Lisbon (April 9 – 11)

I don’t think that it is possible for me to get a goo night’s sleep the night before I travel.  I think I am too excited and nervous.  I know I definitely didn’t sleep the night before I left for Spain!  The night before my trip to Lisbon was no exception.  When I awoke to my alarm at 4am, I wanted to turn back over.  I think I had slept for about an hour.  But I got up, got dressed, packed my last minute stuff, and walked to the university to meet my friends.  On my walk, I saw many Madrilenos just beginning to walk home from clubbing all night.

The five of us (Jeanna, Maggie, Dani, Emilie, and myself) took a shuttle to the airport.  We were flying with Easy Jet, and I don’t think that any of us had flown with them before.  We asked some of the workers at the help desk if we needed to wait in line to have our boarding passes stamped since we had no baggage to check.  One sais yes and the other no, so we decided it was safest to wait.  While in line, Dani realized that she left her cell phone on the bus, and I realized that if they weighed my bag, it was going to be overweight.  While rummaging through my bag, I remembered that I had packed beads for each of them.  I gave them each a fleur-de-lis bead, which they actually wore through the airport, on the plane, and in Lisbon.  So sweet!  In the end, it turned out that we didn’t have to wait in that line.  While we were going through security, Maggie had trouble getting her baby powder and lotion through.  It seemed that we all were having problems that morning.

However, we made it to our gate, and it began boarding not too long after we arrived.  We managed to get the emergency exit row for Maggie, so things were beginning to look up for us!  Once we landed, however, no one knew where the hostel was or how exactly to get there.  We all assumed that the other person had printed it out, but we managed based on what we could all remember. 

On the bus to the hostel, we met an American girl named Julie.  She had been living in Madrid for the past three months working as an au pair.  That was her last weekend in Europe; she was going home that Wednesday.  Anyway, as it turns out, she was staying at the same hostel as us.  We all walked there together, and we had very few problems considering. 

We actually got there too early.  Our room wasn’t ready, so we put our bags in the storage room until we could get in our room.  Then, they let us eat breakfast for free that day.  This is one of the best hostels that I have ever stayed in.  While we were getting breakfast, he was telling us about another group of American students staying at the hostel that was also studying in Madrid.  He introduced our group to their group, and we all bonded over breakfast talking about people we knew.  Funny how small the world is, isn’t it?

After breakfast, we waited around for the free city walking tour to begin.  It finally did, and we got to see a lot of Lisbon and learn quite a bit of history too.  The tour lasted about two hours, and when it was over, we walked through the flea market stopping at this traditional Portuguese restaurant.  The waiter spoke no English, and I assure you that we spoke no Portuguese.  Thankfully, we managed to get by speaking in Spanish, which he could understand.  We ordered the two dishes he recommended.  I can’t recall the names of the dishes, but one was similar to a vegetable soup and the other was a chicken curry.  We enjoyed them both.  The girls also tried gingia…

After lunch, we headed back to the hostel to check in.  We freshened up and went to a free wine tasting.  Considering I don’t like wine or really drink, I guess I thought the wines were pretty good.  The other girls all really enjoyed it.  After the wine tasting, we went back to the hostel to shower and change before dinner.  The dinner they prepared for us was quite good.  We started with cheese, ham, and bread.  Then we had a vegetable soup and bread.  The main course was chicken and rice.  And the dessert was this cake rolled and dripping in melted chocolate.  We were stuffed. 

After dinner, I went up to take my shower.  Maggie came in and told me that they were all downstairs playing cards.  I went down to join them when I finished.  We started to play, and soon enough, the hostel had transformed into a mini dance club.  It was the 25^th birthday of one of the girls that worked there, so everyone was in a particularly festive mood.  Needless to say, I think we laughed more than we danced, but we had fun.

The next morning, we were up bright and early again to go on a tour.  This tour was going to take us to all the best spots around Lisbon.  We were all really excited.  The first stop on our tour was Sintra.  In this town, we tried pastries called queijadas, went to the flea market,  and toured the palace.  We also went to this guy’s house that had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it so he just kept building.   We climbed towers and walked through underground caves.  We walked up an old well that was still dripping with water.  We went through his house and found the library; it was recommended to us by our tour guide.  Turns out, there are mirrors all along the edge of the floor.  It messes with your head and makes you think that there is no floor there.  It was very interesting!

Then, we went to the most western point of all of Continental Europe.  It was extra-specially windy for us that day.  I was taking a picture and a gust of wind blew so hard that I stumbled backwards to keep from falling!  The view was absolutely breathtaking though.  We then went to the beach.  Only Jeanna, myself, and this other girl we met named Amy, went down.  The sand was painful as it blew against our skin, but the water was cool and made it all worthwhile.  There were surfers and people parasailing.  It was nice and made me miss the water back home.

