And a little bit out of it. Every now and then, while I'm going about my day, something relatively minor happens that reminds me of my foreignness. And it often comes almost as a surprise. Like oh, yeah! This isn't home, I almost forgot. A lady my age will stare fixedly at my shoes as she passes by; somebody on the street will ask me a question and I'll have to break my train of English thought to stammer out a likely unintelligible response; a sign will be posted on my apartment building that I can't decipher and two hours later the power's out and I don't know when it will return; a lady at the supermarket will get annoyed that I don't have exact change and give me a stick of chewing gum instead of 90 cents; a man will give me an odd, almost offended look as I open and hold the door for him. My shoes get stared at so much, with looks of true intrigue, that sometimes I want to stop and ask the person just WHAT is so curious about them. They're shoes! Not space-age foot rockets. Old brown lace-up shoes that I did not realize would stick out like sore toes here. It never crossed my mind that from the ankles down would be my biggest give-away. Also, as far as I know, I am the only person in Romania who is wearing a toe-ring and this fact, when combined with my odd looking chaco flip flops, leads to curious stares that can last the whole length of a street. I think people would recognize me more readily by my feet than my face.
I don't know why I started this entry. It went somewhere I hadn't planned. Towards my feet. Seems to be the norm. Oh well. I'm sleepy. Night.
2 comments:
You have taken some clever pictures of shoes, so they must be interesting ;)
I really wanted a picture of my feet at the water's edge at the beach; however, after several attempts I decided some toes are better left to the imagination. Maybe a toe ring would help.
Curious. I have never been into shoes. I always buy plain black and as cheap as I can find. Many people find shoes fascinating, why I have no idea. Love, Mom and Ozzie
Post a Comment