So I have been in Caceres for almost a week now. It has been pretty relaxed, meeting with the group every day so our directors can show us around and give us information. But everyone is still getting used to the time difference, the food, our families, so we have had a lot of free time too.
I love everything. My host family is awesome. They're younger than the other parents, so they are more like friends than moms. They give advice to us, they make sooo much food for us, they like to hear about where we went last night, etc. One day they came home with a bunch of groceries like peanut butter, coca cola, nutella, kiwis. They don't even eat most of that stuff, they got it for Steph and I. They do our laundry, clean our room and bathroom, and on Wednesday they took us to different shops to buy the things we needed and to show us the best places to shop.
Food: For breakfast we can have whatever we want. Fruit, bread, cereal. I always have coffee. They have the best coffee in the entire world here, it's sooo amazing. It's super strong, way stronger than anything in the U.S. and I love it. For lunch, we have had fried fish and lentil soup, steamed veggies and meatballs, pasta, tuna enchiladas, potato omlettes. Today we had a cassarole thing with eggs, mushrooms, and hot dogs. We always have bread with it, and dessert is usually fruit or chocolate mouse or vanilla pudding with cinnamon and cookies. Dinner is lighter, but still too much food. And it's hard getting used to eating at 9:30pm. Our moms don't take no for an answer when we say we're too full. They are like, "no you're not, what do you want for dessert?" or "ok right, but eat more bread."
This weekend Steph and I have been super lazy. We slept in both yesterday and today, and spent the whole time reading or watching movies. It felt nice not to have to be somewhere at a certain time, but it will also be nice to start classes tomorrow and get on a schedule. We went out Friday night to a free French movie, then ate at a small restaurant/bar. Last night we went to a discoteca for the first time. We were there too early, it didn't start to fill up with people until 2-2:30am. But once it did, it was fun. They played salsa, some reggeton that I recognized from Ecuador, and also music from the U.S. We all had a good time, and it's close to my flat so Steph and I definetly want to go back.
So that's my life right now. School starts tomorrow, I'll post something within the next few days about how classes are.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Caceres!
After my billion train rides from Italy to Geneva, I went by plane to Madrid. I was exhausted, after not sleeping, switching trains, and waiting at the Geneva airport for 3 hours. The flight was good, and Bekah (my friend from high school who is now an exchange student in Madrid) was there to meet me.
We took two metros and a bus to her house outside of Madrid. Her family was very nice, but it was really hard to switch from Italian to Spanish so fast, I kept getting words messed up. I slept there, and the next morning we woke up, got ready, and went back to the Madrid airport.
There we met the other Iowa State students who had just arrived from the U.S. We fetched my suitcase from the locker at the airport (it was actually quite cheap, only 23 euros) and waited with my group for our program director, Toni.
Toni arrived around noon, and we all went on a bus to Caceres. The bus ride was about 5 hours, and we stopped to have something to eat on the way. Everyone slept a lot on the bus, but I was already used to the time change and was full of energy after an actual full night's sleep, so I was bouncing off the walls.
We arrived in Caceres around 6ish and our families met us. I am rooming with Steph, who I already knew from ISU. There are about 20 or so of us students, and most of the host families are older retired couples or widows who take in students for the semester. Steph and I have the best family though. Our "parents" are actually two women in their 30's who never got married and share an apartment. I have been calling it the Spain Sorority House, because it's 4 of us girls.
Our parents (Lorena and Esther) drove us to our home. We live on the 5th floor of a flat. The location is really good, we're only a couple minutes from a mall and a 10 mintue walk from the center where we meet the rest of the group and also where we'll take the bus to the campus.
The apartment is tiny! Steph and I share a room. There are two single beds, a dresser, and shevles. We really have to cordinate getting ready, because it's hard to move around in the room. We have our own bathroom though, which is nice.
The next morning, we were supposed to meet the group for a tour of the city at 10:30am. Both Lorena and Esther had to leave before then, so we were on our own to get ready and have breakfast. That was probably not a good idea...
Ok so, I had already used my converter in Italy, so I knew it worked. However, when I used it, it was only for my straightner, computer, or ipod. I had yet to try my hair dryer. I plugged my hair dryer into the converter, then plugged the converter into the wall. It sparked, then my hair dryer went up in smoke. I started to panic.
