Olive Juice
experiment: silently mouth the words "OLIVE JUICE" to someone. i bet they think you're saying "i love you." great way to make friends!
anyway, back to the drama that is my boring life here. so yesterday began with me deciding that I really need to go grocery shopping. I was pointed in the right direction on friday and was told to go to Sainsbury's...let's hope it's more like a publix rather than a winn-dixie. it's a 5 minute walk from me and going to thru the doors, i noticed there are a bunch of street vendors lined up before actually getting to the store. i stop at the first couple, who were displaying what appeared to be african jewellery[not jewelry...my sister did tell me they spell it two ways..hmph]. I heard a woman remark "..and here's a nice african girl looking for something today" to which I replied "no, im sorry, im not african." she then questioned what i am to which I replied, with a knot in my stomach, "im american." "ooohhh you're american!" and asked me to specify where. "Florida," i say and she immediately knew what I was talking about. I realize most people here have heard about florida....i wonder if they know about Wyoming?? I sure as hell can never remember it's a state. they usually know about disneyworld, miami and sometimes, fort lauderdale. very few americans know about bath i doubt. a male vendor she was speaking to joined the convo and knew about FL as well. she went on to tell me she's from ethiopia and he said he is from senegal. What? there are other african countries?? jk. but that's cool. never met anyone from either country. i chit chat a bit more then finally made my way to the store.
im lost in the store...of course...trying to make sure im not paying too much for stuff. i end up not getting that much....still water, orange juice[no bits], butter, bananas[from the dominican republic so u know theyre green as hell], grapes, cutlery, paper plates, and somes plain scones. just enough to start me off and last a couple days. im also trying to read the nutrition label....holy crap. that'll take some getting use to. my favorite part of the labels are the health warnings: "it's important to watch your calorie intake, as without regular exercise too many may lead to weight gain" and "you may want to keep an eye on your salt intake as too much may increase your blood pressure, " among others. I wonder if people pay attention to this crap, cuz im sure if they did this in america, people could give two rats asses what u put on the label. but ive seen this freaky label thing the night before when mike showed me the cigarette labels on empty cigarette cartons laying around the pubs. "SMOKING KILLS." "SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU." "DIE, SMOKER, DIE." HAHAHA the british dont play. OK that last one was mine, but i think i get the point across. but I digress.
I get into the queue to checkout and asked if I could use my traveller's checks. Yes, since i was smart enough to get them in sterling. yay. avoid the hassle. a short convo starts with the cashier, who proceeds to tell me his girlfriend is in med school in north carolina. "Have you ever been?" I say "no, but i always hear it's very nice." "that's good. enjoy your stay." "thanks," i reply. I leave the store and meet up again on the two africans i met at the entry. i stopped to chat once more and they introduced themselves as Suzy and Moses [pronounced moo-sah]. here's the sad part.
I had THE NERVE to utter the phrase "so where do all the black people hang out?" to the senegalese man. THE LOOK ON HIS FACE WAS PRICELESS. I actually didn't mean to ask it like that, but dammit, the words are already out there in the universe and he picked them up. "all the black people?" the look on his face said "[british accent] whot? are you mahd? black people don't hang out with one another here. where do u think you arh??" but he covered it up by telling me the good places to go out to...he basically named all the places id been to or seen the previous night. nicely, he volunteered to give me his number, but i told him i had not a damn clue how to call and he took my number instead, saying he would call when he was going out. we'll see. i was never more embarrased but hey. i made my way home and put away my junk.
yeh, so, i dunno if it's just Bath but i have noticed that the black people don't hang around each other much. the east asians do, the indians do, but not that other ethnic minority. and another thing, suzy has been the only black woman ive seen in Bath so far, but i can count at least 10 black guys of all ages that ive seen. what's up with that? just curious, is all. i can say it's the first time in my life the men have outnumbered the women. it's just funny because in america, wherever u go, you can count on at least a handful of black people, even ones from your own country, to be there too, and theyre probably looking for you too! we'll see if all that'll change come next week when the easter weekend is over and the town is supposed to have more people, including students, in it. no biggie though...just as with everything else, ill just have to adapt and conform.
