Alright, so right now I am sitting in a library in Silves, Portugal and took a Benadryl about 2 hours ago, so I´m going to make this quick because I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open.
Madrid was a good time. Initially, I wasn´t sure that I would find ways to keep myself busy for the few days I had alone there, but the city grew on me and I met a few people along the way. Events include:
-napping in the park for 3 hours with Dave (it was great except for the flies that swarmed around us)
-buying my ticket to the bullfight, and meeting a man who was very insistent that I go with him to his car… creepy
-trying to avoid restaurants and failing miserably...
-walking into a fairly exciting protest… but having not a clue what they were protesting about
-watching a man play Spanish guitar next to a museum for about 2 hours… he was so good and made me so happy that I actually started to tear up…
-50 eurocents for a one liter box of wine… yummy
-walking into a cathedral which I thought was having mass, sat down then realized it was a private ceremony… oops
-eating free paella at the hostel bar, and meeting people from everywhere
-going to the bullfight with Jae Hun and Matt (my roommates from the hostel from Austrália and Korea)… it was definitely an experience, but I almost threw up in my mouth a few times… the place was packed though, and I felt like it was a great way to experience the culture
-deciding not to take the metro from the bullfight back to the hostel, and not to use a map, even though it was dark out… we got very lost and ended up jumping a concrete wall/fence which only led us to the highway… i almost peed my pants because i laughed so hard. i´ll just say that we eventually gave up and decided to take the 10 minute metro ride, about 2 and a half hours later
-reading in the park
-buying one of the only books in English the book stands had to offer
-practicing my spanish language skills eating lunch with an older spanish man i met while i crossed a busy intersection
-and finally… meeting back up with the guys at the Madrid airport then heading to the train station where we set up camp in the parking lot for a few hours
Which led to…
another overnight uncomfortable train ride, this time 14 hours to Southern Portugal. This is where our first workaway experience was set up with Patrícia from Poço Barreto. The workaway website (www.workaway.info) sort of inspired this trip. Basically, there are loads of people who are willing to host you in gorgeous places around the world. The understanding is that you work 5 hours a day, and get free meals and a place to sleep.
Now… Picture this. 4 Americanos pull up to a train station in the middle of nowhere Portugal where I have a feeling they don´t see many unfamiliar faces. We walked into the town bar across from the station with our packs on and used our best Portugese language skills to ask to use a phone to get a hold of Patrícia, our gracious host. Unfortunately, we had 9 hours until we would be able to get a hold of her, so we had our first hitch hiking experience to the beach. Well, half way… we walked the last 2 maybe 3 miles with all of our crap and finally collapsed in the sand. It was a long day on the beach and we finally taxied our way back to the small town of Poço Baretto where this story began. Same bar, different people, and again, our friend Patrícia was not answering. The one man in the bar who knew a bit of English laughed at me when I told him that we were staying with Patrícia and he told me she was a bit off her rocker. We were finally able to get a hold of her but she was a little confused and thought I was supposed to be a guy…haha. Finally, they came to pick us up, and I was definitely skeptical. It was really dark so we couldn´t see much, and she led us to our sleeping área… a hut with a missing wall and stinky blankets. Haha. I couldn´t stop laughing, because during the small amount of conversation we had, she discussed how excited she was that we could build houses…I don´t know where she got that, but I told her we were engineers so I guess she just made the assumption. Anyways... we got in our little hut and fell asleep to the sound of the frogs barking next to us ALL NIGHT LONG… ugh.
In the morning everything was different. This place is like something from a story book. Although our actual sleeping arrangements are not the greatest, this place is lovely. It is really hard to describe, but it is gorgeous. We are staying on the top of a hill which overlooks the town and in the distance you can see the ocean. I need to put up pictures. They have 2 horses, 3 dogs, a load of birds… 2 of them talk/squawk, a pool, a couple villas, 2 ponds, and a ton of citrus trees. Suddenly I felt safe. Patrícia made us a nice breakfast, and the work began.
So this is how the day goes… we wake up at about 730, eat breakfast, work until 11, have a tea break, and then work until 1 when we eat dinner. It´s really not bad and the food has been great…although Patrícia sometimes has her moments, she really is a nice lady.
Our work has included:
Finishing building our sleeping hut… the wood floors and fresh paint were added today…
Weeding… unfortunately I weeded a bean plant which was quickly realized by George, the gentleman of the house…apparently he has been watching over it very carefully for the last three weeks…woops, it looked like a weed to me
Painting… the pool and a room in one of the villas
And making a dolphin mosaic backdrop for the swimming pool… I can´t believe that Patrícia had enough faith in me to let her help with that… let me just say that it does not look like dolphins… ooops
Anyways, this post is taking way longer than I thought. The experience is still great. I am trying really hard not to take any of this for granted. Unfortunately, I have terrible allergies here, and I think it has been topped off with something that the guys have passed on to me from Morroco, so I´m currently not feeling the greatest, but am still managing to enjoy myself. Again, I miss everyone back home and hope all is well! I don´t have internet access too often, but hope to update again in about a week with some new stories!!
