Today I had the frustrating experience of walking into a hostel, giving them my reservation number, and being informed that they didn't have a bed for me. Not to worry, though -- their 'sister hostel' across the street had room. So I gathered up my things and went across the street where... again, there was no room. But, they said, there's a THIRD 'sister hostel' (why are these things all female, anyway?) a few metro stops away. And sorry, but it's not in the area you wanted to stay in, and it's more expensive, and even though you had a reservation for a cheaper room, we won't be able to honor that price.
Needless to say, I decided to try my luck elsewhere. Tonight I am staying in an actual soviet era apartment building, as far as I can tell. There are doors everywhere you turn, dividing the hallway up for no discernable reason at all. They tried to fix it up by painting the walls two-toned, but it doesn't really help. I look around and imagine what it would have been like to live in the building for decades, with all the walls painted in peeling white, and I shudder. On top of all that, the bathrooms and showers are not only down the hall, they're on another floor. I have to climb three flights of stairs to get to my room, but to take a piss I have to climb an additional two. And the stairs are steep. And my legs are tired from walking all day.
Had one of the funniest experiences ever. I wish I could draw, because it deserves its own cartoon. I was walking from the kitchen (on the 5th floor, near the bathrooms), back to my room. I opened one of the afore-mentioned random hallway doors, and realized that about half way down the hall there was a man standing in his underwear. To give you a proper visual, though, picture a wide, long hallway (soviet apartment style, you've seen them in the movies) with harsh lighting. Then, right in the middle of this long hallway, stick a scrawny man with a shaved head, wearing only a pair of shiny turquoise breifs and a very confused expression.
He looked totally startled, glanced around quickly for a way out of the situation, and quickly realized that there wasn't one. The only way either of us was getting out of the hallway was to walk directly past each other. Which I managed to do with a straight face... until I went through yet another door and started laughing uncontrollably. Where was he going?? Did he think there was no one else in the entire building? He was at least two coridoors away from the showers, so it wasn't like he was just dashing from the shower to his room. I'm so confused. But really, his expression was priceless. Poor guy.
I miss everyone back home. I'm meeting tons of cool people, but I have to leave them all behind every few days. It's really liberating and frustrating at the same time. I meet people, and I get the perfect snapshot image of them. We're both fun, and outgoing, and vibrant, and then we go our separate ways thinking how cool the other person was. I don't have to stick around to find out that they were abused as children, or that they have issues with their father, or that they are actually needy and domineering once you get to know them better. I get to miss all that shit, leave them with their good impressions, and go find new people who I can like temporarily. But I miss having people around who really know me. I miss having inside jokes, and not having to explain who 4 different people are before a story makes sense. And I hate knowing that all these people will have forgotten me in two weeks. I'll just be "that girl who was in town a couple months ago." It's great to be able to meet people easily, but I know we'll all forget eachother with even less fanfare.
Needless to say, I decided to try my luck elsewhere. Tonight I am staying in an actual soviet era apartment building, as far as I can tell. There are doors everywhere you turn, dividing the hallway up for no discernable reason at all. They tried to fix it up by painting the walls two-toned, but it doesn't really help. I look around and imagine what it would have been like to live in the building for decades, with all the walls painted in peeling white, and I shudder. On top of all that, the bathrooms and showers are not only down the hall, they're on another floor. I have to climb three flights of stairs to get to my room, but to take a piss I have to climb an additional two. And the stairs are steep. And my legs are tired from walking all day.
Had one of the funniest experiences ever. I wish I could draw, because it deserves its own cartoon. I was walking from the kitchen (on the 5th floor, near the bathrooms), back to my room. I opened one of the afore-mentioned random hallway doors, and realized that about half way down the hall there was a man standing in his underwear. To give you a proper visual, though, picture a wide, long hallway (soviet apartment style, you've seen them in the movies) with harsh lighting. Then, right in the middle of this long hallway, stick a scrawny man with a shaved head, wearing only a pair of shiny turquoise breifs and a very confused expression.
He looked totally startled, glanced around quickly for a way out of the situation, and quickly realized that there wasn't one. The only way either of us was getting out of the hallway was to walk directly past each other. Which I managed to do with a straight face... until I went through yet another door and started laughing uncontrollably. Where was he going?? Did he think there was no one else in the entire building? He was at least two coridoors away from the showers, so it wasn't like he was just dashing from the shower to his room. I'm so confused. But really, his expression was priceless. Poor guy.
I miss everyone back home. I'm meeting tons of cool people, but I have to leave them all behind every few days. It's really liberating and frustrating at the same time. I meet people, and I get the perfect snapshot image of them. We're both fun, and outgoing, and vibrant, and then we go our separate ways thinking how cool the other person was. I don't have to stick around to find out that they were abused as children, or that they have issues with their father, or that they are actually needy and domineering once you get to know them better. I get to miss all that shit, leave them with their good impressions, and go find new people who I can like temporarily. But I miss having people around who really know me. I miss having inside jokes, and not having to explain who 4 different people are before a story makes sense. And I hate knowing that all these people will have forgotten me in two weeks. I'll just be "that girl who was in town a couple months ago." It's great to be able to meet people easily, but I know we'll all forget eachother with even less fanfare.
posted by Kristal at 12:34 PM
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