Steph was blow drying her hair in the room too, and her hair dryer stopped working as well. I quickly unplugged the appliance, and started waving it around to get rid of all the smoke. We then realized that the lights had gone off in our room as well. That meant I had blown the fuse in our room. More panic...
Steph and I started running around the house, trying all the lights and lamps and appliances. NOTHING WORKED. I had blown the fuse to the ENTIRE APARTMENT. That's when I reeeally panicked. We slowly realized that the heat wouldn't work, becuase the heaters were all plugged in. The refridgerator wouldn't work, and all the food would spoil. The lights wouldn't work, and we would have to come home in the dark. And probably most importantly, we couldn't do our hair!!!
I calmed down enough to figure that I should probably call our parents. I used my Spanish-English dictionary to look up the words for "fuse" and "blow up" and went to the phone. I was nervous, I didn't know what it would take to fix it, how long, or if our moms would be mad. But the nervousness quickly changed back to panic when I realized that the phone was plugged into the wall as well, therefore no good with no electricity.
Ok plan B. By then, we were going to be late to meet the group, so we booked it to the center. We both had UGLY hair, and I was practically in tears. When we got there, I asked Toni to call our mom on her cell phone and explain what happened. She did, and our moms said it was all right, no problem, it could be fixed, they aren't mad, but did we have breakfast?
With those worries off my mind, I was able to enjoy the first day with the group. We took a tour of the entire city. We saw the post office, hospital, public library. Caceres is divided into two, the old part and the new. We live in the new. It's modern looking, with tall buildings and round-abouts, and palm trees. The old part is cobblestone and has lots and lots of stairs. Pretty cathedrals, statues, and fountains. I adore this city.
We went back to our homes at 2 for lunch. Lorena and Esther don't get home til 4, so they prepare our food in the morning and leave it for us to warm up and eat whenever we get home. They eat sooo much! We had soup and salmon lasagna, with bread and fruit for dessert. I can't finish all the meal, which makes our moms think something is wrong with me. When I say I'm full, they firmly say "No. Eat." :-/
We took a siesta, which was amazing, and met the group again to go to the mall. We had dinner at 9:30pm, which is hard to get used to. Again, lots of food. We went to bed, because we had to meet the group at 11 today.
We took two metros and a bus to her house outside of Madrid. Her family was very nice, but it was really hard to switch from Italian to Spanish so fast, I kept getting words messed up. I slept there, and the next morning we woke up, got ready, and went back to the Madrid airport.
There we met the other Iowa State students who had just arrived from the U.S. We fetched my suitcase from the locker at the airport (it was actually quite cheap, only 23 euros) and waited with my group for our program director, Toni.
Toni arrived around noon, and we all went on a bus to Caceres. The bus ride was about 5 hours, and we stopped to have something to eat on the way. Everyone slept a lot on the bus, but I was already used to the time change and was full of energy after an actual full night's sleep, so I was bouncing off the walls.
We arrived in Caceres around 6ish and our families met us. I am rooming with Steph, who I already knew from ISU. There are about 20 or so of us students, and most of the host families are older retired couples or widows who take in students for the semester. Steph and I have the best family though. Our "parents" are actually two women in their 30's who never got married and share an apartment. I have been calling it the Spain Sorority House, because it's 4 of us girls.
Our parents (Lorena and Esther) drove us to our home. We live on the 5th floor of a flat. The location is really good, we're only a couple minutes from a mall and a 10 mintue walk from the center where we meet the rest of the group and also where we'll take the bus to the campus.
The apartment is tiny! Steph and I share a room. There are two single beds, a dresser, and shevles. We really have to cordinate getting ready, because it's hard to move around in the room. We have our own bathroom though, which is nice.
The next morning, we were supposed to meet the group for a tour of the city at 10:30am. Both Lorena and Esther had to leave before then, so we were on our own to get ready and have breakfast. That was probably not a good idea...
Ok so, I had already used my converter in Italy, so I knew it worked. However, when I used it, it was only for my straightner, computer, or ipod. I had yet to try my hair dryer. I plugged my hair dryer into the converter, then plugged the converter into the wall. It sparked, then my hair dryer went up in smoke. I started to panic.
