Travel Tunes "California by Joni Mitchell"

Ahhh, a song about traveling the world, experiencing new and exciting things, but appreciating and somewhat longing for your home base, wherever that might be.

Still a lot of lands to see
But I wouldn't want to stay here
It's too old and cold and settled in its ways here
Oh but California
California I'm coming home

A random Thursday mix of things...

I need to practice how to write upside down question marks.  They go at the beginning of a sentence asking a question in Spanish, but they are incredibly hard to make legible when you draw them out.  Mine look like weird squiggles.

I would kill for a bagel and cream cheese, both of which (especially the bagel) is impossible to find here.  My fav breakfast, and it's nowhere to be found :(

Why is there no peanut butter here?! It makes the perfect snack on a piece of toast! I am tired of jam or nutella or butter... I want some all natural peanut butter.

There is no such thing as "to go" here in cafes.  I am used to breakfast on the go when it is early in the morning, and I am forced to sit and enjoy my coffee in a cafe instead of saving time and having it on the bus or in class.  Crazy European culture of taking it easy and enjoying every minute.

And the sidewalks! In the rain! It's like a death trap.  They are all made of some marble substance, and they are incredibly slippery in the rain.  Although no one else seems to be struggling, it is very difficult for me.  It takes me twice as long to get where I am going because of the possibility of slipping.

It is very difficult to get food delivered to your house.  I wanted a pizza delivered last night, and I gave up because it was too hard to find a place that delivers.  Crazy European culture of no fast food and of fostering home cooked fresh meals, sometimes a girl just wants a burger or a pizza.

New friends, good friends, weird friends.

The thing I was the most worried about before coming to Malaga was making friends.  I wanted to make friends around my own age (not too young, I can't keep up- not too old, I want an active nightlife).  I also wanted to find friends that spoke English, because I can't possibly spend all my time around Spanish speakers all week, I would go insane.  Some people think I should have Spanish friends to learn the language with, but I definitely get more than enough practice here with school, the family, and navigating the streets, stores, and restaurants.  Other than being roughly my age, and speaking English, I didn't really have any other criteria.

The friends I have met here so far have been through facebook, couchsurfing, my language course, and friends of friends I have met through those outlets.  I don't think I need to worry about not having people to hang out with while I am here anymore... actually, it's getting difficult to manage my weekend schedule because many of these groups of friends don't know each other, so I tend to hang out with each of them separately.  I plan on merging some people together soon to see if they hit it off, and we can have a larger group.  Some of the friends I have met I have really, really hit it off with.  Others, I don't think I'm too compatible with... they are a little strange (sometimes different cultures are a little hard to get along with, and don't really foster the qualities that I like in my close friends).

The first people I met are ironically the ones that I don't get along with the most.  I mean, we get along, but I didn't find talking with them particularly enriching, or hanging out with them particularly entertaining.  We didn't seem to have similar interests, similar conversation styles, or similar ways of thinking.  Nice people to meet, but not to necessarily hang out with on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, some of these people have been contacting me to hang out again and again, and what little social time I do have allotted to me, I would rather spend with the people I get along with better.

I am a little hesitant to meet guys online here in Spain, they come off very flirty.  I don't want any of them to think that I want to meet up to hook up, so I have to be very careful with the ones I make contact with.  I recently met one who was a PhD student (which to me is, for some reason, a safe trait).  He was really nice, knew a lot about Malaga, and was able to carry an interesting and intelligent conversation for a few hours which was nice.  He had a bit of "european oddness", just something different about the guys here than back in North America or northern Europe.  He is an avid couchsurfer, and has a good social network here in Malaga.  But he likes to travel on weekends and has a car, so this friendship may come in handy for weekend day trips!

One of the few au pairs I met here is really great too.  She is young, fun, and chatty, so we don't get bored together.  She is always up for going out and having fun, so we like to hit up bars and tapas places on the weekends together.  We also talk a lot about our au pair experiences, and I cannot believe all the similar things we are experiencing and can relate to! She'll be telling a story about something, and I will be freaked out at how similar her experience is to mine.  It's great to have someone to talk to about the joys and troubles of au pairing... you always need someone to vent to, and we definitely do a lot of that over sangria at night (although, to be fair, she has a lot more the handle than I do and her family isn't as great as mine).  She's from Germany, and I hope to be able to visit her once this contract is up!

