The day before. Sonya: "Ol, if it rains, you still have to get up!"
Yan asked us to arrive by 9:30. Through my sleep, I hear raindrops hitting the windowsill: "Sonya, we need to get up, otherwise I'll fall back asleep." It was already 9:30. I had completely forgotten about the schedule change. I didn't even set any other alarms from the night before.
We left again without breakfast. So, a FEAT: my phone rang on the way, I picked it up, and while holding it with my left hand, I drove calmly along the wet road. I was even understanding Kristina and answering her. I'm making progress! (The last attempt ended with me meeting a wall). Kristina said she would pick us up, but we were already almost there. We should have stayed for breakfast!=)
The rain lasted all night and eased up a bit by morning. But then it didn't stop until the very evening! By the way, the drains on the roads here are far from everywhere. On the way back, we had to drive through water at many intersections.
What to do in this weather? Write a blog? Nah, never heard of it. Everyone went to sleep. I was the first, while the girls were finishing up pancakes. Our neighbor Natasha showed us a masterclass; she's a pro). In the end, we slept until about 6. I wake up - no rain. Hooray!!! I went out onto the porch: not hooray at all! It's as if the ocean has overflowed its banks!!! Cars are driving slowly, very carefully. Although there are no pedestrians. Personally, the water on the road was knee-deep, and a little less on the sidewalk. I remembered scenes from last year's news. The hurricane on the East Coast, Krymsk... Ugh!!!! Go away!
Our house is one of the small oases. And just my luck, I immediately wanted something sweet, something salty, in short – to go to the store. It's a shame when a day off is so hopelessly ruined!
Sonya went upstairs to the girls to find out if they needed to go to work. Vika and Ksyusha (the girls upstairs), Sonya, and Anya work for a guy named Dave on the boardwalk. Wax hands is a cool thing. Vacationers make figures with their fingers, dip their hands in wax, and the girls perform certain manipulations and repeat the procedure several times. In short, your hand with all its curves and life lines remains in the form of a wax figure! Interesting. I would like to make one as a souvenir! It costs $10, and $20 if it's two hands together.
Vika just returned from Rio Grande. There is a store called "Ross" – Dress for Less. Brand-name items in the $10-25 price range. While Sonya was describing a mountain of new purchases (for herself, for her mom, for her dad, for her future baby – all for 350 bucks), I was thinking. The idea of going to Ross has been haunting me for a long time; I was waiting for a day off. The rain stopped. Ross is open until 21:30. So what if the water is almost knee-deep, the main thing is to get to the bus terminal! It's 19:00. I check the schedule, the bus is in 10 minutes. I act quickly: backpack, t-shirt, shorts, flip-flops, bike keys. See you tonight!
It turns out the water was only standing up to Pacific Avenue; further on, the roads were as clean as after a light rain. Is it worth describing that, as always, I almost missed it? The driver promised to tell me where to get off. I'm already navigating RG pretty well myself, but I asked just to be sure.
Where the buses turn onto Atlantic City, a row of large malls begins. The first one is Ross, then everything for $5 and less, then other stores. The row ends with a Walmart supermarket (where we usually buy food).
I imagined Ross a little differently. I thought it was a regular shopping center, just cheap. It turned out to be much simpler: rows of clothes, sorted by size, type: top, bottom, dress, etc. Brands are mixed. My cart was filling up very quickly. I even stopped looking at the prices, usually $12-13. A large selection of trousers, jeans, tops, polos, blouses. A few swimsuits and shoes. Shoes are mainly presented in single units; it's rare to find 2 different sizes of the same pair. Lots of bags, and lots of cool and cheap backpacks! That's what my soul was especially happy about!
Honestly, I expected something more! For me, this is not enough; maybe, of course, I'm used to the Moscow Metropolis, or maybe I was just tuned into something else.
In the fitting room (guessed it?), there are no security guards or watchmen. Only a note on the mirror: "We love bargains the same as you do." Modest and tasteful! In the next stall, someone was listening to music and singing. Loudly! Simple Americans!
What else would I like to note. I found a small hole in a t-shirt (the seam had come apart a little), I got a 10% discount. I liked a swimsuit, but I couldn't find the matching bottom. 40%. The main thing here is not to be silent!
I was already driving back to the BB when Sonya called. Despite the daytime downpour, it's super busy on the boardwalk right now, there are a lot of people, all the girls were called to work. There was supposed to be fireworks, and Sonya invited me over. All the purchases fit into the backpack; before the boardwalk, I changed into sneakers (I took them with me to look decent in Rio Grande).
It was actually crowded and fun on the embankment! I chatted with Sonya, her employer offered me evening work. (As we found out later, Anya left him; it's too easy a job for her! You need to smile at everyone while doing almost nothing). We immediately met Vitya and Fedya, who decided to buy souvenirs from the coast before moving to NY. Sonya was let go, and we went for a walk! We went into shops, talked to Americans! The guys are leaving early in the morning, and we still haven't downloaded the photos of the crabs from them (Her very first ones). So today ended with a trip to get the photos, and then watching them together!