We continued to drive along the coast and stopped to have ice cream, but most of us just sat along the water and enjoyed the view.  I watched the sailboats come and go.  I really want to go sailing!!!  Then, back along the coast we saw the infamous Belem Tower, but we didn’t stop.  We did stop at another monument and monastery.  From here, we had an excellent view of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and Rio de Janero’s Christ.  We also tried the famous pastries of Belem that our previous tour guide had told us about.  She said that the recipe is known by four men.  Each knows a different part, so that the recipe can never be found out.  However, an Italian managed to figure out the recipe and started to sell the pastries in Italy.  But all of a sudden, the pastries stopped being sold in Italy so she thinks that the Belem “Maffia” paid off the Italian man.

Finally, we made it back to Lisbon.  We thanked our tour guide Pedru and asked for dinner recommendations.  We headed back to the hostel to freshen up and then walked to the restaurant.  We were immediately seated and given two things of ham, olives, two different types of fresh cheese, and three baskets of bread.  All of which totaled up to about 50 euros!  We sent it back because we didn’t want to pay for all of that.  We then ordered our meals and white sangria.  When the waiter came around with the sangria, he had Emilie try it before serving us all.  Mistake!  She is from France and knew everything that he did wrong!  Then, they kept giving Dani my silverware and her no silverware, but they did mange to give us all the right plates.  Of course I was last!  We enjoyed our meals enough to try a dessert, which again we all enjoyed.  However, they brought us the check and quickly came back looking to be paid because they had another reservation.  The waiter, however, was not so nice about how he told us these things.  It was a horrible end to the dinner.

We then walked back to the hostel to get some sleep before our early flight and classes the next day.  We were discussing which one word we should use to best describe the trip.  We came up with two: laughter and original. 

London (April 1 – 2)

I started the month of April in London, and what a day it turned out to be!  I woke up to my alarm clock at 5am to begin getting ready.  At 5:20, the buzzer is going off from downstairs.  Paloma comes running through the house to talk, and then, she comes tell me that the taxi is here.  I didn’t even know that she had called me a taxi!  I was clearly not ready, so she told me to hurry because he was already charging me!  I quickly finished straightening my hair and got dressed and ran downstairs.

Anyone who has lived with me knows that I am not a morning person.  I am not one of those extremely grumpy people; I just don’t enjoy holding conversations as soon as I wake up because I may become grumpy.  Well, the taxi driver decided to hold an entire conversation with me.  So not only did I have to talk to him, but I had to think in Spanish at 5:30 in the morning.  Not exactly an easy thing to do, by the way!

Once at the airport, I realized that I got there much earlier than necessary!  I made it to the airport, got my boarding pass stamped, made it through security, passport control, and to the gate by 6:20!  I  wrote about my morning in my journal and then began studying for a midterm that I had later in the week for Operations Management. 

All of a sudden, I hear someone calling my name!  I look around confused to see this guy Andrew who is in my Marketing Management class.  It turns out, we were on the same flight to London.  As he was meeting a friend in London, we were both traveling there alone so we kept each other company on the flight.  When we landed in England, because it isn’t part of the Schengen countries, we had to go through border control.  It took forever, but I was excited to get another stamp in my passport!  Then, Andrew and I went our separate ways.  I went to exchange money into pounds because England also isn’t part of the euro countries!

Then, I went in search of the train station.  I had already bought my tickets online – thanks to the help of Gemma, a friend I met at school from England.  I found it easy enough and got my tickets from the machine.  When I looked at my tickets, I noticed that there was no specific time I had to be on the train.  I could use it any time that day, so I turned to find the train times.  Instead, I saw the Subway!  I was so excited!  (I was surprised to realize how much I miss pickles here.  Of all the great foods to miss!)  I decided to have a sandwich before finding my train.

When I left Subway, I found the monitors.  I quickly found my stop (London Bridge!) and saw Platform 6.  I walked down to Platform 6 and waited for the train.  When it arrived, I found a seat and began planning my afternoon.  A guy came around asking for my ticket about ten minutes later; I gave it to him, and he punched a hole in it.  However, about five minutes later, there is a police officer standing at my seat asking for my ticket.  He informs me that I am on the wrong train because on the bottom of my ticket in very little words is the abbreviation “FCC” which stands for First Capital Connect.  I was on a Southern train, not FCC.  He asked me if I was from London.  I replied no.  He then asked me if I was there on “holiday.”  I replied yes.  Anyway, I offered to buy another ticket, but he let me go with a warning.  It was only later, after talking to Gemma, that I realized how lucky I was.  She told me that the train system is very confusing in England, and that she had done that before as well.  (This made me feel a lot better about myself!)  However, she also told me that usually they charge you 70 pounds for doing that!  I was lucky!

When I was finally able to get off the train about 45 minutes later, I was relieved.  I went to the metro station to buy a day pass for the Tube.  I went to a machine first, but I realized that it didn’t accept paper money so I went to the person at the desk.  I told him that I needed two individual day passes.  He asked me where I wanted them for, and I told him London.  He acted like I insulted him.  We went back and forth trying to figure out what I needed before he finally printed my tickets and I paid him.  He was one of the rudest people I have met so far on my trip…far worse than the Parisians I met!  When I looked at my tickets, I realized that he gave me two tickets for that day!  I realized then that what I asked for could me misinterpreted even though I was clearly alone, but I was still upset, especially after the train incident!

I made it onto the metro and went immediately to Westminister.  This is where most of the things I wanted to see are located.  On my way out, I notice a bathroom.  I go in to find out that you have to pay 50 pence (or cents) in order to use public bathrooms.  This concept is strange to me, but the bathrooms I found out later on are clean at least!  Once at street level, I quickly walked around and saw the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye.  Then, I decided to head over to Leicester (pronounced like “Lester”) Square to see about buying a ticket to see Phantom of the Opera in theatre.  However, when I get there, the ticket is in a limited view spot and double the price I found online the day before.  I decided not to buy a ticket.

Houses of Parliament

Big Ben

London Eye

I walked around, though, and I saw a few of the theatres and the general area.  Then, as I turned around to head back to the metro, I manage to get lost.  I spent twenty minutes walking through the heart of London’s Chinatown looking for my way back! 

With most of my plans for the day in question and clearly with luck NOT on my side, I decided to head over to my hostel to check in and regroup.  I, luckily, found it with relative ease.  However, the person helping me was new.  His English was not great, and when he checked my passport, he saw that I was from Spain, so we talked in Spanish.  I thought it was amusing!  He gave me the information, and I found my room.  In this particular room, the bunk beds were three high, and I of course happened to be on the top bunk!

I took out my journal and again wrote about all of the adventures I had that morning.  I unpacked a little.  I called mom on Skype and vented about my morning.  And then eventually, I made it back on the Tube and on my way to Westminster again.  There, I decided to take a cruise down the Thames River to London Bridge.  That did the trick!  Being in a boat on the water with a suddenly sunny sky was all I needed to feel excited again!  As we cruised down the river, I saw London’s magnificent aquarium, the London Eye up close, a Shell building (which I took a photo of for dad!), Cleopatra’s needle, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and more until we reached the Tower of London!  I walked around the tower sipping hot chocolate and enjoying myself.  I watched various school groups come and go, couples walking hand in hand, and tourists snapping every possible photo!

Aquarium

Shell Building

Cleopatra's Needle

Globe

Tower of London

When I left there, I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is absolutely charming!  Then, I headed to see Buckingham Palace.  In order to get there, I had to walk through Green Park.  It is such a beautiful park with planted flowers and antique light fixtures.  I got to Buckingham just as the sun was setting.  I snapped a few photos, but they don’t so justice to just how pretty the sight was.  And, then I headed back to the hostel to get ready for another long day.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Buckingham at Dusk

Back at the hostel, I was the only one in the room.  I changed clothes and got my computer out to charge my camera.  I organized myself and made plans for the next day.  Then, I tried to get some sleep.  However, people started coming and going.  They were turning the lights on and off.  One girl was blow-drying her hair.  About two hours after I laid down, I think I finally fell asleep.  I woke up the next morning before my alarm and got ready.  I went downstairs to check out and have breakfast.  Then, I headed back to Buckingham Palace to stake out a spot for the Changing of the Guards Ceremony.  I got there a little early though – 9am.  The ceremony didn’t start until 11.  Needless to say, I was the first person there for the ceremony!

I chose the spot that my guidebook recommended after taking all the pictures I wanted.  I sat there and waited.  I wrote in my journal and listened to my iPod.  Again, I watched and listened to the people that came and went.  Until, finally, I barely had any room to move and the ceremony began.  It was exactly how you would imagine it.  I stood there watching it with my camera in my right hand and my flip cam in the left trying to video it and take pictures at the same time!  But after it was done and I left, I felt like I had been to London! 

The Guards

From here, I returned to Leicester Square to eat lunch because I had seen so many wonderful places to eat lunch while walking around lost the day before!  Then, I went to the Tube to make my way to Camden Market.  Everyone that knew I was going to London told me to go there, but when I made it to the Tube, the line there was closed!  Unfortunately, I didn’t go because it would have been difficult to get there via the Tube and expensive via a taxi.  Instead, I headed back to Westminster to see Westminster Abbey.  I made it there about 2, and the inside closed to visitors at 1:30!  However, the outside of the Abbey is beautiful!  I stopped there to have a look at my guidebook and went to the Churchill War Museum.

Westminster Abbey

I had a little trouble finding the small, hidden doorway, but I eventually found it (after walking by it three times)!  All visitors received free audio guides which explained the rooms we were seeing and even played actual recordings from WWII.  It was interesting to see the very rooms that Winston Churchill and many others occupied for much of the war.  They worked, slept, and ate below ground to be protected in case of bombings. 

When I left the museum, I went in search of souvenirs.  I didn’t find anything though, so I headed to the Tube to make my last trip.  At London Bridge, I spoke with several individuals to make sure that I found the correct platform and train to take me back to the airport!  Once at the airport, I exchanged the pounds I had left for euros, got my boarding pass stamped, and made it through security.  I had plenty of time so I went in the bookstore to see if they had any of Malcolm Gladwell’s books.  They did, so I bought two.  I read until they put the number of my gate up.  Then, I walked to my gate to wait to board the plane. 

When we finally boarded the plane, it was like a stampede to the door.  Once outside the door, it was another stampede across the tarmac to reach either the front door or the back door to try to find a seat!  People were pushing and shoving.  I just walked calmly and laughed…at the situation, not them.  On the plane, I took out my iPod which was blinking low battery after listening to it all morning waiting on the ceremony to begin.  However, the strangest thing happened!  It worked the entire plane ride, metro ride back to my house, and the final walk home!  Now, I call that a miracle! 

All in all, London was a crazy trip!  I fumbled, but I got back up.  I enjoyed London after the initial wave of bad luck!  I leave next weekend to go to Lisbon, Portugal with four friends from school – Geanna (U.S.), Maggie (U.S.), Dani (Canada), and Emilie (France).  I can’t wait!

Paris (March 25-26)

The days leading up to my first, big, solo trip were, to be honest, pretty nerve-racking.   I don’t speak much French-the last time I had it as a class was in 3^rd grade.  Needless to say, I don’t remember much.  I can count to twelve, introduce myself, and I know all the pleasantries.  Living in New Orleans, I can also say Lésiez le bons temps roulez.  However, I was pretty sure that wouldn’t help me any!  I also don’t think that is perfect French from France.  Anyway, I really thought that language was going to be a problem.  Throw in the factor that Parisians have a reputation for being rude, especially to Americans, and I might say I was just as scared to go as I was excited!

In order to compensate for the nerves, I got organized.  I asked friends of mine that spoke French to send me some phrases that I might need to use, and I got advice on where to go from friends who lived there for a semester.  I read my Best of Europe guidebook about Paris and decided which places I wanted to go.  Then, I wrote all of those names down, with the admission costs and hours of operation.  I also printed out a map of the Paris metro system.  My guidebook listed all the metro stops for each place, so I drew that information on my map.  I even printed my hostel out on a map, so I knew how to get there as well.  By the end, I did fill a lot better!  I know that it is a corny saying, but knowledge is power.  The best example I can think of to demonstrate my point is giving a presentation.  If you quickly throw some information onto some slides and present it a week later, you are going to be nervous.  However, if you take your time preparing the slides and practice presenting a couple of times, you are going to be a lot less nervous!

Finally, Friday came.  I woke up and almost immediately realized that I had forgotten to look at how to get to the airport!  I knew that I was going to take the metro, but I hadn’t actually looked at the map.  I pulled it out and realized that there are two stops-Terminals 1, 2, and 3 or Terminal 4.  I didn’t know which one I needed, and since I didn’t have the Internet, I couldn’t look it up.  I hurried into the kitchen to ask Paloma before she left.  We looked it up on the Internet-Terminal 1.  All of a sudden, I felt better again!

I went back to my room to finish getting ready.  Everyone kept telling me how cold Paris was going to be, especially at the top of the Eiffel Tower, so I made sure to dress warmly.  I even brought my ear warmers!  Come 10am, I was ready to go!  It took me about an hour to get to the airport via the metro.  Then, I had to find the RyanAir desk to get my boarding pass stamped.  I asked a girl at the information desk.  She sent me down the corridor to the office on the right.  They sent me back down the corridor, through the cafeteria, to the office on the left.  There were no personnel in the Visa Check line, but the guy next to it was stamping passports for a family.  No one was in his line, so I got in his line.  Meanwhile, the other guy came back and people got in his line.  Anyway, I eventually got my boarding pass stamped.  Then, I went through security and found my gate.  I was early so I bought a drink, listened to my iPod, and studied for my Economics of the European Union test.

I was flying with RyanAir which is the low cost airline, or as they say low fares airline!  Therefore, similar to Southwest, they don’t assign seats.  However, unlike Southwest, they don’t do boarding groups.  Therefore, at some random point, a line starts to form of people waiting to get on the plane.  (Sometimes, there isn’t room for a line, so it is just a crowd of people all running for the door!)  We lined up an hour before the flight was scheduled to leave.  I waited for a few minutes, and then I joined the line as well.  Well, the plane arrived late-twenty minutes before we were supposed to be in the air.  We were standing there a long time.  The plane was supposed to leave at 1:00, but we didn’t leave until 1:40.  However, we miraculously landed on time!

The Beauvais Airport about 50 miles north of Paris is one of the smallest airports I have ever been to.  It is a low cost airport that RyanAir flies to.  The only airport that I can think of that might be smaller is Portland, Maine.  But I stress the word might.  I took the steps down to the tarmac and walked into the building.  Less than five minutes after walking into the airport, I was standing outside in line for the bus to take me into Paris.  I also saw a bus there for Disney to take people to Disneyland in Paris!

Literally, about 15 minutes after landing, I got off the plane, walked through the airport, found the bus line, waited to buy a ticket, got on the bus, and left.  The ride into Paris was about an hour and a half.  It was a nice ride though.  I got to see some of the French countryside, which was absolutely gorgeous.  I tried to take pictures of it through the bus windows, but they can’t do the scenery any justice.

