Day 175 = Running + Maxi Dresses + Bosnia

I went running this morning for about 45 minutes because I knew I had a busy night planned.

Tonight I had one of those moments debating on what to wear. I finally opted for something that I knew I would just be comfortable in - a maxi dress. They are all the rage this summer. Let me tell you about maxi dresses and walking around downtown Austin. There is no telling what that hem dragged around in all night. I'm almost afraid I might catch some disease on my ankles. From whatever I was stepping on in the bathroom to whatever it dragged across near the outside bar at Emo's - it's anyone's guess. Tonight when I got home I bathed my calves. I didn't want to get in my sweet bed with disease or something lingering. Ick.

So let me now tell you about my night at Emo's. I was with a few friends at the bar when some guy walked up and asked my friend if he could buy her a drink. She said, "let me ask my boyfriend right here" and he gave it the ol' OK. Clearly, the drink-buyer was on something. My friend's boyfriend wandered off to talk to him and came back with a report that yes, he is definitely on something but more interestingly, this guy is from Bosnia and in the army and going to Afghanistan on Monday. It got me thinking, "really? we are recruiting foreigners to fight in our war?"

So Bosnian dude started talking to me. He spoke pretty good English, but he did have an accent. I figured he must have just been a kid during the 90s and the Bosnian War. Maybe his dad died then. Maybe he was an orphan. But one thing was for sure, he was messed up on Friday. He kept saying how he hated the army. I asked him why he joined. He said it was either the army or prison. I thought, "so the mystery continues...."

I asked him what he did to go to prison? He kept saying, "you really want to know?" and I would say, "yes." We went about 9 rounds of this. I was getting a little nervous (even though my friend's boyfriend was keeping an eye out on the conversation). I even said, "tell me, don't show me" because I had no idea what was going to happen next. Do you want to know? He said he was going to prison for kidnapping, assault and manslaughter. He had been a cocaine dealer and killed his best friend.

So then I decided to slowly walk away from him and talk to his sister, who was in town visiting before he was deployed. I said, "So what do you do in Bosnia?" She was like "Bosnia? I live in BOSTON!"

Yeah. Emo's is loud.