R e - P e t e

Singing in Korean

Yet another reason to love Stephen Colbert….

I <3 Home

And we’re back!!

I got back earlier today. I took a shower in my OWN shower which has A LOT of SPACE. And now I’m on MY computer using my INTERNET without worry of TIME or COST. I’m sitting here in MY OFFICE in MY APARTMENT. I am so glad to be home.

But being home isn’t so much about ownership. It’s about familiarity and a sense of belonging. It’s driving down streets I know, seeing sights that I recognize and chatting with friends who I share a history with. This is home.

I’m back in America: land of free, home of the brave. I can order at restaurants in full sentences and have actual conversations with people. I don’t have to worry about gypsies or pickpockets. I feel centered.

Overall, the trip was great. Towards the end, Em and I reflected on whether we would do anything different (overall). A lesson learned — well a lesson reinforced — was that you get museum-ed/cathedral-ed out quite quick. Also, 2 weeks seems sufficient to see the whole Iberian peninsula. In my opinion, it would’ve been nice to mix it up with a completely different culture (UK, Germany, or Scandinavia).

The feeling of being home can be summarily described in my experience on the final leg from Frankfurt to SFO today. I sat in the rear of the plane with a massive group of graduating seniors (high school) from San Diego who were coming back from Israel. I chatted a bit with one of the kids sitting next to me and he sounded so… cali. So SoCali actually. And it felt like home. As we flew over the bay area, I pointed out the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Coliseum. He kept on telling me how San Diego was the greatest city. As we deboarded, I overheard him say he would kiss American soil once we exited the pedestrian bridge. Oh how I felt the same way!

And the customs official did the thing that I love when I come back from a long trip overseas. After overlooking my passport and chit chatting about vacation he ended with a nice, “Welcome home.”

Lisboa

Hello all!
Today is Sunday and also the last day of our trip. It’s sad to see it all come to an end but I’m also very much looking forward to being home. I look forward to the comfort of my own bed, eating some homemade food, seeing my dear friends and actually going back to work! It will be nice not to deal with the tough parts of traveling like the language barrier (which wasn’t too bad this trip), finding our hostels from the train stations/airports, being on the lookout for pickpockets, wandering aimlessly and being lost. Traveling, all-around, is a life-changing and great experience.

Yesterday, we found out that Lisboa is a bit chillier compared to the southern cost of Spain. But today, our last day, we had a bit of rain. It’s sprinkling a bit at the moment and we’re hoping things can clear up so we can see the rest of Lisboa. The city is not that big and, frankly, there’s not that much to see. In our 2 days here, I think we’ll have had our fill.

A bit about Portugal: it reminds me of Spain, except maybe 20 years in the past and a bit dirtier. If I compared Madrid to Lisboa, I would note that Lisboa has a lot more graffiti. The buildings look older (in a less renovated way, not the charming European way). Also, the churches and forts tend to be a bit older than the ones in Spain (my guess is that it correlates to when each country had their empire and how the architecture corresponds to that time period).

Anyway, I will be flying home tomorrow. See you alll soon!

Peter

Ola from Lagos (Lagosh)

Ola!

We are now in Lagos (pronounced LagoSH). We arrived here yesterday after a long bus ride yesterday from Sevilla.

Yesterday morning was quite an adventure. The night prior, Sevilla football club had won some tournament (I don’t know which) but the city was going crazy. Cars were honking their horns all night and crowds were marching through the city singing some songs (probably the club songs). That meant that we had to sleep with ear plugs.

At 6am, someone BANGS on our door. I answer it and the front desk person is telling me the cab is coming. Whaaaat??

Well, apparently, during our conversation the day prior when we asked how long it would take to get to the airport by cab during that time, he interpreted it as us asking him to actually call us a cab. What a mess. He didn’t speak english so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.

Anyway, I’m glad we got out of that place. The hostel sucked anyway and Sevilla was just ok except for the awesome flamenco show we saw.

Lagos is a small beach town full of british and irish folk. Everyone here speaks English well. It’s amazing and reminds me of when we were in Nerja which is a beach town in Spain. I guess the Brits really do flock down here in masses.

Yesterday we spent the day looking for this supposedly awesome beach (Eyewitness Guide sucks) which turned out to be ok. Today we’re going to the beach that’s 5 minutes away and even better that the aforementioned beach. Time to relaxxxxxxx……

Last night, we had this Algarvian (is that a word?) dish called Cataplana. It’s their version of a paella except there’s no rice and you can mix in things like fish or meat. Ok so it’s pretty much this HUGE stew which tasted really good. Yummy local food!

Tomorrow, we’re headed to Lisboa and then in a couple days we’re headed back. Nooo!!!

I’m wondering how everyone is doing back home. Has Bryan had a meltdown at work or is he still in bliss now that he’s in a cube? How was Audrey’s graduation and what is she doing now? Have Amy and Becky burned down our place yet ? How is Christine doing at her new place?

We will see you all soon and plan to have some sort of get together hosted at our place when we get back.

Pedrosh
Tomorrow we’re headed to

The Best Things In Life are Free

Buenos! We have arrived in Granada after much plane catching, taxi catching, street running and bus catching. What a day!

There´s one thing I´ve wanted to mention about Spain that I forget to mention. What is up with the Spanish mullet?!?! The haircut is way in. They shave it on the sides, let it grow long on the back and cut the top short and spike it up. Mulleto?

Last night, we were walking back to the hostel from a late dinner (late being normal of course) when we heard some loud singing. We came upon a random (maybe not-so random) outdoor performance (gratis means free!) where these four guys were playing some sort of Catalan folk music plus other stuff. They did everything from polka to flamenco to stuff I did not know. What was great was that Em and many other locals and tourists joined in to dance. And then we participated in what we think is the Sardana dance (according to Rick (Steves) our tour guide). It started with people in a large circle holding hands, doing a dance similar to the one Balki does in Perfect Strangers, and then shuffling to the side. As the dance progresses, the tail grows longer and the head weaves around. By the end we were this very long snake and we were laughingly bumping into one another.

Today, we had a reservation at a special part of the Alhambra called Palacios Nazarios. You have a 30 minute window to get in. Unfortunately, we made a reservation based on our departure time, not arrival time so we didn´t have much time to catch our reservation (once you´re in, you´re good). We jammed but could not make it in time. By the time we picked up our tickets we were already too late but the women told us to run. So we ran, about half a mile (in the end) in 85 degree weather. Not too fun. But they let us in! WOO!!

Tonight we ate dinner at a place Rick recommended. The food was decent and we were enjoying our Tinto de Veranos (like European sangria) when an old guitarrist guy (with buttoned-up shirt, tie, and hair slicked back) took out his guitar and started singing some awesome flamenco (?). He totally rocked the guitar and even did the Michael J Fox in Back to the Future where he plays the guitar behind his head.

Therefore, I have now determined that the best experiences while traveling are — yes, i´m going to say it — free.

Time to sign out. Emily can´t figure out how to get into our new place. Ciao!

Pedro