Once in Paris, I found the metro pretty easily.  I went to the ticket machine to buy a booklet of ten tickets.  Unlike most machines, you have to start out in French and then you can switch languages.  I was so proud of myself that I managed to figure it out!  Then, I went to pay, and I couldn’t find where to insert my paper money.  I only saw places for coins and credit cards.  The machine didn’t accept cash money, so it cancelled my order.  I had to get in line to talk to the person in the ticket booth.  I finally got my passes, and I looked at my metro map that I had created.  I went to my hostel first to check-in.  It was already 6pm.

When I got there, I realized that I didn’t pick the best hostel to stay in.  I had to pay to use the sheets, and there was a curfew at 11pm.  Not that I planned on staying out very late, but I had a lot to see and was only there for a day and half.  Anyway, I went to my room and made my bed.

My bed is the bottom bunk in the lower right hand corner of the picture.

I decided to spend Friday afternoon at the Louvre.  I knew from friends that there was food there also, and I was starving.  I made it there with no problems on the metro.  Luckily, in Paris, the metro stops are all pretty close to the big attractions.  You can usually see where you are going when you get to street level.  There was a sign for the Louvre, so I followed it.  When I saw it, I couldn’t believe how big it was.  It was impossible to take a picture of the whole thing at once!  It was breathtaking!

So many places that you see on TV or read about in books, just can’t live up to that image, but the Louvre was different.  To enter the museum, you walk through the large pyramid.  The line was so long!

I don't know if you can tell that this is a line, but the distance from the pyramid to where I was standing was the line.

Once on the inside, I walked around for hours and saw basically nothing.  I saw the exhibits on the history of the Louvre, Greek art, and Spanish and Italian paintings-including the Mona Lisa.  The Mona Lisa was encased in thick glass about four times the size of the actual painting.  There was a rope around it so that viewers couldn’t get closer than fifteen feet.  However, it was impressive.

When I left there, I found a little outdoor café to sit down and have dinner.  It is easy to see why Paris is one of the most romantic cities in the world.  There are little romantic cafes everywhere, with beautiful sights.  This is where I ate though, slightly less romantic than most!

If you look under the "l" in Royal, you can see an empty space.  That is where I sat!

After dinner, I went back to my hostel to make it in time for my curfew.  I charged my camera and uploaded my pictures to my laptop.  I tried to use the WiFi to put the pictures on Facebook, but it didn’t work.

Hostels are really hard to actually sleep in because people are constantly coming and going.  They are turning on the lights and making noise.  So I slept as much as I could that night, and then woke up the next morning to go to breakfast at 7:30.  Then, I walked to the Eiffel Tower.  I got there an hour early, but there was already a line forming.  By the time it opened, the line was snaked this way and that, but I bet it was close to a mile long!

From the ground the tower doesn’t look that tall.  However, as I went up and up in the elevator and the city got smaller and smaller, I changed my mind!  Unfortunately, it was a foggy morning so visibility was limited, but here are a couple pictured from the top.

If you look closely, you can see that this is the Arc de Triumphe.

Then, I went to see Saint-Chapelle and Notre Dame.  I didn’t go in Saint-Chapelle, but it was impressive from the outside.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, left me speechless.  It was gorgeous-inside and out.  The stained glass is some of the most beautiful pieces that I have ever seen.  Here are a couple of pictures from Notre Dame, but sadly, they don’t capture the true beauty.

I left there to do a little souvenir shopping and to grab some lunch.  There was a little café on the corner of a street that sold paninis to go.  I grabbed one of those and a drink and walked across the street to the Seine River.  I sat on the steps and just took everything in while I was eating.  I was quite enjoying myself until the pigeons came.  One got so close to me that I thought it would hop into my lap! 

When I finished eating, I walked along the river for a little while taking pictures.  I love the water and the unique bridges and boats!  I suppose that is part of life growing up constantly surrounded by water!  This is one of my favorite pictures.

I watched the old man for about 15 minutes get the boat ready all by himself.  Then, I went to Musee D’Orsay.  It is my favorite museum!  I loved it!  I enjoy looking at paintings and sculptures, but I really love to look at photography.  This museum had some beautiful pieces.  It also had a special exhibit on music.  It had original scores, notes, and photos from some of the world’s greatest musicians!  I thought it was simply incredible!  I couldn’t take pictures inside this museum.

And finally, I made my way to the Arc de Triumphe and the Champs Elysee.  I walked down the Champs Elysee for a little ways.  There is so much going on down this street.  I saw beautiful restaurants, designer stores, and even an embassy for Denmark! 

The Arc sits in the middle of the biggest roundabout I have ever seen!  It was absolute craziness watching as cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians all fought to get around it.  At any moment, cars would come to a screeching halt because some pedestrian would be running across to get to the Arc.  But there were cars going in every direction, so as you can imagine horns were more frequently used than not!  One of the last pictures I took is of the Arc, the Eiffel Tower, and a sign saying Place de Charles de Gaulle (where the Arc is located).

As you can see, the skies were starting to look gray, and I heard from a friend that was there that weekend with her mom that it started to rain shortly after I left!  Once back at the Beauvais Airport, I struggled to find a place to sit.  There were so many people there that every chair and half of the floor was occupied!  Everyone was waiting for them to start checking in their flight.  The entire night from this point on became quite an adventure.

