Day 115
Location 20: Sofia, Bulgaria
Feb. 23, 2023
After playing basketball in the dark a few nights ago, I decided it'd be nice to play at a time of day when I could see. While I had the freedom to choose when to play, this luxury was not extended to my choice of where to play. That is, there's only one court in all of Sofia. In fact, my decision was limited even further, as one of court's two hoops was missing a rim. It felt like that card trick where you the magician starts with the full deck and then slowly takes more and more cards away until there's only one left and it's somehow your card. And in both cases—me playing basketball and an adult doing card tricks—an appropriate question is Aren't you a little old for this?.
It's an appropriate question, but it's also an appropriate answer for me to say No, I'm not. Basketball is amazing. Go have some fun in your life. God how sad you must be. Then I'd add Also I'm really good at card tricks. That's not a lie. I'll blow your mind as the king of the court or as the king of clubs, bitch. (In fact, I used to get paid to do card tricks at parties through my dad. My dad was a wedding, bar-mitzvah, and general party DJ...yes, it's very cool, but that's a story for another time.)
Since I know you were already attempting to form a mental picture, here's a photo of my dad as a DJ from back in his heyday.
Sometimes as a tourist in a foreign land, it can feel like some elements of a city are deliberately trying to trick you. Like how most international street signs have no words, but instead display bad abstract art. Or how if you order a "latte" in Italy they'll hand you a glass of milk (side note: I know we were joking earlier about being too old for things, but if you're not an 80-year-old-grandma-with-brittle-bones-that-turn-to-dust-when-someone-even-thinks-about-sneezing-near-you and you drink milk, then grow up. Oh, you like a glass of warm milk before bed? Then I assume you also wear diapers, sleep in a crib, and enjoy card tricks—wait, shit.)
Anyway, the point is, usually these things aren't there to trick you and usually there's a valid explanation for the seemingly deceptive mixup. Usually.
Quick story about another pepper mixup that a flight attendant friend told me: Once on a flight from Germany to New Delhi, an Indian passenger with a thick accent asked her for some "peppah". She was confused at his request since the meal service had long since ended and his tray was fully cleared. Confused, she left and returned with some pepper. He was livid. "No stupid!" he yelled at her as he slapped his forehead to convey that her mistake angered him so much that he enjoyed suffering self-inflicted pain if it meant he'd be distracted from her stupidity for even a moment. He continued "not peppah, news-peppah!". He was asking her for a newspaper, folks. Incredible stuff.