I met a girl on couchsurfing who brought her girlfriend to our first meet-up, and we hit it off right away.  We spent the night laughing our butts off, and talking about all sorts of things.  One girl is from England, and is a teacher here at an English school, and her girlfriend is from Spain (but speaks English) and she is in the University here.  These two are so cute together, and I love hanging out with them.  We do night things (like a birthday party coming up!) and day things (motorcycling and shopping and lunch) and they know other people here in Spain (English teachers at the school) that I will meet soon.  We already have plans to go skiing in the winter, and to go to Barcelona for a weekend to visit the one girl's sister who lives there.  Fun and funny girls :)

And thankfully there is a girl in my Spanish class who speaks English and who is my age.  Ironically, she is from Ireland and her boyfriend lives in Malaga (ironic because my beau is in Ireland and I'm in Malaga).  She is really chatty and friendly (and so nice to everyone in our class! not that I'm not... I just don't really try to become friends with anyone else in that class).  She is an English teacher at a school near my place, and she is very excited to have someone else to speak English to and go out with (all her boyfriends friends are Spanish and don't speak English!).

Now I just need to get all these wonderful people together and have one great beach day or night on the town...

Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Malaga

Ahhh, being in a language school and being surrounded by foreigners.  I used to work at a Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada program, and I always knew what it was like on the teacher side of the relationship.  Being a student is a whole different ballgame.  These are my interpretations on the whole experience so far.

First of all, this school handled the registration process very poorly.  Everything was so disorganized! I felt like I was at a third world country or something... people all clamoring at the gate of the school to try and get in, lines around the block, no one speaking english or making any sense.  The line up was around the block just to get a registration form! I went on two separate occasions to try and aquire one of these ellusive forms.  The first time was the day that people wanted to register for English school, and it was crazy.  Luckily, I had my host mother with me and she was able to undestand what was going on.  Apparently they were only giving forms to people who knew what level they were going to register in (like individuals who had attended the school before or are transferring from another school).  I knew I would be registering in the most basic level, but they still said I needed to take a placement test a week later to be sure.  The second time I went to the school to try and register, I went alone.  I went the next day (when Spanish school and other language school registration was), and the line up was still around the block.  I just went home after that and figured I would have to write this silly placement test which I essentially won't understand and will hand back in after I put my name on the top.

The day of the placement test was another day of chaos.  All the instructions (and the test itself) was written in Spanish, so I obviously did not understand anything.  After I "wrote" the exam (put my name on the top and wrote BASIC LEVEL 1 across it), I tried to hand it in but they told me to just wait.  People started walking out of the room with their finished exams, and I was getting antsy, so I just decided to follow them.  Turns out I made the right call.  But then we ended up in a crowded hallway of classrooms with no instruction of where to go or what to do.  So I just waited in line for something to happen.  Finally someone announced the room to go in for all level one students (right before I entered another room for an oral exam of Spanish).  We were then handed forms to fill out and return to the school before our first day of class.  When I asked what we were supposed to do with our completed placement tests, I was told not to worry about them, since we were in level one.  Frusterating, as I was trying to get these forms a week ago and was told I HAD to write this test.

So with these forms in tow, I headed over to the bank to try and make my payment for the tuition.  Four banks later, I was finally able to make the payment.  The first bank was requesting a card for the identity number the school told me to put down, the second bank told me that my passport was invalid, and the third bank told me I had the wrong payment paper from the school.  Thank god for Unicaja, which didn't give me any problems and let me make the payment...

The first week of Spanish school is coming to an end, and so far it's been good.  The teacher only speaks Spanish, but I feel like I can understand what she is saying.  Right now, the hardest part is to memorize the exceptions to pronunciations of letters and assigning masculine and feminine words.  I met a girl in my class from Ireland, and we sit together.  Most of our class is Chinese and Eastern European... and they are all a little weird.  They all laugh at the stupidest things in the class, and all yell out the answers to every question (even when the question is directed to one person).  And I still can't get the hang of writing an upsidedown question mark... they always end up looking like squiggles!

On Being an Au Pair...

