Not Too Sweet, Not Too Sour...

Rachel’s Randomness
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“Mr. Collins is exactly the sort of man that makes you despair of the entire sex.” - Elizabeth Bennett

Wow, my internship is halfway over. “Doesn’t it go by in a blink?”as Bill Parrish said in the movie, “Meet Joe Black.”

If you think coming to Washington, D.C. is a way to escape the Texas heat, let me knock your delusions out of the ballpark right now. Trust me, it might be a few degrees cooler, but the humidity more than makes up for those degrees – haha.

Yesterday was interesting to say the least. You know how when people say, “It was interesting,” it can take on one of two meanings? Yeah, well yesterday took on both of those meanings. So yes, Michal and I decided to brave the heat of the day and go to Eastern Market. Really neat place, full of random knick-knacks, vendors, and fresh produce scattered here and there, under rows and rows of white tents.

The first vendor we stopped at sold homemade soaps and shea butter products, which he told us Whole Foods sold. A lot of the soaps smelled so good. I’m a person who likes to smell them all. So I reached to smell one, that I didn’t realize at first was called, “Sexy.” Yeah, so as I put it up to my nose the vendor told me, “You don’t need that one, you probably woke up looking like that.” Wow – TMI anyone? I ended up buying this scent called, “Beautiful,” because I loved the combo of cinnamon and rose. Of course he said, “Oh, you don’t need that one either.” How corny, and I think I was stupidly blushing. I’m not used to people being so bold with their compliments, even if they aren’t sincere.

Next, we stopped to try some of the fresh-grown peaches they sell there. So scrum-diddely-umptious!!! I bought three. A vendor selling fresh flowers caught my eye and I slowly made my way over. Reaching the vendor, and as I bent to smell and take in the fragrance of the various flowers, I saw two guys out of the corner of my eye, glance over in my direction. One of the guys made his way over and said in a somewhat loud and uncertain manner, “Lisa? Lisa?” At first I thought he was talking to someone else. I looked up at him through the shades of my sunglasses and realized he was looking directly at me. Somewhat taken aback, I said, “No, my name is not Lisa, sorry.” They guy looked at me and said, “I could have sworn you were this girl I once knew. She was cute like you, so that’s a good thing.” I again shook my head and told him I wasn’t this Lisa girl. Instead of apologizing for his mistake and walking away, as I expected, he just stood there and said, “Are you just playing games with me now or what?” I looked coolly at him and said, “Why would I want to do that?” and walked off.

Michal and I walked into the inside portion of the market that sold baked goods, meats, and cheese. There was another flower vendor and my eye was immediately drawn to some beautiful Gerber daisies. They are such a happy flower – they are my second favorite after red roses. They represent two different moods for me. The rose is all about the romantic, whimsical, dreamy, dramatic side of me; the Gerber daisy is about the spontaneity, fun, girly side of me. Anywhoo, I didn’t want to buy one at that moment because I didn’t want it to wilt. I wanted to buy it to put in the empty wine bottle we have at the apartment. So I decided to come back when we were leaving.

The flea market portion of the market was next on the agenda. Lots of random knick-knacks that no one really needs. After perusing the merchandise for awhile, Michal and I decided it was about time to head back. Turning around to walk back towards the entrance, I was horrified to see the two guys from earlier walking towards us and quickly turned to warn Michal about their approach. The guys spotted us and swaggered toward us. I groaned inside. The guy who had spoken to me earlier said, “It’s the Lisa girl.” His friend did the whole obviously checking us out head swoop, undressing me and Michal with his eyes. I shuddered internally and thought of the line from the movie, “Just Like Heaven,” where Elizabeth says, “I think I just threw up in my mouth.” I seriously am still getting over feeling violated. Michal and I quickly moved around them and they said to our backs, “It’s hard to have a conversation with you walking away.” Exactly.

It was time to go, and I walked back into the inside market, excited to purchase the Gerber daisy (I don’t like any other kind of daisy). There was a different lady vendor there now and she was showing two African American ladies a plant right around where the daisies were. Instead of asking the ladies to move, I decided to try to be as unobtrusive as possible, not wanting to inconvenience them at all, by stepping over their stuff to get to the flower I wanted. The vendor stepped in front of me, got in my face and said loudly, “You were SO rude to just step over these ladies’ stuff and cut them off.” (because obviously you’re cutting someone off when they aren’t moving…lol) I was so taken aback and I probably turned ten shades of red, in anger or embarrassment, I could not tell you. Turning around I was expecting to see the two customers to be like, “Oh, no worries, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it!,” with kind faces. No such luck. Stone-cold faces with bulging, offended, eyes glared accusingly at me. Flustered and at a loss, I apologized for my seeming rudeness as that was the least of my intentions. They appeared very skeptical of my apology and rolling her eyes one of the ladies said, “Mmmhmmm, okay.” Well all joy of buying the flower was gone and I did not want to give the vendor any business since she was SO rude to me.

But all in all, it was a very good day indeed. Michal and I were so tired from the afternoon heat that we came back home and slept for two hours. Yes, I forgot my camera – alas. Today we watch “Much Ado About Nothing,” starring Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branaugh, and Denzel Washington. Great movie – Shakespeare knows how to keep one in stitches.

Peace out,
Rachel Duke