Steph was blow drying her hair in the room too, and her hair dryer stopped working as well. I quickly unplugged the appliance, and started waving it around to get rid of all the smoke. We then realized that the lights had gone off in our room as well. That meant I had blown the fuse in our room. More panic...
Steph and I started running around the house, trying all the lights and lamps and appliances. NOTHING WORKED. I had blown the fuse to the ENTIRE APARTMENT. That's when I reeeally panicked. We slowly realized that the heat wouldn't work, becuase the heaters were all plugged in. The refridgerator wouldn't work, and all the food would spoil. The lights wouldn't work, and we would have to come home in the dark. And probably most importantly, we couldn't do our hair!!!
I calmed down enough to figure that I should probably call our parents. I used my Spanish-English dictionary to look up the words for "fuse" and "blow up" and went to the phone. I was nervous, I didn't know what it would take to fix it, how long, or if our moms would be mad. But the nervousness quickly changed back to panic when I realized that the phone was plugged into the wall as well, therefore no good with no electricity.
Ok plan B. By then, we were going to be late to meet the group, so we booked it to the center. We both had UGLY hair, and I was practically in tears. When we got there, I asked Toni to call our mom on her cell phone and explain what happened. She did, and our moms said it was all right, no problem, it could be fixed, they aren't mad, but did we have breakfast?
With those worries off my mind, I was able to enjoy the first day with the group. We took a tour of the entire city. We saw the post office, hospital, public library. Caceres is divided into two, the old part and the new. We live in the new. It's modern looking, with tall buildings and round-abouts, and palm trees. The old part is cobblestone and has lots and lots of stairs. Pretty cathedrals, statues, and fountains. I adore this city.
We went back to our homes at 2 for lunch. Lorena and Esther don't get home til 4, so they prepare our food in the morning and leave it for us to warm up and eat whenever we get home. They eat sooo much! We had soup and salmon lasagna, with bread and fruit for dessert. I can't finish all the meal, which makes our moms think something is wrong with me. When I say I'm full, they firmly say "No. Eat." :-/
We took a siesta, which was amazing, and met the group again to go to the mall. We had dinner at 9:30pm, which is hard to get used to. Again, lots of food. We went to bed, because we had to meet the group at 11 today.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Italy
Italy
Simone and Elizabeth’s dads both own a restaurant in Asti. From the train station, they took me there. I had lunch (pasta, of course) which was delicious. At this point, I could understand about 1/8 of what everyone was saying in Italian, and Simone was the only one who knew English. But everyone is so nice, and they were all eager to meet me.
After lunch, Simone and Elizabeth showed me Asti. The city is beautiful, with cobblestone streets, tiny cars, and buildings built straight up 3-4 stories tall. There are several squares, statues, and every intersection is a round-about.
That night I had dinner at the restaurant again. I had pizza (“real” pizza, as Simone says, not like Pizza Hut). I ate about half, and I had to really try to do that much. By then I had learned several phrases and could count to 10 in Italian.
The next day the three of us took the train to Turin. Simone gave me a tour of the city. It is sooo cool. There are ancient Roman buildings, and towers and churches. We went to a huge Cathedral, where they have the blanket that Jesus was supposedly wrapped in after his crucifixion. I saw the palace where the queen used to live, and the Po river, and the actual body of the Saint Bosco of Asti that they keep in a glass box from decomposing. Ew.
We also went to the Mole, which is a giant museum of theatre. We took a glass elevator to the top (80 meters high) where there was a balcony all the way around. From there, I could see all of Turin, and the view was amazing. Now, I guess Italians have the same concept of elevators as Ecuadorians do with cars: pack in as many as possible. If you didn’t know, I am a tad bit claustrophobic, and being in a tiny elevator with 12 other people for 10 minutes wasn’t fun, but it was worth it for the view at the top.
We took the train back to Asti, and that night had dinner with like 10 of Simone’s friends. They are all very nice, but not good at English. By then, I could understand half of what people were saying, and could usually answer questions. My Italian was improving really fast, and it helps that it’s really similar to Spanish.
The restaurant was a long drive away. By the way, Italians drive crazy. Just saying. The restaurant was really fancy, and is famous for their seafood. I told Simone to order for me, so he got me some of his favorites. So my appetizer was octopus and potatoes. The octopus kind of freaked me out, but it tasted good. Well, the meat did at least, but the sucky things were still on it and those had a weird texture. My main course was lobster spaghetti. Elizabeth showed me how to get the meat out of the thing, and the claws moved at me, I swear they did.
The spaghetti was delicious, but halfway through the meal, someone at the table discovered that I was CUTTING the spaghetti. I thought they were going to have panic attacks. “No!!! That’s not how you eat spaghetti!!! You can’t cut it! Only Germans cut spaghetti, and Germans are weird!!!” My bad…
After the meal, we went bowling. It was interesting – Italians have absolutely no form when they bowl. It was a lot of fun though, all of his friends were super nice and they taught me lots of curse words that Simone had refused to teach me.
Sunday I went to Italian Catholic mass, then we had lunch at Simone’s home. Ok something you should know: Italians have huge meals. And I mean huge. I couldn’t eat even half of the meals there. And they eat every single thing on their plate. So anyway we had a really good pasta, which I managed to eat all of. Just when I thought I was going to have to lie down because I was so full, Simone’s dad informed me what we were having for the main course. I thought he was kidding, making a joke to the American. He wasn’t. We had meat and veggies and then dessert. I couldn’t inhale by the end of the meal. I told them I wasn’t going to have to eat for 3 weeks.
That night I got to watch American football. Simone has U.S. ESPN, so the play-offs were actually on tv. I was so excited!!! The thing is, in case you’re not good at simple addition, Italy is 7 hours ahead of the U.S. That means that the first game started at 9pm. And if you know me, you know that I watched both games to the end. The Vikings-Saints game got over around 4:20am, then I changed clothes and we left for the train station at 5. It was worth it though.
I said good-bye to Simone’s parents and brother in Asti, then Simone and Elizabeth went with me to Turin. I’m glad they did, because we had to run for me to catch the next train. I said good-bye to them, then went onto Milan, then from there to Lausanne, then Lausanne to Geneva.
Simone and Elizabeth’s dads both own a restaurant in Asti. From the train station, they took me there. I had lunch (pasta, of course) which was delicious. At this point, I could understand about 1/8 of what everyone was saying in Italian, and Simone was the only one who knew English. But everyone is so nice, and they were all eager to meet me.
After lunch, Simone and Elizabeth showed me Asti. The city is beautiful, with cobblestone streets, tiny cars, and buildings built straight up 3-4 stories tall. There are several squares, statues, and every intersection is a round-about.
That night I had dinner at the restaurant again. I had pizza (“real” pizza, as Simone says, not like Pizza Hut). I ate about half, and I had to really try to do that much. By then I had learned several phrases and could count to 10 in Italian.
The next day the three of us took the train to Turin. Simone gave me a tour of the city. It is sooo cool. There are ancient Roman buildings, and towers and churches. We went to a huge Cathedral, where they have the blanket that Jesus was supposedly wrapped in after his crucifixion. I saw the palace where the queen used to live, and the Po river, and the actual body of the Saint Bosco of Asti that they keep in a glass box from decomposing. Ew.
We also went to the Mole, which is a giant museum of theatre. We took a glass elevator to the top (80 meters high) where there was a balcony all the way around. From there, I could see all of Turin, and the view was amazing. Now, I guess Italians have the same concept of elevators as Ecuadorians do with cars: pack in as many as possible. If you didn’t know, I am a tad bit claustrophobic, and being in a tiny elevator with 12 other people for 10 minutes wasn’t fun, but it was worth it for the view at the top.
We took the train back to Asti, and that night had dinner with like 10 of Simone’s friends. They are all very nice, but not good at English. By then, I could understand half of what people were saying, and could usually answer questions. My Italian was improving really fast, and it helps that it’s really similar to Spanish.
The restaurant was a long drive away. By the way, Italians drive crazy. Just saying. The restaurant was really fancy, and is famous for their seafood. I told Simone to order for me, so he got me some of his favorites. So my appetizer was octopus and potatoes. The octopus kind of freaked me out, but it tasted good. Well, the meat did at least, but the sucky things were still on it and those had a weird texture. My main course was lobster spaghetti. Elizabeth showed me how to get the meat out of the thing, and the claws moved at me, I swear they did.
The spaghetti was delicious, but halfway through the meal, someone at the table discovered that I was CUTTING the spaghetti. I thought they were going to have panic attacks. “No!!! That’s not how you eat spaghetti!!! You can’t cut it! Only Germans cut spaghetti, and Germans are weird!!!” My bad…
After the meal, we went bowling. It was interesting – Italians have absolutely no form when they bowl. It was a lot of fun though, all of his friends were super nice and they taught me lots of curse words that Simone had refused to teach me.
Sunday I went to Italian Catholic mass, then we had lunch at Simone’s home. Ok something you should know: Italians have huge meals. And I mean huge. I couldn’t eat even half of the meals there. And they eat every single thing on their plate. So anyway we had a really good pasta, which I managed to eat all of. Just when I thought I was going to have to lie down because I was so full, Simone’s dad informed me what we were having for the main course. I thought he was kidding, making a joke to the American. He wasn’t. We had meat and veggies and then dessert. I couldn’t inhale by the end of the meal. I told them I wasn’t going to have to eat for 3 weeks.
That night I got to watch American football. Simone has U.S. ESPN, so the play-offs were actually on tv. I was so excited!!! The thing is, in case you’re not good at simple addition, Italy is 7 hours ahead of the U.S. That means that the first game started at 9pm. And if you know me, you know that I watched both games to the end. The Vikings-Saints game got over around 4:20am, then I changed clothes and we left for the train station at 5. It was worth it though.
I said good-bye to Simone’s parents and brother in Asti, then Simone and Elizabeth went with me to Turin. I’m glad they did, because we had to run for me to catch the next train. I said good-bye to them, then went onto Milan, then from there to Lausanne, then Lausanne to Geneva.
Traveling/Switzerland
January 18-24
Day 1: Traveling
I was supposed to leave Monday, Jan. 18th. I was all packed, said good-bye to my cat, sister, and farm (in that order) and set off for Cedar Rapids with the parents. However, when we arrived, we learned that no flights were coming or going due to fog. APPARENTLY the pilots have to be able to actually see the runway. So… 2 cancelled flights later, I was back home.
Alright, take 2. Tuesday I was back at the Cedar Rapids airport. There was less fog and my hopes were high that I would actually get to leave the country that day. And I did, at 1:30ish pm.
From Cedar Rapids I went to Chicago, then to Philadelphia. It was in Philly that I ran into problems. I went to check in my boarding pass and passport at my terminal, and the lady kindly told me that I was supposed to be in Frankfurt, Germany at the moment, and that I was not on the flight to Madrid. Not good.
I spent an hour bargaining with the guy at the special services counter and used my good charm to convince him to let me on the plane to Madrid. I literally ran back to the terminal and went straight onto the plane, with the flight attendants closing the door behind me. Close call!
The flight was good. The plane was practically empty, so each of us passengers just chose a row and were able to stretch out across 5 seats and sleep the whole time. I woke up in Madrid and went through customs and immigration, then prayed very hard that both of my suitcases would arrive and not be in Frankfurt like my ticket said. But they did magically arrive.
From there, I had to go rent a locker to leave one of my suitcases, because I didn’t want to take it with me traveling. The locker was outside the airport, across the parking lot. I must have looked awful, I had 2 suitcases, a bookbag, laptop, and jet lag. And I was absolutely NOT prepared to speak Spanish yet. The guys at the locker actually laughed at me when it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to open the locker door, then 25 more minutes to learn how to close it.
Alright next step: fly to Geneva, Switzerland. I had to switch airlines, because I bought 2 separate round trip tickets. So after standing in the dead center of the airport for a half hour hoping Terminal 4 would find me, I decided I should probably go look for it instead. I learned that T4 is new, and I had to take a bus to it. Turns out, it’s actually on the other side of Madrid. Spectacular.
At Terminal 4, I had no problems finding my company, checking in, and getting my boarding pass. The problem was, the pass didn’t say which gate my plane was at. I’m not kidding, the boarding pass actually has ???? written where a gate number should be. Apparently, in Madrid they like to do this thing called “Learn which gate you’re at 20 minutes before the flight, then see if you make it there.” People stand staring at the big screens waiting for their flight to have a gate assigned. Then they take off running. I didn’t learn this game until after I had taken 2 trams, 7 escalators, gotten completely lost, and gone through security twice trying to find my gate.
So I stood there, waiting to see which of the 8ish terminals my plane would be at. By the way, the terminals aren’t close. You have to take a tram to them. I was nervous, to say the least. But I got the gate exactly 20 minutes before the flight, and I made it to the gate.
After the lovely flight to Geneva, which I was unconscious for the entire time, I got my suitcase, snuck into Switzerland (seriously, no one checked my passport. Not once). I then found the train station and bought a ticket to the city where my friend Carlos lives (who is Ecuadorian, I knew him from being an exchange student).
Carlos has told me to call him at that point to tell him at what time he should pick me up. So I bought a phone card using my stellar French skills (that’s a joke. I don’t know French), then attempted to use that phone card for 30 minutes. With no success, I looked at my watch, discovered that the train left in 3 minutes and ran to the platform. I got on the train, and sat next to 3 very nice looking Swiss (I presumed) boys.
I asked one if I could use his phone to call Carlos. It’s probably very expensive, but I was desperate and must have looked so because he said yes. He also helped me (in French) with where I would get off the train. They announce the stations in French and German, but I guessed right at got off at the right time in Sion. There I had a total of 8 minutes to find the next platform, which I did again using my charm and French skills.
The train from Sion to Sierre (Carlos’ city) was short, and I was finally there, Tuesday night at 10:00pm Switzerland time. Carlos met me with 3 of his friends from Greece.
Ok Carlos goes to an international university in Sierre. It’s up in the Alps (and I mean, at the very top) and is absolutely adorable. Winding roads, houses made out of stone and wood with pointed roofs and chimneys, lights. It was so cool. Plus, all the people there are all foreign, from Russia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Greece, Brazil. It was so neat.
We went to a little restaurant, and I was completely exhausted but it was so great to catch up with Carlos, and his friends were awesome (I learned a few Greek curse words too). I slept so great that night at their house.
Switzerland
Carlos and his friends all had class on Thursday, so I got to sleep in - yay. We went out to lunch, then we drove down the mountain from campus to Sierre. His Greek friends had some shopping to do, so Carlos and I tagged along. It was so much fun seeing the city, and hearing everyone speak French (plus Greek).
We went back to his university, and Carlos showed me the campus. We hung out in a small bar for a while, then ate dinner in their dining hall (they told me to act like I was a student there, so I didn’t pay). The meal was amazing, and it was awesome seeing all the other students from countries all over the world.
After dinner, we just hung out at the house, and Carlos and I stayed up until late. The next morning they drove me to the train station in Sierre, and I bought the tickets to Italy and said good-bye.
I took the train from Sierre to Brig, then changed trains to go to Milan, then again to go to Turin. The trains were really nice, and fast! Plus, it was daylight so I could see the Swiss countryside, then Italy. The Milan Centrale train station is ginormous, and it was cold. At Turin, I met my friend Simone (who was an exchange student at my high school when I was a senior). He was there with his girlfriend Elizabeth, and the three of us took yet another train to his city Asti.
Day 1: Traveling
I was supposed to leave Monday, Jan. 18th. I was all packed, said good-bye to my cat, sister, and farm (in that order) and set off for Cedar Rapids with the parents. However, when we arrived, we learned that no flights were coming or going due to fog. APPARENTLY the pilots have to be able to actually see the runway. So… 2 cancelled flights later, I was back home.
Alright, take 2. Tuesday I was back at the Cedar Rapids airport. There was less fog and my hopes were high that I would actually get to leave the country that day. And I did, at 1:30ish pm.
From Cedar Rapids I went to Chicago, then to Philadelphia. It was in Philly that I ran into problems. I went to check in my boarding pass and passport at my terminal, and the lady kindly told me that I was supposed to be in Frankfurt, Germany at the moment, and that I was not on the flight to Madrid. Not good.
I spent an hour bargaining with the guy at the special services counter and used my good charm to convince him to let me on the plane to Madrid. I literally ran back to the terminal and went straight onto the plane, with the flight attendants closing the door behind me. Close call!
The flight was good. The plane was practically empty, so each of us passengers just chose a row and were able to stretch out across 5 seats and sleep the whole time. I woke up in Madrid and went through customs and immigration, then prayed very hard that both of my suitcases would arrive and not be in Frankfurt like my ticket said. But they did magically arrive.
From there, I had to go rent a locker to leave one of my suitcases, because I didn’t want to take it with me traveling. The locker was outside the airport, across the parking lot. I must have looked awful, I had 2 suitcases, a bookbag, laptop, and jet lag. And I was absolutely NOT prepared to speak Spanish yet. The guys at the locker actually laughed at me when it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to open the locker door, then 25 more minutes to learn how to close it.
Alright next step: fly to Geneva, Switzerland. I had to switch airlines, because I bought 2 separate round trip tickets. So after standing in the dead center of the airport for a half hour hoping Terminal 4 would find me, I decided I should probably go look for it instead. I learned that T4 is new, and I had to take a bus to it. Turns out, it’s actually on the other side of Madrid. Spectacular.
At Terminal 4, I had no problems finding my company, checking in, and getting my boarding pass. The problem was, the pass didn’t say which gate my plane was at. I’m not kidding, the boarding pass actually has ???? written where a gate number should be. Apparently, in Madrid they like to do this thing called “Learn which gate you’re at 20 minutes before the flight, then see if you make it there.” People stand staring at the big screens waiting for their flight to have a gate assigned. Then they take off running. I didn’t learn this game until after I had taken 2 trams, 7 escalators, gotten completely lost, and gone through security twice trying to find my gate.
So I stood there, waiting to see which of the 8ish terminals my plane would be at. By the way, the terminals aren’t close. You have to take a tram to them. I was nervous, to say the least. But I got the gate exactly 20 minutes before the flight, and I made it to the gate.
After the lovely flight to Geneva, which I was unconscious for the entire time, I got my suitcase, snuck into Switzerland (seriously, no one checked my passport. Not once). I then found the train station and bought a ticket to the city where my friend Carlos lives (who is Ecuadorian, I knew him from being an exchange student).
Carlos has told me to call him at that point to tell him at what time he should pick me up. So I bought a phone card using my stellar French skills (that’s a joke. I don’t know French), then attempted to use that phone card for 30 minutes. With no success, I looked at my watch, discovered that the train left in 3 minutes and ran to the platform. I got on the train, and sat next to 3 very nice looking Swiss (I presumed) boys.
I asked one if I could use his phone to call Carlos. It’s probably very expensive, but I was desperate and must have looked so because he said yes. He also helped me (in French) with where I would get off the train. They announce the stations in French and German, but I guessed right at got off at the right time in Sion. There I had a total of 8 minutes to find the next platform, which I did again using my charm and French skills.
The train from Sion to Sierre (Carlos’ city) was short, and I was finally there, Tuesday night at 10:00pm Switzerland time. Carlos met me with 3 of his friends from Greece.
Ok Carlos goes to an international university in Sierre. It’s up in the Alps (and I mean, at the very top) and is absolutely adorable. Winding roads, houses made out of stone and wood with pointed roofs and chimneys, lights. It was so cool. Plus, all the people there are all foreign, from Russia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Greece, Brazil. It was so neat.
We went to a little restaurant, and I was completely exhausted but it was so great to catch up with Carlos, and his friends were awesome (I learned a few Greek curse words too). I slept so great that night at their house.
Switzerland
Carlos and his friends all had class on Thursday, so I got to sleep in - yay. We went out to lunch, then we drove down the mountain from campus to Sierre. His Greek friends had some shopping to do, so Carlos and I tagged along. It was so much fun seeing the city, and hearing everyone speak French (plus Greek).
We went back to his university, and Carlos showed me the campus. We hung out in a small bar for a while, then ate dinner in their dining hall (they told me to act like I was a student there, so I didn’t pay). The meal was amazing, and it was awesome seeing all the other students from countries all over the world.
After dinner, we just hung out at the house, and Carlos and I stayed up until late. The next morning they drove me to the train station in Sierre, and I bought the tickets to Italy and said good-bye.
I took the train from Sierre to Brig, then changed trains to go to Milan, then again to go to Turin. The trains were really nice, and fast! Plus, it was daylight so I could see the Swiss countryside, then Italy. The Milan Centrale train station is ginormous, and it was cold. At Turin, I met my friend Simone (who was an exchange student at my high school when I was a senior). He was there with his girlfriend Elizabeth, and the three of us took yet another train to his city Asti.
Monday, January 25, 2010
My blog
So I just started this blog. I figured it would be easier than repeating the same stories to everyone. I will post new stuff soon! Love from Europe, Kayla :)
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