The au pair experience thus far has been what I have expected... kind of like babysitting, kind of not.  I feel obligated to be around Laura whenever she is home, but recently I have been wandering off when she watches TV or has her friends over.  Those two times are when she doesn't really want to speak English, and when I find the most boring.  The best times we have together are when it is just the two of us, and we can talk (I also imagine its when she learns the most English).  My schedule with Laura is to pick her up from school every day at 4:30.  She goes to a french school that is about a 20 minute walk from here, but the walk is up and down lots of hills.  Today will actually be my first time doing the walk, last week she was picked up via car by Rosa or Dioni with me along for the ride.  When we get home, I make a quick snack for her (usually nutella and toast, her favourite).  Then she does her homework, and I'll help with any English homework.  Then she usually has some sort of extra-cirricular for an hour (French tutoring, math tutoring, piano or horseback riding). Then she watches TV until dinner.  I usually eat my dinner with Laura, because Dioni and Rosa have it too late for me.  Then it's kind of fair game until bedtime, when I put Laura to bed if she wants me to.

My favourite part about the experience is getting to be around a kid again.  I like the age of innocence where they want you to explain things about why things are the way they are.  I like the imaginative play and the joy they get from pretending to be adults sometimes.  Its also fun to act like a kid, playing in the cabana (club house) and making up games.  I also love all things girly, like doing hair and makeup and nail polish so Laura and I are a good fit (she likes these things too, and likes to bring her other girl friends over to partake in the fun).  In addition to all of this, Laura seems to really, really enjoy me as her au pair.  She has been comfortable hanging out and talking with me since day one, which her mom says she usually doesn't do (she usually takes a while to warm up to the au pairs).  She has also told her mom that I am her favourite au pair, which I find very sweet.  Her mom says this is the first time she ever said that.  (awwww!).  She seems to want to hang out with me all the time, see everything I brought, and if it were up to here I think she would talk to me all night and never sleep! It's a great feeling, I hope this keeps up for the rest of the 10 months!

On Spanish Differences...

Over the past few days here, I have been trying to become accustomed to the differences in Spain compared to Canada.  Nothing too extreme or unmanageable, but different nonetheless.  Here are some of the main ones, consisting of stuff I anticipated and stuff I didn't.

1) Eating here is very different than eating in Canada.  The kinds of foods, the duration of meals, when meals are eaten are all different.  My first dinner here the night I arrived was a good indication of the way meals are eaten.  Usually, there are a number of foods in small amounts (so typically I get a salad, a meat and bread, occasionally a vegetable as well).  Dessert is typically fruit, although Rosa has been spoiling me with the chocolate and ice cream lately.  Maybe it's this particular family, but I have not had any wine yet with a meal.  But this family loves Coke Zero, which happens to be my favourite soft drink as of late (what a coincidence!).  I don't drink coffee here, I have espresso with some warmed up milk (and the milk they have has got to be homogenized, it is creamy!).  They have no margerine, just butter (which I love).  They also seem to really love their toast.  Seriously, there is bread/toast with every meal.  The lettuce here is weird, the romaine heads (if that's even what they are) are super small.  I am dying for a spinach or mixed field greens salad, but it only ever looks like they have romaine in the supermarkets.  Breakfast is typically small, and they make their own fresh orange juice in the juicer.  The next meal is at ~2pm, and is the largest meal of the day.  I usually have to snack on something in between.  Then dinner is around 9, and is typically small (like a salad).  I like the small meals throughout the day, but I am dying for a big hearty pasta or stew.  I might make one soon. 

2) Supermarkets are the one stop shop here.  They are small, have everything, and are everywhere.  Alcohol, fruit and vegetables, butcher, book store, bakery, drug store... all rolled into one!  I had to buy my toiletries at one of them, which was a very interesting experience.  I went shopping with Laura's older brother, who had to help me with the translations of the products (try to explain leave in conditioner to a 24 year old guy... who speaks spanish... it was hard. but I finally found it! i think.).  Also, all the deodorants are roll on here, which is really weird.  They have Clearsil, Clean and Clear, Pantene, Loreal, Nivea, Olay, Tampax and Garnier products here.  All these toiletries are more expensive here than in Canada, and these supermarkets don't have the best selection either.  I was hoping for a Shoppers Drug Mart kind of place here, but oh well.  I have what I need and I didn't compromise or break the bank too badly.

3) This is not a place for people who don't like affection.  The double cheek kiss makes even first time meetings intimate.  Everyone seems more animated and touchy... there are many hugs and kisses flying around.  Kids and adults interact this way with one another, which is interesting too.  When Laura's friends from school see Laura's mom, they embrace in the double cheek kiss.  And Laura and her friends are very affectionate with one another too.  Its an interesting social dynamic to get used to.

4) If I have to make a payment to an organization here (like a language school or the government), I go directly to any bank and give my money to the teller to make the payment, it is not handled within the organization.  I guess the bank puts it in the organizations account, but I think it's crazy that you can just go to any bank to do this.

