On my way

2011.07.06

11:54am/1:54pm

PDX to Dallas

I just got in to the Dallas airport. It’s so nice here right now, about 95 and humid. I don’t get to go outside because then I’d have to go through security again and I really don’t want to take any chances. It wouldn’t be fun to get stuck outside the terminal because I wanted to get outside a little bit.

The guy sitting next to me was pretty cool. He was reading a book by James Herriot, called… Oops, I don’t remember. Anyways, it turns out Eric lives in Florida and runs a sail boat charter service from the boat he lives on (with his girlfriend, it sounds like). He’s heading there now, but leaves for France to see his 18 year old son studying University in France. The school’s in Marseilles, which is a city I’ll be traveling through on my way to Athens to meet up with Mom, Jess, and Matt! Crazy, I know. I gave him my contact info (yep, one of my model cards, haha) when he asked about exchanging, so I’ll expect an email from him in the next couple days.

I have about 3 hours till my flight boards, so I’m just hanging out in the airport right now. My phone was about to run out of batteries, so I’m chillin at a “SAMSUNG Mobile Charging Station.” Pretty nifty, even though it took me a little while to find. Having trouble with the wi-fi, but we’ll see if it gets any better. Hope so. I wanna try out google voice!

Well, I should probably eat something soon. I haven’t had anything except for the coffee on the plane, a sip of water just now, and a little bit of Eric’s bloody mary mix. He said it was too salty for him, and I totally understood when I tried it. I didn’t even want to finish it.

I know I should be a little worried because I still don’t have an appetite. I might have one of the granola bars I brought, since airport food costs at least a couple days’ worth of food the way I’d like to spend. I might walk around a little bit though, just to see how sweet the airport is. Oh, I need to keep my camera out.

2011.07.08

6:00pm

I’m sitting at the bus station right now, waiting for my bus from Madrid to Pomplona. The guys convinced me to come up with them instead of going to chill in Valencia, then we’re all going to Barcelona together.

A lot’s happened so far and it’s only my second day here! Yesterday, right after we got off the plane from Texas, I met a guy named Steve from Hawaii. Apparently he was sitting about 4 rows behind me, which was why I didn’t see him on the plane. I do remember seeing him as he walked by though; his bone-style necklace stood out and I remember thinking that guy looks like he’s from Hawaii.

Anyway, we packed around together for a while, trying to figure out the ATMs and then get directions to downtown. He said he wasn’t going to be in Madrid very long, just long enough to catch a train up to Pomplona to run with the bulls. Turns out that it’s going on RIGHT NOW, thus the change in plans from Valencia to Pomplona for tonight.

On the bus from the airport, an Aussie overheard us talking about our plans and how we were planning to get downtown to find some Wi-Fi (pronounced wee-fee in Spanish, haha). His name’s Ned. We tried to get Wi-Fi at a Starbucks, but it wasn’t working out very well. There was a sign that they had Wi-Fi for customers, but even a receipt we grabbed from the trashcan didn’t help. All it had was the code for the bathroom lock.

Since the free internet didn’t really work out, we decided to go to Ned’s hostel to grab some. When we got there, Steve asked for a room and ended up getting the LAST one they had. We chilled in the lounge for a while, catching up with emails, Facebook, and Skype. I texted Mom, Dad, and Charlie and tried calling Charlie, even though it was like 4 in the morning there. I just wanted to try, just in case.

After having our fill of the internet for a while, we all left our packs in the little closet behind the counter at the hostel (rooms aren’t ready until 3pm and it was only about 2) and headed out to get Steve’s Europass validated. It took soooooo long, about 4 hours of getting in the wrong lines, then waiting and waiting. I headed back to the hostel around 4 so I could call Charlie, who was about to wake up (4pm in Madrid is 7am in Oregon). I think we talked for about 30 minutes or so. It was really nice to hear her voice.

Before I left to go find the guys again, I decided to ask if any beds had opened up. I was ready to ask if I could pay a little less to sleep on the floor of the lounge or something, but there was a bed open. It was only 20.50 Euros for a bed in an 8-bed room. Ned’s bunk was right above mine and the other people in there were pretty cool. We met on guy who I’m pretty sure said his name was Dandy, but Ned doesn’t think so. He’s from Australia too, but didn’t stay the night. He was heading out for somewhere else right about when we headed out to dinner.

Right when I left the hostel to meet up with Steve and Ned, they were just walking down the street towards me. While they took showers, I went to look for cell phones. The lady at Orange didn’t speak English and didn’t seem like she wanted to help me, but a girl that sounded like she was from the UK helped me out. My Spanish is so rusty. I was pretty embarrassed, especially when she would start saying something and I would be saying the same thing (or really close) in my head.

I came back and we all went out to get beers, which we brought back with us and started playing cards with two Korean girls (Kelly and Yeon) who were staying there, too. I ran up to get my camera and money, but Steve took off with the girls to go try and find a Tapas bar the three Aussies were telling us about from the night before. They were pretty wasted, so they had no idea where it actually was. They never found it, but Ned and I went out with a Chinese or Korean girl named Cindy. I packed a few beers for the three of us, but had to pee soon after we left. I ran in to this bar on the corner of one of the big plazas. When I got done, I felt bad for just coming in to use the bathroom, so I tried to give the bartender 2 Euros. He insisted the bathroom was free and tried to give it back, so I just asked for a drink for it instead. He gave me this really good double shot of something that kind of tasted like Jager. The name was really long and even though he showed me the bottle, I still don’t remember what it was called.

That was probably what put me over the top, because I don’t really remember anything after that. Ned filled me in a little bit this morning. Apparently I went off with Cindy and he came back to the hostel, only to go out again with the other Aussies. They got home around 2am and found me on the couch downstairs with my pack, kind of sleeping. Ned asked if it was me and I murmured, so he knew it was me. Then he helped (he said he carried, but I dunno about that) me upstairs to my bunk. No wonder I woke up in my clothes.

Today Steve and Ned left early to catch their trains up to Pomplona. I stayed back to take a shower and look for a phone, planning to catch the bus a little later. That probably wasn’t the best idea to get to Pomplona by a decent time, but oh well. It’s all good.

When I was checking out I met this guy, Jason, from Houston, who’s Spanish is pretty good. We went out to El Corte Ingles to find cell phones in Puerta del Sol. Oh, also met a guy from LA while I was brushing my teeth. He was pretty cool, too.

I FINALLY got to the bus station at about 2pm. It was kind of far, but it was a fun walk. I got to practice a little Spanish and got a few good pictures. The earliest bus to Pomplona was at 7:30, so I’ve been killing time for the last 4 hours. I got a phone and called Steve to let them know what was up, then spent the rest of the time sitting/laying in the station, eating a long loaf of hard bread with some salami and juice for lunch, and walking around the blocks near the station. Now I’m obviously writing this up so I can post it when I get back to some internets.

My bus is almost ready (6:47 now), so I’m going to go see if I can find it and if we can board yet.