Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Homestretch
I will be home in a month. This is a thought that occurs to me often. I have mixed emotions about this. Mostly, I am excited to return to real life. I know it sounds a little weird, but I have been living in a dream world where I have no worries, little work, and a lot of fun. I learned more about myself in the last 4 months then I did in years. Obviously, I had the free time to do so.
This weekend I was supposed to go to Ireland. We got all the way to the airport, I was excited to go to a country where they actually speak my native tongue, ENGLISH. I was walking into the check in line, pulling out my passport when Ryan turned around and broke the news, “Our flight was canceled”, I immediately put my passport back into my bag and zipped it up. He said our faces were priceless, and probably the most depressing thing he had ever seen. We waited in line with many other angry passengers to hear our fate. We wondered if we could just hop onto the next flight to anywhere, I was pushing for London. Unfortunately, things don’t work that way. We also wouldn’t be able to get on another flight until Tuesday when we all have school, and I leave for Venice Thursday. DISAPPOINTMENT. At least we get a refund.
We got back on the bus and headed back to the Termini station. I was bummed about the fact that I just spent 20- euro roundtrip to have my heart broken. We debated going to Florence on an overnight train, but I was kind over everything at that point and just decided to head back to Viterbo with half of the group.
I realized something this weekend though, I HAVE CHANGED.
I used to be so afraid of disappointment that I would expect the worst from every situation, just to avoid the awful feeling of nothing working out the exact way that I want it to. This weekend, I knew there was snow in Ireland. I knew that all of Northern Europe was covered with a white blanket, yet I didn’t even think that my flight would be canceled or that I wouldn’t actually ever get there in the year 2010. I was just caught up in thinking of how much fun I was going to have and how much language I was going to understand. And, when I did hear the disappointing news, yes, it did devastate me, but I handled it way better than I expected. I guess you can say that I am no longer a Negative Nancy. (Ignore the ending of my previous blog, it was all in good, positive humor).
So, I spent this weekend not hanging out with McConnelys and O’briens, but cleaning my apartment and working on homework. Yet I am in a good mood. I still thought of all the positives to my misadventure.
LA VITA É BELLA.
See you all in 3 weeks.
This weekend I was supposed to go to Ireland. We got all the way to the airport, I was excited to go to a country where they actually speak my native tongue, ENGLISH. I was walking into the check in line, pulling out my passport when Ryan turned around and broke the news, “Our flight was canceled”, I immediately put my passport back into my bag and zipped it up. He said our faces were priceless, and probably the most depressing thing he had ever seen. We waited in line with many other angry passengers to hear our fate. We wondered if we could just hop onto the next flight to anywhere, I was pushing for London. Unfortunately, things don’t work that way. We also wouldn’t be able to get on another flight until Tuesday when we all have school, and I leave for Venice Thursday. DISAPPOINTMENT. At least we get a refund.
We got back on the bus and headed back to the Termini station. I was bummed about the fact that I just spent 20- euro roundtrip to have my heart broken. We debated going to Florence on an overnight train, but I was kind over everything at that point and just decided to head back to Viterbo with half of the group.
I realized something this weekend though, I HAVE CHANGED.
I used to be so afraid of disappointment that I would expect the worst from every situation, just to avoid the awful feeling of nothing working out the exact way that I want it to. This weekend, I knew there was snow in Ireland. I knew that all of Northern Europe was covered with a white blanket, yet I didn’t even think that my flight would be canceled or that I wouldn’t actually ever get there in the year 2010. I was just caught up in thinking of how much fun I was going to have and how much language I was going to understand. And, when I did hear the disappointing news, yes, it did devastate me, but I handled it way better than I expected. I guess you can say that I am no longer a Negative Nancy. (Ignore the ending of my previous blog, it was all in good, positive humor).
So, I spent this weekend not hanging out with McConnelys and O’briens, but cleaning my apartment and working on homework. Yet I am in a good mood. I still thought of all the positives to my misadventure.
LA VITA É BELLA.