5) If I could drive anywhere in the world, I think I would want to drive here (minus learning how to drive standard).  All the cars are really tiny and can navigate the streets easily and park easily (and people here don't think twice about having to drive up on a curb to make a park job).  It's a little more relaxed here, less road rules and lights, more round-a-bouts and all way stops.  People just seem to drive casually here.  It is easier to drive in the casual way when none of the roads are grids, and are all curvy.  People stop and go when they want to, yellow lights don't really mean anything, and if no one is crossing then they seem to go right through the light anyway. I know it sounds chaotic, but it somehow works.

6) There doesn't seem to be squirrels or raccoons here, but there are lots of lizards and some rats.  There are also ants, pigeons, sparrows and wild dogs.

7) The houses are set up different here.  They are narrow and tall, with no front yard.  The streets are lined with tall walls and garages, and the families will have a lawn on the upper floor.  The typical Andalusian house also has a outdoor square in the middle of it.  In this house, there is a square between the washer and dryer and pantry room and the kitchen.  All the windows and doors are left wide open in this house, and there are no screens.  Somehow, there aren't any bugs in the houses though.  Meals are usually eaten on the outdoor patio instead of inside.  Also, the light switches are weird here!  And all the toilets seem to flush the same way, with a button on top instead of a handle on the side. 

Those are the main differences that I have come in contact with, but I am sure that I will encounter many more!

A Long Day Over

After my day of traveling, it felt good to finally arrive in Malaga.  I was very nervous near the end of my train ride to meet my host family.  How would I be received at the train station? Would it be awkward? I just kept telling myself "remember, they kiss both cheeks! be prepared!".  When I got off the train at the station, I made my way into the lobby, and at first I didn't see my host family.  So I kind of stood there awkwardly hoping that they remembered me.  Then I saw Rosa and Laura (mother and child that I am au-pairing with) run up to me with big smiles.  I put down my bags and we had a big group hug (and of course, the double cheek kisses).  It was a really sweet reception at the end of a long day!

Laura and I became immediate friends.  She wanted to show me on her mom's iphone the pictures of her new dog that the family will be getting in October (yay!), and she was asking me questions (which I thought was very outgoing of her).  She even noticed that I cut my hair!  On the drive back to the house, Rosa and Laura were pointing out all of the different landmarks in the city.  It was such a fabulous drive, to be by the ocean, and palm trees, and beautiful houses, and crazy European streets! I kept thinking to myself that I will be able to explore all of this soon!

When we got back to the house, Dioni (the father) greeted me warmly, as did Laura's aunt, uncle and cousins who came over to prepare dinner to welcome me to Spain.  Laura immediately took me on a tour of the house, pointing out necessary things like where the nutella and tea was kept, where I could find paper, all the secret doors to the outside, and the yoga mat that the family bought for me to use while I was here.  Then we all settled down to a tapas-style dinner, with many little items to try.  I fell in love with jamon, which is Spanish ham, and this certain type of cheese from here.  Near the end of our meal, Laura brought out her laptop to show me all of her favourite music.  She was suprised that I didn't know the popular Spanish singers that she loved so much.  Then she was dying to show me that she knew all the words to this Spanish rap song, so the played it and made me watch her sing the entire song (so cute!).  I definitely used to do the same thing to Eminem songs, so I could relate to her pride.  Laura's uncle is the director of a e-health company over here in Malaga, and he was talking to me about going over one day to meet with the rest of the company to start up some sort of employment, which would be great!  Any health experience I can get is great!  After all the socializing and dinner, I took a long shower and fell right to sleep, excited to finally wake up in Malaga the next morning.

Planes, Buses, Trains and Automobiles

Day two started in the Madrid airport, with an overpriced Sprite and a complete lack of interrnet.  It was easy to find my way to the shuttle bus that takes you from terminal 1 to terminal 4.  Terminal 4 is the beautiful new terminal in the airport, with great architecture.  I made my way all the way down to the ground floor of terminal 4 to the Renfe section.  I was under the impression that by purchasing an AVE ticket with Renfe (high speed long distance train), I would have a code on my ticket that I could use to get on the cercanias (municipal trains).  However, the customer service desk at Renfe informed me that the price I got my train ticket for (30 euros) did not include any other perks.  One of the attendants helped me purchase a cercanias ticket from T4 to Atocha, and was very happy that I was Canadian and not American. So I bought my ticket and headed towards the platform for the train.

