Hmph.

Some interesting events have happened this week. Basically I was absentminded during the entirety.

Event 1: I have a long bus ride from one of my students house back into the city. So I was writing a letter with my cell phone on my lap for time observance. I got off at my stop and started walking toward my apartment. At this point, I realize I no longer have my cell phone. Items of note--1) Cell phones all work with pre-paid minutes here. Mine still had about 50 euro on it...aka free minutes for whoever finds it. 2) It's my connection with my "office" for new employment 3) It's my connection with my students when one of us wants to cancel classes. 4) It's my connection to friends, family, social life, and my roommate if I lock myself out. That being said, I frantically began searching all my bags and finding nothing but expletives. I have no idea what to do at this point and no way to call anyone. I accosted some poor woman at the bus stop and made her advise me. I eventually developed a plan to get on every bus (going the opposite way) and ask the driver if they had found a phone. Okay, so basically I am the luckiest duck in the whole pond and by some stroke of magic, the first bus I got on had my cell phone!!! So, whoever you are out there, thank you for your honesty. Basically it was the luckiest thing ever. Maybe not ever, but it was really lucky. I think driver enjoyed my explosion of gratitude.

Later in the week I was writing the same letter to the same person when I arrived home without my mittens. I knew I had had them when I switched trains two stations away so I went back. I spotted one on the platform...alone. Looking dusty and lonely. I asked the two men who were staring at the mitten if they had seen the other one. I am quite sure I spoke in clear Spanish and that these men were "special." Our conversation went something like this, "Excuse me, have you seen the other mitten?" "Yes, there is a mitten." "Uh huh. Yeah, I found the one over there [I wave it at this point] but have you seen the other?" "Yeah there's a mitten." After some more similiarly-effective conversation, I gave up and started to walk back when I spotted it. In the tracks. As a lightning flash of understanding hit the two men, they both exclaimed, "The mitten is there!" Then they advised me to talk to the help booth which was possibly the wisest thing they said all night. The man in the booth rolled his eyes and said yes when I asked if it would be very bothersome to get it. But the man outside the booth, micah, quickly grabbed some pinching stick and strode toward the platform. I pointed out the mitten and he made an attempt to grab it. He was about 2 feet short. I knew that with some more effort, the mitten was attainable, but Micah didn't seem very interested in that. So I asked if I could try. Keep in mind that this is a business-class day, so I have on nice shoes, pants, coat, scarf, hair, the works. This was no problem for me. I plop down on the cement and swing my legs over the edge to get closer to the mitten. Heck, I would have gotten down on my belly--those were good mittens! This was horrifying to Micah who made clucking noises at me and refused to give me the stick and instead got down on his hands and knees to get my mitten. He was successful and I thanked him profusely. We went on our merry ways and as I sat down next to a girl on a bench to wait for the train I almost turned to her and said, "I'm ridiculous."