I finally checked in my to my flight, made it though security, and discovered that it was the same on this side of the airport.  No place to sit.  I finally found an unoccupied corner so I sat there with my iPod and studied again for Economics of the European Union.  Finally, everyone started to line up for the flight.  We again walked on the tarmac and up wobbly stairs to the plane.  

This was the craziest plane ride that I have ever been on.  On a flight from Paris to Madrid, the first language they spoke was English.  Therefore, I got to hear every announcement in English, then Spanish, and then French.  It was obvious, however, that whoever was making these announcements didn’t speak the language.  There were several awkward pauses, and he even forgot the name of one of his coworkers!  They sold cigarettes and makeup on the flight.  Then, there was this one year-old, who I remember seeing in the airport, barely walking.  However, here she was walking alone down the aisle of the plane.  Then, as it got closer to landing time and late at night, we were fortunate enough to listen to her scream.  Also, I have never seen people get up and walk around so much or leave their seat belts unbuckled.  When we landed, everyone clapped.  Not just once, but three times!  I have never been on a plane where people clap for the landing.  Let alone two additional times.  We didn’t even clap on my flight from the U.S. to Madrid!  I thought it was just in movies and TV!

Anyway, I finally made it off the plane and onto the metro heading home.  Towards the end of the metro ride, I felt like I was in New Orleans.  There was a large group of guys walking around with open alcoholic drinks.  That is illegal here, but they don’t care.  It is a tradition apparently.  I forget the exact word in Spanish that they use to describe it.

When I exited the metro, it was raining pretty heavily.  I, thankfully, had my umbrella with me.  I began the 15 minute walk home.  Along the way, I saw cars parked in the middle of the street to increase the amount of parking in the city!  By the time I made it home, I was soaked.  It was pretty windy, so it  didn’t help that much that I had an umbrella.  I quickly changed into dry clothes and went to unpack.  That is when I realized that there was an actual puddle of water in my backpack!  The water had soaked right in.  My cell phone for here and my iPod Touch were sitting in the middle of it!  I took my cell phone apart and hoped it would be okay drying overnight.  I wanted to put my iPod in rice, but I didn’t want to wake the family up to ask them.  That would have to wait until morning.  Then I got my journal out so I could write about my crazy night.  The water had gotten to it too!  The bottoms of my pages were smeared a little and after drying would definitely be warped.  I was so upset!

However, the next morning I put my cell phone together and it worked.  I fixed my journal as best as I could.  I decided that it was just another memory of what happened.  And, I put my iPod in rice.  I took it out the next Wednesday night (almost four days later), and it worked!  I was so excited!  I have had my iPod for something like 4 or 5 years now.  It is one of the first iPod Touches.

The rest of that Sunday I spent relaxing and studying.  I had a lot to do before I left for London the next Friday!

American Influences Abroad

In preparing to come abroad, I asked anyone and everyone that had ever been abroad what to expect, what to bring, what to wear, basically any advice they might have.  I tried to be as prepared as I could possibly be, and it paid off.  I have been here for a little more than two months, and I still haven’t thought of anything that I forgot to bring!  I also suffered little culture shock because I was so knowledgeable about what to expect.  However, there are always a few things that no one can prepare you for, that you cannot prepare yourself for.

I was told to study up on my politics because I would be shocked to see how much Europeans know about U.S. politics.  Well, I have had few political conversations with others about politics and more about American actors and singers!  I am not suggesting that they are not knowledgeable on politics because they are.  However, their knowledge of America extends so much further than politics. 

I have friends that live here in Madrid that know all of the words to songs by Aretha Franklin and John Denver.  I cannot tell you how many stores and banks I have walked into or by and heard Lady Gaga playing.  I had a cab driver that told me he learned English by listening to American music!  Also, nearly all of our TV programs (including one of my favorites “Bones”) has been translated into Spanish and plays here.  They basically watch American movies and sitcoms; they have very few Spanish movies or sitcoms!  I was not expecting that!

And it isn’t just the younger generation that is close to the American culture like I originally thought.  Today, a professor told us that growing up he use to watch “Casey Jones.”  We, of course, had never heard of it, so he pulled up a clip on youtube.  If you have never seen it, you should pull up the clip on youtube to see it for yourself.  It is as American as American can be!  My professor grew up in England, which typically shares more American beliefs than Spain but still.  Shocking right?

It goes beyond the social and political aspects too, though.  Think about it-the European Union.  Twenty-seven small European countries all now united under one economic policy…sound like the United States of America?  The European Union, though they would never admit it, was created because of the success of the U.S.  They have been trying to emulate it-especially through economic policies.  I am not trying to say that European Union and the U.S. are just alike, far from it.  However, they are more similar than many might think.

Interesting stuff isn’t it?  There is rarely a day that goes by without me thinking of yet another example of how America has influenced a city and country much older than itself! 

