. We all know we don’t want to deal with it. But I have nothing better to do really and they usually have a good cause – I signed a petition to bring some Chinese big wig to human rights court the other day. So in the end I became a member of Greenpeace! I didn’t feel pressured per se, though I did try to get out of it at first. But then I decided it is just money and money is meant to be spent. For the most part Greenpeace is a good organization, though some of their actions have given them a bad name. I ended up talking to the guy for a good while. He’s just back after 2 years of traveling abroad. We talked about Morocco mostly. He told me about the Dohner kebab (though it’s not spelled like my name, I’m not sure how it’s spelled). I walked away with another big smile on my face.
I headed towards the library. I saw “Queen’s Street Kebabs”. I was the only customer. I asked about the Dohner Kebab, he asked if I was German. He made me a traditional kebab (lamb, hommus, etc) and we talked about Alaska. I was surprised when he didn’t start shoving meat on a stick. I thought I was getting a kebab! It turns out that there are two Turkish kebabs, the one I was getting is more like a wrap. Huge and yummy! Everything was wet from the rain that had come and gone while I was talking to the Greenpeace dude. So I wandered around while eating my delicious kebab. I watched a guy that is probably homeless with a mental disorder throw his bag around. I checked out what other events are happening (an opera – La Boheme – that I might go and see). I finished with lettuce at my feet and yogurt on my hands.
Despite it’s rocky start (involving WAY to many pieces of chocolate after making beds), the day has turned out really good. I am happy to have helped several people in this city sleep better tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment