During the 24 hours that I was stuck in Hallein, several interesting things happened:
First, I noticed that no one will pick you up, the only response one
tends to get from people are teenage boys yelling stupid things out of
the window, and quite a few did this, they must have thought they were
so clever!
Second, the gas station in this area is cold, everything in this area
is cold, I just came out of Italy, where it was boiling hot, to a place
that froze my ass off, and yes, I know we are in the mountains now, but
really, that much of a climate change?!
Third, do try to walk through a slightly inclining ditch after a
slight rain; I managed to slip down the incline into some trees while
twisting my knee under myself and slamming down, with 50 extra pounds on
my back. I lost a flip flop, and upon retrieving it, felt something
gooey under my foot when I put it on: a giant slug! I was stuck in an
awkward position for about an hour, feeling like I had torn something in
my knee (which continued to hurt for the next month), but also feeling
like a dumb-ass, I just biffed it within a 20 foot radius of teenagers
at McDonald’s who where standing outside…laughing….at least I was
laughing at myself as well!
Fourth, asking the gas station clerk were the train station was (I
was going to sleep there as this was my first time without a real place
to sleep) was a complete mistake. She gave me directions, in the middle
of the night, to a tram stop, where, obviously, trams don’t run in the
middle of the night!
So, there I was, stuck near the tram stop with nowhere to go, as many
layers of clothes on as possible, in the middle of the night. This is
when I run into a Turkish man and his teenage son. Using the son’s phone
to translate, they ask me why I don’t get a hotel…well, you know, if I
had money, I would! So the father offers that they will pay for a hotel
room for me for the night, not expecting anything in return. So I follow
them through the empty streets at night…
In my head there were several different thoughts at this point. Why
am I being so stupid, I don’t know these people, they could do something
horrible to me, sell me, kill me, rape me…and god knows what the other
possibilities are! But I am still walking with them,
no matter how much all this negative stuff is rolling through my
mind, I still follow. I guess you can say, I didn’t get a bad vibe from
them, that I guess I was putting all my trust into God that nothing bad
would happen, and I was prepared that if something did happen, it was
meant to be, and something good could possibly come of it, no matter how
horrible the situation…
Turns out, the hotel they tried taking me to didn’t have night
reception, so the door was locked, but there were tables outside under a
canopy, which I began thinking about sleeping under, why not? That’s
when I tell them, I have to sleep, I don’t care where, even if its the
backseat of a car! So the father disappears, and comes back with his
car, I am in luck! I get into the back seat, and he has brought me a
warm blanket, within minutes, I am out!
About three hours la
ter (7 a.m.) I am woken up by a car door slamming. The father’s
friend, whom I met the night before, decided to use my situation to his
advantage, and of course, he doesn’t speak English, but he has the kid’s
phone to translate. He is startled that I immediately sit up and start
asking questions, practically flipping out on him until he pulls over,
which to my luck, is at the gas station I was stuck at the previous
night!
He types into the translator, and hands me the phone, which says ” I
am trying to break the ice.” I immediately flipped out, throwing curses
in Turkish. BREAK THE ICE?! What ice? I am a hitch hiker who was trying
to sleep! You are an old man that doesn’t speak English! you got into
the car to drive off with me in the back seat, and you weren’t expecting
me to wake up so easily! So, what were your plans? What were you going
to do with me?! He hands me a pastry and a big bottle of water, I take
it, and walk o
ut of the car toward the gas station for coffee. I am pissed off, not
only has he taken sleep from me and attempted to do God knows what, but
he has also denied me an extra days’ rest, as the father had promised
to get me a room for the next night so I could relax and get rest.
So, after grabbing my coffee, I wonder off past the ditch I managed
to twist myself up in the previous night, towards my horrible little
standing spot, my Purgatory, where I would stand for at least another
four hours.
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