Today was a kind of hard day.  Well actually, let’s start with last night.  I went over to the multimedia learning lab on campus that Jane told me about.  Again, I had a trouble finding it and had to park in the parking garage because there wasn’t any on street parking.  She wanted me to work on a video she needs, which I barely finished before they closed.  They were very nice and super helpful there.  One girl, Megan, even knew my name… I guess Jane told her to look out for me.

 Anyway, it was all going fine until this guy came in and waved at me… in a kind of overly friendly way.  Whatever, that was fine, but later he came over and introduced himself to me, and asked me to go to some club with him and his girlfriend… a swinger club.  I asked what that was, and he said, “It where you go and take a bunch of drugs and drink and then have sex with different people.”  Well, I just laughed it off and said, “I’m sure you must be kidding.  Otherwise that is kind of rude…”  It was SO weird.  Even if he was joking it was weird…  I mean, what did he expect me to say?

Later this nice guy talked to me who was studying chemistry and eventually said, “That guy was weird.” and I replied, “Yeah, I hope he was joking.”  The guy gave me a serious look and said, “I don’t think he was joking.”  To make matters worse, I ran into the weird guy again today.  It was at the corner and I was waiting to cross.  I tried not to make eye contact, hoping he wouldn’t notice me, but he said, “Hi Delia, you look spiffy today, nice bag.”  With a weak little smile, I said, “Thanks,” and thought to myself, please go away!  He didn’t say anything else, but I’m thinking I might keep running into this guy.  Maybe he just has a weird sense of humor or maybe he’s one of Jane’s friends and is goofing with me.  In any case, I don’t like it.

That’s just one thing today that got to me.  The other is that I turned the car in this morning.  I had kept it an extra day because I felt like I needed it to run more errands and I’m still looking into leasing a car ($500/month!! with Enterprise and another place might be under $300… but he hasn’t got back to me.)  So, then later, I had to take the bus.  I could have taken the bike, but I don’t know the roads yet and the bus stop is right around the corner. 

Maybe I misread the bus schedule, but I missed the first bus.  I saw it go by just far enough away that I couldn’t catch it… and the next bus didn’t come for 20 minutes.  The bus smelled funny, like stale cigarettes and sour alcohol.  The guy in front of me had his head down and I could see his skinny neck muscles, his head was almost parallel with the floor and it was bobbing and swaying with the movement of the bus… I think he was drunk or on something. 

Half the people on the bus had tattoos and looked like they lived outdoors and had seen some hard living, and there were a lot of people in wheel chairs who had to get on and off, not that there’s anything wrong with that.  It’s just that it took forever and smelled funny.  This shouldn’t make me feel uncomfortable… but, to be honest, I was wishing I’d ridden the bike.  I have to say that everyone seemed friendly and polite, and I talked to two nice women waiting at the bus stop.

But then the doors sort of closed on me while I was getting off the bus, and this angry guy in a black leather jacket was walking behind me and muttering, so I kept walking right past the first bus stop.  I could see another one up ahead, but almost missed my connection and had to run for the bus…

On the way home, I decided to walk down to the first bus rather than trying to make a connection.  It was farther than I thought, and the odd thing here is that once you get away from campus, the palm trees and pretty plants disappear and are replaced by empty dirt lots and broken sidewalks.  And some guys honked at me… actually that happen about three times today.  What’s with this place?

Sorry, enough complaining… I just had a hard day and didn’t get a lot done and am realizing that I probably need to get a car while I’m here.  Maybe I’ll get a roommate to make up for the cost, or another job.  The pay I get for the class I’m teaching isn’t very much…  But first I’ll try riding the bike to school tomorrow.  I’m supposed to go to the graduate studios.  It’ll be nice and I could use some exercise anyway.

As long as I’m on a roll, another thing I don’t understand is what Jane does in her spare time.  She has no TV, no stereo, no car, and no internet.  She doesn’t even have a microwave.  I wonder what she does when she’s at home.

I think I need to remedy this situation.  But again all that costs money.  Really I might have to get another job in town AND a roomate.  Reading is fun too, but I like to get movies, watch TV sometimes or listen to music that isn’t on the radio.

Enough complaining!  The weather is still gorgeous, and the campus is nice, and Jane’s house is nice.  And everyone I’ve met is nice.  (If you forget about the weird guy.)  I have to find some time to workout and maybe do some hiking or biking in the mountains.  They are beautiful and surround the city.  It’s like the town was built in the bottom of a big bowl with jagged sides.

I do like it here, it just takes some getting used to and I need to settle in and find my own happiness here.

-Delia