The train stopped at the border...

              we had to switch because of the different gauge railings. It was daylight now and the new train was noticeably less “luxurious”. I felt more at ease with the character and humbleness of the Spanish train over the a/c and sanitaryness of the French one. It was my third day of traveling, ever. After clearing up a misunderstanding with what I'm still not sure was a actual fine or a bribe ( I thought a plastic card that turned out to be little more than an advertisement was my eurail pass when in fact the “receipt”, for the plastic card, that I almost threw away was the real pass), I stood up to stretch my legs. An older woman started talking very excitedly to me, the only thing I was sure she wasn’t saying was anything about food. ( my knowledge of Spanish was mostly related to food vocabulary) That left a lot of possibilities, until she pointed. A cockroach was looking for breakfast. At this point it must have been very clear to her I wasn’t understanding her words because she began to stomp the worn and cracked linoleum under her foot as to demonstrate, very zealously, what she wanted me to do. I was 19 and had just finished heavy equipment training at the army engineers HQ in Ft. Leaonardwood Missouri. I was barely aware of the meaning of ecology none the less biocentrism. Nevertheless I looked down at the cockroach and was quite curious how and why it had adapted to be just as it was. Deciding i didn’t want to kill something I didn’t even understand I smiled at the cockroach and then at the woman, who hadn’t calmed down a bit. Being fully aware I understood her request and refused such a “simple” task upset her. The smile that accompanied my blatant refusal did not so much put her at ease as confuse her. I hear those tracks have now been homogenized at a great cost in dollars and cents and…