Salamanca

As I described in my last post, it was on my way to the train station for this trip, that I took my first trip on the metro.   I won’t recount that experience again in this blog.  I arrived to the bus station two hours before my bus left, so I used that time to read for my Marketing Management class.  Then, I went downstairs and found my bus about fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to leave.   It was then that I remembered that my ticket clearly stated that it was not valid without my passport, which I had forgotten at home!  I stood in line hoping that the driver would not ask me for it, but of course, he did.  I took out my driver’s license praying that would work.  I didn’t expect it to, but he shook his head yes and let me on.  I was so relieved!  The bus ride itself wasn’t too bad, only four hours. 

Emily arrived before I did, and she found me when I walked into the station.  We found the bus that we needed to take to the hostel on our second try, and we rode it until we thought we were in the right place.  The directions were so unclear though.  Finally, we stopped in a clothing store to ask for directions.  We finally managed to find it.   And, even after we found it, we couldn’t figure out how the directions were supposed to have lead us there!  We checked in and went up to our room.  We discovered that we only had one bed instead of the two we asked for.  Anyway, we unpacked and went out to find something for dinner.  We are two very indecisive people, so we finally just walked in somewhere.  I ordered a bacon and cheese bocadillo (similar to a sandwich).  However, the bacon of course did not look nor did it taste like bacon from back home.  I quickly ended up eating cheese on bread!  We then tried to find a place for dessert but without any luck, so we went back to our room for the night. 

We woke up early the next morning because the website we booked our hostel on said that breakfast was provided…but as it turns out, it wasn’t.  So we ventured out to do some sightseeing and find food.  We saw many beautiful buildings in Salamanca.  We first walked straight to Plaza Mayor, which is beautiful, but I don’t think it has anything on the Plaza Mayor in Madrid! 

Then, we happened upon Iglesia Nueva y Iglesia Viejo (New Church and Old Church), although I don’t think we knew their names at that point.  We took some pictures and kept walking.

We made our way to Convento San Esteban (San Esteban Convent).  We were able to take a tour of the building.  It was absolutely beautiful!  You could feel the history in the building and imagine what it must have been like in its prime.  In the main church, some of the locals had gathered and were singing. 

When we left the Convent, we walked across the street and straight into a Domino’s.  Immediately, we were like hmmm…sounds good for lunch.  However, because it was only noon, they weren’t open yet.  We decided we would go eat a light tapas meal and go back later.  We rounded the corner and saw a group of four teenagers eating from a Domino’s pizza box.  We were so confused.  Because we had skipped breakfast, we were both pretty hungry, especially after smelling their pizza.  So we went off in search of the open Domino’s.  Again, we had no luck.  We ended up back in Plaza Mayor.  We noticed a Burger King, so we went in and ordered drinks and chicken tenders which we shared because nothing else was open.  We sat and chatted awhile and discussed what else we wanted to see. 

After a little more sightseeing, we made our way back to Domino’s.  We ordered a pepperoni pizza, which came with french fries.  The Spanish love their french fries; they eat then with everything!

Then, we made out way through the university area and down to the bridge that passes in front of Salamanca.  After taking many pictures of us under and on the bridge and of the river, we decided to try to find La Rana de la Suerte (The Lucky Frog).  I had read something about this on the Internet before I left, but there were no pictures.  I had also read about an astronaut, but I couldn’t remember where it was supposed to be.  Therefore, we set off in the direction of the university aread to find the frog.  We both assumed it would be a statue, but we couldn’t find it.  We finally went in to this little store called La Ranita (The Little Frog), and asked them where to find it.  We followed their directions, but we still didn’t see a statue.  We saw two police officers, so we decided to ask them.  They were complete jerks and didn’t help us at all.  We found our way back to the same university building that we had been in front of so many times.  Still, we didn’t see a frog.  Then, we noticed a door that led to a garden.  We thought we had finally found it, but when we walked into the garden, there was no frog statue.  Again, we went into a little store to ask them where it was.  They told us right out front.  We were so confused.   This time, we decided to walk into the university building.  We were about to pay to enter and see if the frog statue was in their courtyard, but Emily asked about it.  They too told us right out front, and they showed us a picture of it.  Turns out, there is no statue.  The frog is part of the very ornate detail work of the building.  If you find it without any help, you are supposed to have good luck.  It took some teamwork, but we finally found it!

You have to look really, really close in order to see it.  You can see the skull in the middle of the picture on the column.  The frog is sitting on top of his head!

We decided that we had to remember all of that hard work, so we went back to La Ranita to find a souvenir to help us remember.  I didn’t find anything there, so we went to another place.  I found what I was looking for there.  I bought a glass to add to my collection.  It has the frog, university, and churches all on it.  Emily decided to buy a book of postcards in this shop.  She opened it straight to the picture of the frog, but next to it was the picture of the astronaut.  She took it as a sign that we needed to go look for the astronaut.  We went back to the university to look for it, but I had this feeling that it wouldn’t be on the same building.  I asked Emily to look on the back of the postcard to see if it said where the astronaut was located.  It was on Iglesia Nueva.  This task seemed even more daunting than the first.  This building is huge.  However, eventually I spotted it!  I was so excited!  We had managed to find them both!

