Off to Crivie

  Sorry. It's been a little while. For some reason they insist that I have work to do here. I don't know what that's about. I almost left in protest, but decided against it.

   But once again, I face the problem of so many stories. I have to prioritize and focus.  This may still be a bit random though.

   So today, after church, I went to brunch. This is the second time I've made it to brunch (catered brunch-- school food). And brunch is actually the meal they do best. They have eggs on sundays! And other forms of protein-- It's amazing. Last week I went to brunch alone. I got a black bean patty (vegetarian alternative sausage, I thought), an egg, and hash browns. It all tasted pretty good.  It was pretty warm. As I mentioned, it was protein, so that was great. The black bean patty was a little off, but a good attempt.
   This week I went to brunch with friends. Along with the black bean patties they had two types of veggie sausage. I was so excited. So this time I just went with the veggie sausage, skipped the black bean and got eggs and some other stuff. We sat down to breakfast.
   A little while into the meal, one of the girls I was sitting with points to her black bean patty, "have you tried black pudding yet." Initially I nodded enthusiastically, just recognizing the pointing. I then stopped nodding, and chewing.
   "Wait, what?" I said.
   She pointed again, "Black pudding."
   I started to shake my head. We had had previous conversations as to what exactly black pudding is. In case anyone does not know, I will give you the formal and credible wikipedia definition:

     Black pudding or blood pudding is a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. Pig or cattle blood is most often used; sheep and goat blood are used to a lesser extent. Blood from poultry, horses and other animals are used more rarely. Typical fillers include meat, fat,suet, bread, sweet potato, onion, chestnuts, barley, and oatmeal.


   (Yum, right?)... Llll
   My stomach turned. "I thought that was a black bean patty," I responded.
   My friend looked completely puzzled. "A what?"
   That idea of a black bean patty was as foreign to her as sausage made of blood had once been to me. I explained that a black bean patty was a vegetarian alternative.
    Another girl sitting at the table said, "Wouldn't that be awful if a vegetarian ate blood sausage thinking it was black beans!"
    I'm not technically a vegetarian so I just nodded and laughed lightly. "That would be awful."


   So that was my food adventure for the week. What else? We did not go adventuring this weekend, but we did go last weekend. We were attempting to go to a small fishing town called Crovie. (From the pictures) It's just a strip of road and stone house-like structures right on the beach. No cars are allowed in the town and it's preserved by the Scottish tourist industry or something like that. So Crovie was the plan, and this was the reality:
   We left walking from the college. We had to catch a 1020 bus. So, at about 1018, we realized we were still about five minutes away from the bus station. We looked at each other, wondering what to do and we decided, someone had to run for it. I somehow became that, "someone." So, I pass my bag off to one of the fellow travelers and literally start running down the street toward the bus station. I'm dodging strollers and elderly people. I get to the bus station and I see our bus waiting at the red light, getting ready to turn out of the station. (The next bus won't come for another hour). So I flag down the driver--who really didn't want to notice me. He finally opens the door and I say, a little out of breath, "My friends and I need to get on your bus!" He was not smiling. 
    "Nope," He responds and closes the door.
    I stood staring at the doors that just shut in my face. Josie and Mariah then show up on the opposite side of the cross walk. They had broken into a jog. They look at the bus and then at me with questioning faces. I raised my hands up. "I don't think he'll let us on," I say.
    "What?" one of them yells across the cross walk.
    "I don't think he's going to let us on!" I say loudly. I shoot a pleading glance up at the driver as I say this.
    "No?" they yell back. I look to him and then to them. He's looking at us crossly. They run across the crosswalk. Josie tries talking to him through the door. He finally opens it.
    "Can we get on?" Josie asks, stepping onto the bus at the same time. Mariah and I follow standing right behind her, lining the stairs.
    "Where are you going?" he says shortly. 
    We respond we're trying to get to Crovie.
    "Just sit down. We'll deal with money at the next stop," He says. He shuts the door and begins to drive.
   So, we miraculously begin our trip on time. The bus was headed to Banff.  From Banff we needed to get a bus to Gardenstown. From Gardenstown we were supposed to walk to Crovie. 
   We were on the bus for about two and a half hours and then we started to see the ocean again. But none of us are quite sure were we were. So I turn to a woman who just got on the bus. I ask, "Excuse me, but where are we?"
   She looks over at me, "We're in MacDuff." 
   "Oh, ok," I said, not really knowing what that meant.
   There was a pause, she then continued, "Not from around here, are you." 
   I responded, "Obvious, isn't it?"
   She nodded. "Where are you headed?"
   I say, pointing to Josie and Mariah, "We're trying to get to Crovie."
   "To Crivie?" She asks.
   I nod. "Should we get off here?" I ask. "We were planning to go to Banff, and then take a bus to Gardenstown, but I don't know if we're close..."
   She nods. "Yes, if you go to Banff you'll just come back through here. Might as well catch the bus from here she says." She gives us some more advice on where to check bus times and such.
    So Josie, Mariah, and I start to move quickly. We get our new plan, thank the woman for her help and get off at MacDuff at the "bus station," which consisted of a locked building and a sign with timetables.
    We check the time table. There was a bus to Gardenstown at one and another at three. The three o'clock would be way to late for us to get back so we decide on the one o'clock. We had about forty minutes before one so we decided to go look for lunch. We got back to the bus station at about 12:50. 
    At about 1:10, we see the bus coming towards us. Number 273. We rose from our seats slowly, looking down, grabbing bags. We looked back up-- at least I looked back up-- and we see the back of the bus. As in the rear end. As in we are watching it drive away from us. It didn't slow down, didn't pause, didn't even change gears. Just whoosh, right past us. We all stood dumbfounded.
   Someone finally says, "Did that just happen?"
   There was a combination of tears and laughter. Then we just stare at each other again. That was our only bus.
   


   Spontaneous plan B: we go across the bridge to a local town called Banff. We explore Banff, see a beautiful estate home called Duff House, and get to watch the beginning of a Scottish wedding. All in all, not the end of the world.


   We finally get on the bus headed back to Aberdeen. I was sitting on the right side of the bus, looking out at the ocean then we pass a sign. It has a bus on it and below the picture of the bus there are blocks with numbers. "273" sat prominently in the first box. My jaw drops and I point. Mariah and Josie gave me puzzled looks. I managed to get out, "273." Their faces then mirrored what I think mine looked at. We were at the wrong bus stop. We sat for a moment and then began to laugh. 


   In conclusion, I must give many thanks and acknowledgement to 10:20 bus-driver, who will never read this.


   Alright, that's it for a while. Thanks to anyone who's reading. And word of something for the day: don't forget to enjoy the little things, they make life worthwhile!