The train was beautiful- my first glimpse into how great trains are in Europe.  Mind you, this was a commuter train. But still. I had a short trip from terminal 4 to Atocha, the downtown station in Madrid.  It took about 20 minutes, at which time I got to relax without carrying bags all around the airport.  I looked out the window at what seemed like a very industrial and concrete Madrid.

Once I got to Atocha, I started to get the most confused.  The signs really didn't make sense on where to go to catch the train I needed for Malaga, and the station was HUGE so it was hard to navigate.  I just followed all the people from the platform area to the ticketing area.  The ticketing area was insanse... people everywhere, everything in Spanish, no clue where to go to wait for my train to leave.  I got to this train station at 1:30, and my train didn't leave until 5:30.  I wanted to give myself as much time as possible to navigate from the airport to the train.  Finally I spotted a Renfe customer service desk, where the man there ushered me up to the top floor (the terminal to catch my particular train).  By this point, I was sick of carrying around my heavy luggage (you need to haul it on to a security x-ray belt) and I knew my parents would be wondering where I was (I was supposed to email them at the airport, but that didn't work so well).  So I sat my bags down and made my way over to these incredibly complicated and stupid pay phones.  After making about a billion mistakes, I finally figured out how to make a call to let my parents know I was alright.  Then I saw these cool cart things that carry around your luggage, so I made a deposit on that as well.  The cart was extremely noisy, but it was better than hauling my luggage around like I was before.

So with about 3 hours to kill and an empty stomach, I decided to eat at what seemed like the most reasonably cheap restaurant in the station - Burger King.  And so, my first meal is Spain came from an American fast food chain.  I ate my whopper and enjoyed people watching (FYI- the combos at Burger King in Spain can come with a beer instead of a soft drink... I was temped but too drowsy).  The Atocha train station is actually quite beautiful.  They have a botanical garden right in the middle of the station that you can walk through, it was really exotic.  After my lunch, I ordered a Cafe con leche (coffee with milk) which turned out being a shot of espresso and some milk (I was warned about the coffee in Spain!).  Luckily, I like my coffee bitter and dark, so I enjoyed the espresso-with-a-little-milk drink.

 Finally, the train to Malaga was boarding.   I heard that it is first come first served for luggage storage on Renfe trains, so I ran down to the train to try and stow my luggage.  I ended up putting all my luggage in the wrong car, and had to get someome to help me move it to my correct car.  I learned that it really isn't that hard to find a place to store luggage in the AVE trains, so I definitely won't panic as much next time.  Now, these high speed AVE trains are GORGEOUS.  They are ultra modern with automatic sliding glass doors between the cars, and a cafeteria car that serves snacks and drinks.  They even play movies on these trains (they were playing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on my ride).   The scenery was also very very gorgeous all the way down... there were mountains and fields and little towns zipping by as we traveled at 300km an hour towards Malaga.  I had really wanted to stay awake for most of it to look out the window, but I crashed from my second dose of gravol.  Finally, I woke up an hour from Malaga, bought another cafe con leche to stay awake, and watched the European countryside go by. 

Tips for anyone doing this trip:
1) Don't worry about navigating Madrid's airport, its easy.
2) Keep your cercanias ticket even after you enter the station, because you will need it to scan to leave the station.
3) Ask for help at the Renfe customer service desk, they speak English and can point you in the right direction.
4) If you are at Atocha, remember there are three levels.  The very bottom level is the cercanias trains and some AVE trains.  The second level are ticket vendors, the street, restaurants and shops.  The top floor is the rest of the AVE trains, and some other longer distance trains.
5) You will have to go through a mini-security station on the top floor before you enter the terminal with all the trains.  You can pass in and out of this security station freely, but you will have to scan your bags each time.
6) There is no wifi at the Atocha train station
7) There is plenty of space on the train for your luggage, and they don't limit you for what luggage you can bring on the trains.

Part One: Living the High Life in Club Class

So much has happened in the last 72 hours, and I have been way too busy to find time to sit and type it all out! But I know that if I don't write about it soon, I will forget about what has happened.  So here goes, the first leg of the trip.

I got to Pearson airport 3 hours until departure, and said goodbye to my parents.  Not a sad goodbye, because I was way too excited to begin this trip.  I headed past everyone in cue to the Air Transat club class check in, and checked in fine (no overweight bags for me! hooray!).  Once my bags were checked, I went through security very quickly.  Everyone working at the airport seemed very young and chilled out... the security guys were all joking together about something.  It kinda took the edge off the whole security experience, but was also a little weird (its supposed to be an intense process for safety purposes!).  After that, I walked around the airport trying to find two items: a refillable water bottle to purchase (I didn't bring one) and a scratch bingo card to pass the time.  They don't seem to sell either in the airport (the bingo card I was a little suprised... I mean, they do sell alcohol in the airport, why not lottery-based items!).  Then I surveyed my meal options for dinner (finally settling on a parisian baguette sandwich which wasn't that good).  I ate and tried to pass my time watching 30 rock episodes.  Then I tried to walk as slowly as possible to and from the Starbucks near the front of the terminal to kill more time.  I still ended up having about 2 hours in the gate area to wait (my plane was delayed an hour).  Everyone around me was talking about the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage across nothern Spain.  It seemed like most of the people on my flight were doing it.  I popped a gravol and tried to pass the time with a steamer and my kindle. 

Finally we boarded the plane, and I took my seat in Club Class at the front of the plane.  I was most definitely the only person under 60 in Club Class.  I ended up sitting next to an old lady (who had my window seat!).  Her name was Elsbeth and she was pretty cool.  She has been traveling all over the world her whole life with her husband.  Her husband had died recently, and she still travels to pass her time.  She was telling me about good stores and restaurants to check out in Barcelona if I went there.  She also kept ordering me and her wine (she said "c'mon, live a little" and I can't say no to an old lady).  When we first got our seats and waiting for takeoff, the flight attendants passed out sparkling wine and these really great travel kits (blankets, neck pillows, eye masks, earplugs, lip balm, hand lotion, toothbrushes and toothpaste).  When we were up in the air, we got these little snacks and chocolates before they put on the flight's movies (the best exotic marigold hotel - which my old lady seatmate loved, and night at the museum).  I watched parts of the first movie but then I fell asleep for the rest.  I managed to get some hours of sleep on the flight, and by the time I woke up it was breakfast time.  The whole flight seemed to go by so fast.  Finally we arrived in Madrid at 12:30pm their time, and I said goodbye to my old lady friend.

Navigating through Barajas Airport in Madrid was really, really easy.  All the signs were in English and Spanish, and there were lots of pictures and arrows on the ground to point you in the right direction.  I got my luggage very quickly, and tried to find out where I could get internet in my terminal.  There is not free wifi in this particular airport, like there was in Pearson.  They had these little internet stations that I paid 2euros to use, only to find out that Facebook blocked these stations, and I couldn't use my email on it either because my password contains a character that wasn't on the keyboard.  Then I found a "use wifi here" section of the terminal, which ended up being an area that you buy wifi if you wanted to.  Moral of story- next to impossible to use the internet in Barajas airport.

Travels Eve

And just like that, seven months after the seed of travel was planted, tomorrow I leave.  I am so excited, focused, and determined... I've never felt this way before about any of my travels before.  I have no idea what to expect, which is why I simply can't wait another day to start this adventure! I want to start living the adventure, instead of dreaming about it.

I hope I meet wonderful people who impact my life.
I hope I try some of the most delicious food I have ever had.
I hope I discover music that makes me want to listen to it on repeat.
I hope I learn another language thoroughly.
I hope I can make a small difference in the life of this family.
I hope I relish the natural environment in and around Malaga.
I hope I become comfortable with the European way of life.
I hope I read many books on the beach.
I hope I drink many sangrias and cappuccinos in cafes.
I hope I spend many nights by the ocean.
I hope I open my heart and my soul fully to let this experience in.

Alright, lets do this thing!!

First Bump in the Road... a Seat Change

So, in one of my first posts on this blog I was gloating over my fabulous find of a club class ticket from Air Transat for the same price as economy.  One of the perks was seat selection, which I happily chose a window seat in the back row of the club class area.  Today (three days before my flight), I get an email from Air Transat telling me my seat selection had been changed... now I'm in an aisle seat.  I know, I know, it could be worse.  I could be in the middle of a 3-seater, or bumped out of club all together, but this still sucks! I mean, whats the point of having "seat selection" as a perk in club class, if right before your flight they can change it!

Obviously my first plan of action was to call Air Transat to see if I could get my seat back (or any window seat), and the woman told me they were all full.  I was confused as to how I lost my seat to someone else, if my seat was still an option on this new flight.  I mean, I did book back in February!  Doesn't that give me some seniority or something?  The woman was very unapologetic too, which pissed me off.  This isn't OK for Air Transat to do.  I love my window seats, especially on an overnight flight so I can curl up against it and sleep. 

Well, lets see how an overnight flight is like in the aisle seat.  At least I wont have to ask anyone to get up if I want to go to the washroom or take a walk. Stupid Air Transat... this better be the last surprise you have in store for me this trip...

A word on fear and adventure.

I think great big adventures are supposed to scare the shit out of you.  I think it's inherent in the fact that its an adventure.  What stops people from traveling by themselves is not whether or not they are afraid, it's whether or not they let that fear manifest itself or face it head on.  During my last night with my darling friend (who is also embarking on an adventure - in NYC!) he left me with some wise words of advice for my travels.  He said "fear is going to be the only thing holding you back. so when you feel that fear bubbling up inside, preventing you from moving forward, you need to look it in the face and say 'fuck you fear!'".  And then we started yelling it together in the crowded bar :)

Travel Tunes: Soundtrack from Beasts of the Southern Wild

Although I haven't seen this movie yet, I already know the soundtrack is top notch.  This is one of my favourite songs, and I can't seem to listen to it without imagining some sort of beautifully shot travel montage happening.  I look forward to listening to this song on the train from Madrid to Malaga, while I look out the window and enjoy the Spanish country side.

Destination: Prince Edward Island

My little summer excursion this year was to Prince Edward Island to visit my friend from grad school who lives there.  Although I spent most of my time in Summerside, her town, I also got to see quite a bit of the island.  Having never been on the east coast of Canada before, I didn't know what to expect.  It ended up being a very pleasant break from Ontario for the week!

Transportation
I ended up taking Air Canada to Moncton.  It is a lot cheaper to fly into Moncton and take a bus to PEI than it is to fly to PEI.  The bus company that runs out in that end of the country is called Acadian Bus Lines.  It ended up being $30 to get from Moncton, New Brunswick to Summerside, PEI.  Here's a tip: get the student rate on the bus.  They did not check whether or not I was a student when I boarded the bus, and I bought my ticket online.  The worst that can happen is they ask you to pay the difference.  In regards to the Air Canada thing, I ended up taking a Jazz flight, which I was apprehensive about.  It's one of those small propeller planes that you need to walk out onto the tarmac to get to.  I  thought it would be bumpy flight, but it was actually really smooth.  Another option for flights to get to the east coast is to take Porter airlines.  They are more conveniently located in downtown Toronto, and I heard they are a really cool airline company (free booze + high comfort). And when Porter has sales (which they usually do), it ends up being quite cheap as well.

Now, a quick word on transporting yourself around the island: you need a car.  There is virtually no public transit, and whatever little there is will be ending soon.  I was talking to my friend who lives there, who needs a car to get everywhere.  Another option to getting around the island is by bike.  One of the most interesting features of this island is that the province has converted all the old railway tracks around the island to multi-purpose trails that you can bike on.  Finally, what you need to know about the island is that is costs $44 to cross the toll bridge to get there.  Should you decide to spend a day on the mainland in a neighbouring province, you need to factor this in to your transportation costs. 

 What to do... (aka what I did!)

Summerside: Summerside is a small town in PEI.  As such, there is not too much to do here.  The main drag in Summerside isn't that long, but does have a charming coffee shop called Samuel's.  There are also some touristy shops along the waterfront, and a pub that is right on the water.  Just like elsewhere in PEI, there are ample bike and walking trails along the water and through the town.

Thunder Beach: Since I was spending time with islanders, I was taken to some pretty cool and lesser known parts of the island.  One thing my friend was adamant on was not paying to go to a provincial or national park beach, as she said the free beaches were just as beautiful.  She took me to thunder beach, which I really liked.  There were large red sand cliffs which quickly dropped to a beautiful sandy beach, very picturesque!  The water itself was great (once you got used to it!) and was the perfect depth.  There were sandbars in the middle to lounge on, as well as deeper water to enjoy the ocean waves!  One thing I like about beaches is not too much wildlife... I fear animals in water.  Although there were a few crab scares in the water, and some little bugs that were biting me on the beach, there were no other disturbances.  I should have a wildlife rating for these kinds of things. It could come in handy for anyone else who is terrified of touching a fish or something in the water.  My friend and I also walked the length of the beach to a rock called teacup rock.  That was another thing about this beach- there were so many neat rock formations! After thunder beach, we grabbed iced cream at one of the many iced cream shops on the island.