Next, we decided to go get some ice cream.  We were heading to Plaza Mayor when we spotted a Ben & Jerry’s, so we stopped there.  When we finished we went to see if the man Emily had bought her scarf from was still there, I was thinking about buying one or two as gifts.  However, he had already picked up.  We headed back to our room to relax for a little bit before going out for dinner.

Sunday morning we checked out of out hostel and went in search of food before our long bus rides back home.  It was a miserable day.  It was cold and rainy-weather that I typically think of for London.  We kept indoors as much as possible, and then I went with Emily to check into her new hostel for the night and ten headed to the bus station.  The bus ride home was long but uninteresting, and again, as I mentioned in my last post, I made it home from the bus station via the metro with no hiccups!

Guarroman/Baños/Baílen

I didn’t know too much before going to the olive camp.  Wednesday night, my host mother asked me if I wanted to go to the olive camp with her.  I figured why not?  She told me to bring clothes that would keep me warm because it would be very cold at night but warm during the day.  At dinner, she told her kids that I would be going.  Galo, her son, said “Don’t go,” but of course he said it in Spanish.  Her daughter, Reyes said, “Bring clothes that you can get dirty.”  Again it was in Spanish.  My host mother also asked me if I had boots to wear out in the fields.  It was then that I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into.

Friday night rolled around, and we finally left for the station.  I was nervous.  I still didn’t really know what I had gotten myself into, and I was worried about having enough stuff to talk to her about all weekend.  Well, when we got to the bus station, one of my fears was relieved.  She also invited her friend, Vilma, from Colombia to come along.  She is nice as can be, but she definitely likes to talk, so I let the two of them do most of the talking.  I would chime in here and there, but I was still thinking about the next two days.

After my first bus trip in Spain, we arrived to Guarroman at 1 in the morning.  The house was freezing!  There was no air conditioning or heater in the house.  We quickly made beds and piled blankets on to them, and we went to sleep.   I was told to be up and ready for breakfast at 8:30 because we left at 9:00.  Half an hour drive later, I found out that I would be working in the field alongside about twelve others.  I still didn’t know for how long, but the fields were beautiful!

In the beginning, I learned how the whole process works.  I will try to explain it to you:

First, they hit the branches of the trees in order to make the olives fall to the ground.

Second, they use modified leaf blowers to blow all of the olives into a circle around the tree.

Third, they use rakes to rake the circle into small piles.

Fourth, they scoop these little piles into buckets…

And these buckets are carried and dumped on a tarp that is laid on the ground.

Meanwhile, Vilma, my host mother, and myself went behind them and picked up the olives that were left on the ground, or in the trees, or in the trunk of the trees.

Then, we would also add our olives to the tarps.

Fifth, the tractor pulls up to the tarp and someone attaches the four rings on each side of the tarp to the hooks on the tractor.

Sixth, the tractor dumps the olives into the bed of a dump truck...

Finally, after the work is done for the day, we have a full load!

The basic workday starts at 9 in the morning and goes until 4 in the afternoon.  They stop for breakfast at noon for half an hour, and then lunch is at 2 for an hour.  Although the work is hard and long, everyone was happy and laughing.  A few of them even sang.  As is the Spanish tradition, cerveza (beer), wine, and other forms of alcohol were present and passed around during meals. 

Typical meals during these mealtimes always consisted of meat.  They would start a fire in the morning, so that they could use it to cook their meat on for lunch.  There was always plenty of bread to pass around to eat the meat on as well. 

At the end of the workday, Paco (the tractor driver) took the olives to a local plant.  We met him there, and I was able to see from start to finish the process that olives make from being dumped to becoming olive oil.  It was very fascinating, and I wish that I could have taken picture to show you all.  We were able to take a sample of the olive oil back with us.

We had to run a few other errands, but we finally made it home around 8 that night.  We had Guarroman pastries and leftovers for dinner, and then we got ready for bed.  We had to repeat the same thing in the morning. 

We left a little late the next morning.  We didn’t reach the fields until almost 10.  We worked until noon when we broke for breakfast.  Afterwards, we went to pick up my host mother’s cousin, Mario, and his daughter, Carmen in Baílen.  Then, we went back to the fields and worked until 2 when we stopped for lunch.  After lunch, everyone went home.  I found this odd.  Back home, we would have just left at 2 instead of staying and eating. 

Paloma (my host mother), Vilma, Mario, Carmen, and I all took a ride to the little town next to Guarroman called Baños.  This is where Mario is from.  There is a lovely castle here that was built in the 11^th century and a castle that was built in the 14^th century.  In this picture, you can see both.

After touring the castle, church, and Mario’s home, we headed across the town to the hotel to have a merienda (afternoon snack).  I took this picture there of everyone that was with me on the trip.

Left to Right: Carmen, Mario, Paloma, and Vilma.

All in all, it was a very interesting experience.  I was told at the time that there were only two places in the world that grew olives-Spain and Italy.  However, I looked this up online, and there are several other places that grow olives.  Still, there are few who get to experience the olive camps in the way that I was able to.