See you all in 3 weeks.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Basque'in
Unfortunately this blog is starting to feel more like a chore I went to San Sebastian, Spain with my travel buddy Kim, Kimothy. We were very excited to get out of Italy. She had been to Poland, but I hadn’t left this country in 3 months! I was excited to see new scenery. We had a long journey, 12 hours total. It was a lot of treno, autobus, e Aero. I had my first cheap airline experience. Ryanair, which has great deals, but be prepared to never leave on time.
We flew into Santandar, which is technically only an hour and a half out of San Sebastian, but the only bus you can take stops in every town on the way so it takes 3-4 hours. I had the worst headache I have ever had, and when I thought things weren’t that bad…a family of gypsies sat in front of us. The father played a NOT catchy Spanish song over and over again. This is the first time in my life where I felt like I could beat someone up out of pure anger. (just the man in me). But then It got even better. Him and his wife started fighting and yelling at each other. I don’t speak Spanish, but luckily my company did. “They are either fighting about him cheating on her, or its about food.” Then he smacked her. He straight up slapped her across the face. I saw the whole thing. I get really uncomfortable with tension and confrontation, so I went into shock mode. I kept trying to ignore it, but they were yelling loudly. Everyone else on the bus wasn’t even phased by it. They continued to spit on each other and insult each other. And then he hit her again! EVEN HARDER. At this point my head hurt so bad, and I was so uncomfortable that I wanted to cry. We finally arrived at the bus station and I just jumped off the bus. I have never been so happy to get off of a bus. Later on I was recounting the experience to Gaby, and she said that sometimes Gypsies put on these types of scenes to get money, and now that I think about it…that makes a lot more sense.
So we got into San Sebastian and we met up with Kevin. It was freezing. We took a taxi to the Sideria where we got all you can eat steak, fish, peanuts...etc. I just recently let myself start eating fish, and I haven’t been that disappointed, in fact, on the way home from the trip I had a craving for something that I couldn’t recognize, then I realized that I was having a craving for fish. WHATS HAPPENING? We met all of Kevin’s USAC friends. They definitely have a different kind of group then ours. It was good to meet new people. We went dancing for a little bit, but went home due to exhaustion.
The next day we met up with Kim’s Uncle who lives in San Sabby also. He is Mexican, like Kim, but he met a Basque woman and married her and then three years ago they moved back to beautiful Basque country, ya know, just your everyday boring love story. No but really, they were the nicest couple. They have a 6 year old son named Tinosh. He was cute. We sat around and talked about the different cultures, languages, and experiences. Their son knows Basque, Spanish, and English. He is a trilingual genius.
Her uncle took us in his car around a few towns in Basque country. It was seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I am a little jealous of Kevin because he lives in such a beautiful area. San Sebastian is right on the ocean, and it’s clean, and just…amazing. We got a tour of the area, I ate some good food, and good pictures. We came back into the city and met up with my friend Ariana. Ariana is studying in France and Kim also had a friend who is studying there too and they came up together. We met up with them and walked around and talked about Spanish, Italian, and French. Three languages that sound very different but also have similarities. We all spoke our languages to each other. I think we are all making progress. We went back to Kevin’s apartment where him and his room mates made us girls Paella, which is a Basque/Spanish specialty. It has rice, chicken, seafood, other things that are delicious. It was a buon feast. We met up again with Kevin’s friends and went dancing again. Did I mention that Kim and I love to dance? WE ARE ALWAYS DANCING.
The next day was really cold and rainy. I tried a kebab, and unfortunately it was better than my main man Hagen’s back in Viterbo, but I am a loyal customer. He knows my name, and always gives me free fries, so it’s the thought that makes it the best. We mostly just hung out on Sunday. It was good to hang out with Kevin, and his roommates are really nice. I got to watch some Modern Family too, which made me happy ☺ Kevin has a Basque roommate, Gotzon, who made us a tortilla which is similar to an omelet, but filled with potatoes and onions. It was really delicious. I was spoiled with food that weekend.