North Rustico and Cavendish: This was a filled up day! We began at the Green Gables house, because I wanted to see what it was all about.  It didn't cost that much to get in, and we toured Anne's house and walked two trails through the woods.  It really wasn't all that exciting, but I see the appeal if you were a kid and you read her books.  Lots of Asian tourists there, which I am told by my friend is the norm-  apparently a lot of Japanese people like Anne of Green Gables.

After that, we went to touristy Cavendish! This is an area of the island with an abundance of resorts, mini put, amusement parks, tourist shops and restaurants.  It was here that I tried my first Cows iced cream (a PEI staple).  I got a flavour aptly named Mooey Gooey, and it was delicious... definitely one of the best iced creams I have ever had!  I also got to try Pizza Delight- an east coast pizza chain that tasted strangely similar to Pizza Hut.

After our stint at Cavendish, we headed to North Rustico, a charming fishing town to take some great pictures.  My friend showed me the rotating house- a house being built on the cliffs that rotates 360 degrees to give the entire house views of the ocean.  Pretty cool, huh?! After walking around the fishing town and taking as many pictures as we could, we headed back for the day.

(The road to) Charlottetown: Charlottetown is the hub for most adventure on this island, so we planned a whole day around it.  On the way there, my friend took me to a charming place called The Dunes.  This place was an art gallery, store, and restaurant all rolled into one.  The goods here were from both east coast artists and artists from India and east Asia.  We had some really delish cocktails and browsed the place while we waited for our table.  Then we ordered some great sharing plates from the menu and sampled some great food.  The place was really cool... I haven't really seen anything else like it.  I recommend going on the way in or out of Charlottetown.

When we got to Charlottetown, we parked the car, got some Starbucks, and walked along the waterfront.  There are some beautiful houses in that city- so old and unique! But one thing that struck me was that very few were made of brick (my friend says this is common in PEI because it costs too much to import bricks).  We walked down Victoria Row to see all the cute stores and restaurants, all in old buildings (my favourite!).  It was PEI jazz week so there was live jazz bands around the city which was cool.  We went olive oil and vinegar tasting at a place called Liquid Gold, which was an interesting experience.  I had no idea how flavourful olive oil could get!  Then we went to the waterfront to look through tourist shops, and I picked up a PEI dirt shirt (I had to).  There was a handful of good dinner places in Charlottetown to choose from, and my friend chose to go to Merchantman Pub. I got the fish and chips which was pretty good, and my friends got the fish cakes (because they were sold out of the crab cakes, the reason the girls wanted to go there!).  After this, we went to PEI's only brewery, The Gahan House, where we had a sample tray of all the varieties of beers they made there.  There were quite a diverse set of beers to sample, and after getting a little buzz on, we went in search of some live music.  We went to a bar called Fishbones, which I loved.  They had a large (fake) tree strung with lights in the middle, an awesome live jazz band, and a washroom with a basket of amenities for guests to use (I definitely used the hairspray, lotion and body spray!).  Lastly, we went over to a really cool bar called Marc's Studio (tribute to Marc Gallant) where we chilled on couches listening to some good indie music and catching up.

Overall, I would have to say that PEI is a nice ocean getaway for Canadians looking for some rest and relaxation.  I very much enjoyed the beaches, and even though I am not a seafood fan, I have to say I enjoyed the seafood as well.  There isn't too much going on to do on the small island, so I would suggest bringing the entertainment yourselves, or be content relaxing and just enjoying the natural environment.

The Waiting Game...

I leave for Spain on Sunday, and this week just feels like one big old waiting game.  I can't really start packing, because I am still using most of the things I would be packing.  I don't have to go shopping for any last minute items, because I have already gathered all the things I needed.  Now I'm using my brothers room to store things, little by little, that I will be bringing that I'm not using.  I wonder if it will all fit in my suitcases...

I just feel like this is the calm before the storm.  Starting Sunday night, I will have 24hours of insanity, by plane, bus, train, taxi, and who knows what else! Then I assume I will have to jump right into a schedule of au pair-ing, going to spanish lessons, and learning to navigate the city.  I just want it all to start already! Especially after having a summer with no job, I am so ready for some structure.

p.s. I just realized today that this is the first time in 20 years that I am not  having a 'first day of school'! Hooray! Time to learn in a whole new way this year!