Аз Пътувам със Автобус!

So last week my grandma had surgery on her back. Her Parkinson's has been getting worse and she fell hard enough to break it. I'm not sure exactly what breaking your back entails, but it sounds horrible. She has not been recovering well and so I am driving down to Florida with my family on Saturday. It could very well be the last time I see her.
It's not going to be a fun Christmas.

In other news. I ride the Ypsilanti bus almost every day, and almost always something interesting happens. I thought the public transportation in Bulgaria was insane, and it was, but some of the stuff I have seen gives it a run for it's money.

1. College age girl talking on cellphone at station:
"I don't eat hamburger meat unless I have a hamburger, and I only eat hamburgers if I have a George Forman grill because I don't like greasy food... And I only like chicken if it's fried... And I don't like fresh vegetables except corn on the cob." I can't even count the contradictory statements here. I mean does she really eat corn on the cob fresh? Like straight off stalk?

2. A grown man an woman were having a quite argument behind me, when out of nowhere the man grabs her, hits her, and push/throws her over the seat. She gets up, says she will press charges and leaves. He leaves too. I assume to call his lawyer, or his babymomma.

3. I thought that only in Bulgaria did people carry around ridiculous shit in plastic bags, but no. There is usually at least one person who takes up the isle with a few giant garbage bags full of god knows what. And the crazy part is that they always get off the bus, jump on their bikes with the bags and take off. This is a feat I cannot figure out how to manage, but somehow they make it work.

4. At the complete opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum: There was a man sitting across from me, wearing a really expensive looking coat and hat, with his iphone in one hand and in the other, a giant wad of cash. I mean really. Come on

Говорите Български? Или Рускии? Nevermind.

The other night on the bus to work I definitely heard a woman speaking either Russian or Bulgarian/Macedonian on her cell phone. I assumed it to be Russian, because the odds of the other are pretty slim. There were plenty of "Къде Си?" A a whole lot of "Кажа Ми" along with the few other things I could pick up from across the bus.

I felt really compelled to go speak to this woman, but what would I say? "Excuse me, but that language you are speaking... I know some of those words. Lets be friends." Somehow I don't think it would have worked out. I used to be so good at talking to strangers in a different language, and by good I mean moderately bad. But still, I feel like I missed an opportunity for something. What? I don't know.

Then today I was in Boarders with a friend who was looking for something, and I felt myself oddly drawn to the travel section, and of course to the Eastern Europe shelves. I found the two books about Bulgaria and almost broke down when I saw a picture of the Virhin mountain. I used to look at it outside my window, and it somehow seemed reduced to that picture. In a guidebook. That no one ever looks at. It was all a bit too much.

Brother, can you spare an alternator?

Our car has been sitting in the parking lot of Auto-Zone for a couple days now.
It's cold and pouring outside.
I have never fixed a car before.
But here we go.

In other news, our landlord is completely obsessed with us. Well not us, and not our apartment. But with us getting a giant Christmas tree in the apartment. Literally every single time he see's us he asks "You got a Christmas tree in there yet? It would look great in there, one over seven feet." This has long ago moved past the point of slightly annoying to downright pushy. Yesterday some friends came to visit and he happened to be around, and the first thing he says to them is about our lack of Christmas tree. I'm thinking about telling him we're Jewish.

Maybe if he pays for my car to be fixed I can afford a giant tree. As it currently stands, I have other things on my mind.

edit:
luckily it was just the battery.

Moving On

When first arriving back to the states, I had two major feelings going on. The first was that I really missed Bulgaria. The second was that I hated living in America. And while I still strongly feel the former, luckily, the later has subsided.

It helps that I love our new town and apartment. (I'll post either a video or some pictures of it soon.) I am withing walking distance of almost ten of my best friends from college, an amazing coffee shop with the best espresso I have ever had, a really great food co-op that ensures I rarely have to go to a large supermarket, several great bars, and a park by the river where Wes can run around.

This is the first time I have ever lived anywhere indefinitely. At home, college was in the future, during college I knew I would leave after my four years, then in Jackson, we knew we would leave the country in eight months, and PC had a time frame as well. It's a strange feeling to not know that I will leave. It also helps that I can actually see my future beyond this week or month. Now that jobs are settling in, Liz and I are looking at grad school options and long term plans.

I promise to try and update this more often. Things happen to me, I should write about them. I don't. I apologize.