Cafe Terra - Rutland, VT

Last night when I got off the train I asked someone in the parking lot where Centre St. was and I must have misunderstood him, because I walked along the street, lugging my suitcase and never saw the place. When I got to a corner I realized I was not on Centre St. I called Back Home Again and explained where I was and that my suitcase had broken, so the person I spoke to came out to meet me. He grabbed my suitcase and I followed him back towards where I had come from. I can not remember his name now, but he was perfectly nice. I was terribly grateful to him for helping me with the suitcase. It was a two minute walk from where I was standing, but it would have taken me at least 15 to lug the suitcase there.

I promptly went to the Walmart and purchased superglue and duct tape for the suitcase.

I headed to the cafe, which is next to the hostel, and sat down to eat some homemade pizza. When I asked which pizza did not have meat on it the three people at the table looked at me with a mixture of awe and pity. I've gotten used to this by now and I laughed it off as I took a slice of the yummy veggie pizza.

I struck up a conversation with the men at the table and told them I had come from New York. They all expressed that they liked it there, but could not live there. One of them had tried and left after six months. He also lived in Tucson, Truth or Consequences, and about a thousand other places. We talked a little about Tucson and New York. All of them were very friendly and smiley.

The oddest thing about these people were that when I was introduced to any woman, I always smiled, but they never smiled back. I only got into conversation with one of them the whole evening and she was perfectly pleasant, but she seemed almost worn down. It was the end of the day, so I really shouldn't think much of it. I'm sure they get people in and out daily, so they don't invest a ton of emotional energy in them.

After dinner I moped the floors and then headed to bed. I really don't think I did much, so I was planning to come back down and offer more help for the morning, but no one is around yet. I walked to the bus station and got schedule. My bus doesn't leave for another hour or so, so I figured I'd grab some chai and give an update. Also, the room I stayed in smells super funky right now and I can't stand to be in there. It is a small, windowless room with three bunk beds and a bathroom. The bathroom doors have all been taken down which is kind of odd, but you can't see the toilet from the bedroom, so it wasn't a huge deal. The other women in the room did not seem at all interested in talking to me, so I fixed my suitcase in silence and climbed into a top bunk for a restless evening.


A view of the front of the place. The door on the left is the shop, the right is the cafe, and the middle leads to the hostel.


The bunk I slept in. It was missing it's ladder, so they had that small wooden guy in place of it.