Kim and I headed back home on Monday. We had a four- hour bus ride to the airport, but I didn’t mind this time because I could see the AMAZING scenery, and this time there were no gypsies. We finally made it home at 11 that night, and I was exhausted and coughing up a lung. I am going to be dead in about 2 weeks. It was nice loving all of you.
We flew into Santandar, which is technically only an hour and a half out of San Sebastian, but the only bus you can take stops in every town on the way so it takes 3-4 hours. I had the worst headache I have ever had, and when I thought things weren’t that bad…a family of gypsies sat in front of us. The father played a NOT catchy Spanish song over and over again. This is the first time in my life where I felt like I could beat someone up out of pure anger. (just the man in me). But then It got even better. Him and his wife started fighting and yelling at each other. I don’t speak Spanish, but luckily my company did. “They are either fighting about him cheating on her, or its about food.” Then he smacked her. He straight up slapped her across the face. I saw the whole thing. I get really uncomfortable with tension and confrontation, so I went into shock mode. I kept trying to ignore it, but they were yelling loudly. Everyone else on the bus wasn’t even phased by it. They continued to spit on each other and insult each other. And then he hit her again! EVEN HARDER. At this point my head hurt so bad, and I was so uncomfortable that I wanted to cry. We finally arrived at the bus station and I just jumped off the bus. I have never been so happy to get off of a bus. Later on I was recounting the experience to Gaby, and she said that sometimes Gypsies put on these types of scenes to get money, and now that I think about it…that makes a lot more sense.
So we got into San Sebastian and we met up with Kevin. It was freezing. We took a taxi to the Sideria where we got all you can eat steak, fish, peanuts...etc. I just recently let myself start eating fish, and I haven’t been that disappointed, in fact, on the way home from the trip I had a craving for something that I couldn’t recognize, then I realized that I was having a craving for fish. WHATS HAPPENING? We met all of Kevin’s USAC friends. They definitely have a different kind of group then ours. It was good to meet new people. We went dancing for a little bit, but went home due to exhaustion.
The next day we met up with Kim’s Uncle who lives in San Sabby also. He is Mexican, like Kim, but he met a Basque woman and married her and then three years ago they moved back to beautiful Basque country, ya know, just your everyday boring love story. No but really, they were the nicest couple. They have a 6 year old son named Tinosh. He was cute. We sat around and talked about the different cultures, languages, and experiences. Their son knows Basque, Spanish, and English. He is a trilingual genius.
Her uncle took us in his car around a few towns in Basque country. It was seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I am a little jealous of Kevin because he lives in such a beautiful area. San Sebastian is right on the ocean, and it’s clean, and just…amazing. We got a tour of the area, I ate some good food, and good pictures. We came back into the city and met up with my friend Ariana. Ariana is studying in France and Kim also had a friend who is studying there too and they came up together. We met up with them and walked around and talked about Spanish, Italian, and French. Three languages that sound very different but also have similarities. We all spoke our languages to each other. I think we are all making progress. We went back to Kevin’s apartment where him and his room mates made us girls Paella, which is a Basque/Spanish specialty. It has rice, chicken, seafood, other things that are delicious. It was a buon feast. We met up again with Kevin’s friends and went dancing again. Did I mention that Kim and I love to dance? WE ARE ALWAYS DANCING.
The next day was really cold and rainy. I tried a kebab, and unfortunately it was better than my main man Hagen’s back in Viterbo, but I am a loyal customer. He knows my name, and always gives me free fries, so it’s the thought that makes it the best. We mostly just hung out on Sunday. It was good to hang out with Kevin, and his roommates are really nice. I got to watch some Modern Family too, which made me happy ☺ Kevin has a Basque roommate, Gotzon, who made us a tortilla which is similar to an omelet, but filled with potatoes and onions. It was really delicious. I was spoiled with food that weekend.
Kim and I headed back home on Monday. We had a four- hour bus ride to the airport, but I didn’t mind this time because I could see the AMAZING scenery, and this time there were no gypsies. We finally made it home at 11 that night, and I was exhausted and coughing up a lung. I am going to be dead in about 2 weeks. It was nice loving all of you.
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