anyway, back to the drama that is my boring life here. so yesterday began with me deciding that I really need to go grocery shopping. I was pointed in the right direction on friday and was told to go to Sainsbury's...let's hope it's more like a publix rather than a winn-dixie. it's a 5 minute walk from me and going to thru the doors, i noticed there are a bunch of street vendors lined up before actually getting to the store. i stop at the first couple, who were displaying what appeared to be african jewellery[not jewelry...my sister did tell me they spell it two ways..hmph]. I heard a woman remark "..and here's a nice african girl looking for something today" to which I replied "no, im sorry, im not african." she then questioned what i am to which I replied, with a knot in my stomach, "im american." "ooohhh you're american!" and asked me to specify where. "Florida," i say and she immediately knew what I was talking about. I realize most people here have heard about florida....i wonder if they know about Wyoming?? I sure as hell can never remember it's a state. they usually know about disneyworld, miami and sometimes, fort lauderdale. very few americans know about bath i doubt. a male vendor she was speaking to joined the convo and knew about FL as well. she went on to tell me she's from ethiopia and he said he is from senegal. What? there are other african countries?? jk. but that's cool. never met anyone from either country. i chit chat a bit more then finally made my way to the store.
im lost in the store...of course...trying to make sure im not paying too much for stuff. i end up not getting that much....still water, orange juice[no bits], butter, bananas[from the dominican republic so u know theyre green as hell], grapes, cutlery, paper plates, and somes plain scones. just enough to start me off and last a couple days. im also trying to read the nutrition label....holy crap. that'll take some getting use to. my favorite part of the labels are the health warnings: "it's important to watch your calorie intake, as without regular exercise too many may lead to weight gain" and "you may want to keep an eye on your salt intake as too much may increase your blood pressure, " among others. I wonder if people pay attention to this crap, cuz im sure if they did this in america, people could give two rats asses what u put on the label. but ive seen this freaky label thing the night before when mike showed me the cigarette labels on empty cigarette cartons laying around the pubs. "SMOKING KILLS." "SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU." "DIE, SMOKER, DIE." HAHAHA the british dont play. OK that last one was mine, but i think i get the point across. but I digress.
I get into the queue to checkout and asked if I could use my traveller's checks. Yes, since i was smart enough to get them in sterling. yay. avoid the hassle. a short convo starts with the cashier, who proceeds to tell me his girlfriend is in med school in north carolina. "Have you ever been?" I say "no, but i always hear it's very nice." "that's good. enjoy your stay." "thanks," i reply. I leave the store and meet up again on the two africans i met at the entry. i stopped to chat once more and they introduced themselves as Suzy and Moses [pronounced moo-sah]. here's the sad part.
I had THE NERVE to utter the phrase "so where do all the black people hang out?" to the senegalese man. THE LOOK ON HIS FACE WAS PRICELESS. I actually didn't mean to ask it like that, but dammit, the words are already out there in the universe and he picked them up. "all the black people?" the look on his face said "[british accent] whot? are you mahd? black people don't hang out with one another here. where do u think you arh??" but he covered it up by telling me the good places to go out to...he basically named all the places id been to or seen the previous night. nicely, he volunteered to give me his number, but i told him i had not a damn clue how to call and he took my number instead, saying he would call when he was going out. we'll see. i was never more embarrased but hey. i made my way home and put away my junk.
yeh, so, i dunno if it's just Bath but i have noticed that the black people don't hang around each other much. the east asians do, the indians do, but not that other ethnic minority. and another thing, suzy has been the only black woman ive seen in Bath so far, but i can count at least 10 black guys of all ages that ive seen. what's up with that? just curious, is all. i can say it's the first time in my life the men have outnumbered the women. it's just funny because in america, wherever u go, you can count on at least a handful of black people, even ones from your own country, to be there too, and theyre probably looking for you too! we'll see if all that'll change come next week when the easter weekend is over and the town is supposed to have more people, including students, in it. no biggie though...just as with everything else, ill just have to adapt and conform.
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