Sleeping in Random Persons House.

With out a doubt this trip to Rome has been the most spontaneous and interesting trip I have ever been on!

 

Amongst my European travels I can mark Rome down for one of those that that just turned out well even with my lack of planning. Lets start on the first day. Thursday, I was scheduled to leave the school at 4pm for my 6:50 flight. Normally this gives me plenty of time to get through security and get a snack before boarding the plane. This turned out to be not normal circumstances. We left the school, and immediately saw an accident on the freeway; trying to avoid it we attempted to get on another freeway that would go the same place. But, we saw yet another accident on this freeway. We sat motionless on the onramp. So motionless that we turned off the car. I started thinking of what I needed to do in order to get to Rome; who I needed to talk to, how much this would cost me, and what would be the easiest way to reschedule this leg of my trip.

 

Luckily after about 20 minutes we got around the second accident to find a stalled car 5 miles down the road, which impeded the right 2 lanes of traffic, needless to say, that I arrived at the airport only an hour before my flight. I did not get Starbucks or snacks. It was ok because I had made my flight just in the nick of time.

 

2 hours after take off, I landed in Ciampino Rome, caught bus into the city center, took the metro to the area I was staying. I thought to myself this is by far the easiest time finding my accommodations ever. I get off of the metro and head in the direction of my Airbnb. Right where I think my Airbnb is supposed to be a guy asks “are you john?”. I answered “yes” he goes on to ask “are you looking for your Airbnb?”

 

He takes me in, shows me where my room is, then gives me the keys and vouchers for breakfast at a local shop. I was really impressed, the place looked a lot nicer then what I remembered booking. So nice, that I decided to look up the pictures just to see if they had changed the colors of the sheets or something. I brought up the pictures on my phone and this was NOT the place I had reserved! I had a mini heart attack. I then went on to go on Google maps to see the address of where I was using the GPS. Opening the map I realized that indeed I was in the wrong house!!!! I had taken a left out of the subway when I needed to have taken a right!!

 

I thought to myself should I just stay here tonight? After all no one would know that I was not supposed to be here, except the poor other John that no longer has a person waiting for him on the street. I had just stolen a couples accommodations for the night.

 

I decided to leave my stuff in this house and go find where I was supposed to be staying. I left, walked five minutes and found where I was supposed to be staying, checked in with the lady I had actually booked with, took those keys and headed back to where I had left my stuff. Now I had two sets of keys to two different houses!

 

I entered back into the place that was not mine, being very quite trying not to wake anyone up. I wrote an apology note that went something like this. “I am so sorry, this is not the place I booked for tonight. I hope you find the people that are supposed to stay here. Thank you” They didn’t have my name or contact information so I will never know what happened the next morning.

 

These first few hours in Rome proved to make one of the most unique experiences I have ever had. The next few days continue an unforgettable experience.

1 Week, 3 Countries, & 7 Cities – Andalusia

One month ago our school embarked on a weeklong trip through Andalusia (the southern part of Spain). This is a quick summary, touching on the highlights of the trip. Check out the video to get a little taste of Andalusia.

Granada

• Alhambra    –   One of the most picturesque castles I have ever been too. The garden
  

  Alhambra

  s seem to be endless. It’s situated on a small hill and is nicely blended in with the mountainside. The architecture and paintings within this palace work together to create an experience like no other.

• Flamenco     –    On the first night of the trip we were surprised with a flamenco show in a gypsy cave. Most of us had no idea what flamenco even was, just knowing it is a dance done in Spain and some Hispanic countries. Flamenco is the most passionate dance I have ever seen. Their faces show raw emotion and the voices bring you to realize this is emotion at its deepest level. If you are ever in Spain go to a small gypsy bar and see a Flamenco show!

 

Sevilla

Sevilla is my favorite city in Spain. It is small enough to be quaint, but big enough to be grand at the same time. It is a city that is hard to describe but if you ever get the chance to go there you will understand what I mean.

• Cathedral de Sevilla        –          This Cathedral lies in the center of the city and it
  

  The center of Sevilla

  belittles you as you walk through the city. To be honest it seemed just like every other cathedral I have been to. But, yes there is a but; this one had one special feature. You have the opportunity to walk up 36 flights of steps to the bell tower, which over looks the city. That alone sets this cathedral apart from the rest.

• Horse-drawn Carriages        –         Our sponsors surprised us with a horse drawn carriage ride through the entire town. Visiting all of the major sites in the city all while being pulled by horse sitting comfortably in the carriage.
• Bike ride         –         On our horse drawn carriage ride I saw a place to rent bicycles. One of my classmates and I seized the opportunity. We rented bikes for an hour and road along the coast to see what it had to offer. It was amazing!

 

Morocco

• While on the southern tip of Spain we took a half hour boat ride across the Gibraltar Straight to the northern tip of Africa, Morocco. There we were given a guided tour, where we had the opportunity to see how cloth is made, watch a snake charmer, ride camels, eat traditional Moroccan food, and walk through many small Moroccan shops. It was a good day with fun had by all.

 

Gibraltar

• We entered the yet another country, Gibraltar. Actually, it is a province of Brittan but I consider it another country because it is not part of Spain. What else could it be? If I am politically wrong feel free to correct me. There we had the opportunity to see the famous Gibraltar monkeys, which reside on the top of a small mountain in on the southern most part of the Country. We took a gondola up to the top of the mountain and then began the hunt for monkeys. We all attempted to take a picture with one on our heads. Some succeeded while others like me failed.

 

These were my highlights of the trip. Everyone liked something different but these were my favorites. It was the best school trip I have ever been on and can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us.

Passionate Flamenco in Valencia

This Tuesday we had the opportunity to visit a flamenco club and watch how the professionals do it. Here in Sagunto I take a class once a week along with 20 others to learn the way of the Flamenco. We headed out at 9:30 p.m. and returned at 1:30 a.m. It was a great time and would defiantly go back and see another show. It something you don’t see in the United States to often, even less in Hawaii. (Try to ignore my awkward intro, im working on it:)

 

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The Most Epic Day Ever!!!

This Wednesday turned out to be one of my favorite days in Spain. I went to the market in the morning to practice Spanish, next there we had a flamenco dance class and after we went to a musical in Valencia. What more could I have asked for? Check out the day’s vlog below

Day 3 – Kicked out of our Apartment, Offended Italians & Homemade Pasta

The classic boats of Venice

The day began with us packing our bags. We were sad to leave the wonderful city of Venice, but happy to experience more of Italy. We woke up early and headed to San Marco Square, the biggest thing in Venice, where we casually perused the cathedral. At this point in my European travels I am no longer producing the same ooo’s and awww’s at the sight of a catholic church.

 

After San Marco Square we walked through the crowded streets and shopped (by shop I mean walk into stores saying, “that’s nice, how much does it cost? Never mind!” we then would proceed to buy nothing and continue, “shopping”.

 

Having completed our missions in Venice

1. See canals
2. See Italians making pizza
3. See Burano and Murano
4. Eat Gelato

 

We returned to our Airbnb earlier then we intended which turned out to be a problem. When we left in the morning we had asked if we could leave our bags at the place and collect them later. Good Idea, right? Wrong! When we came back, some of us were hungry (all of the guys) so we went to find food while the girls went back to sit at the Airbnb, thinking that they would be welcomed to sit on the couches where we left our bags.

 

The girls return first to return expecting to wait inside for us to return. Instead of letting the ladies sit inside with all of our bags the host, whose name was Abu, made them take all of our bags outside. They had to sit on the curb outside the apartment while they waited for everyone to finish eating. We, the guys, didn’t know this had happened and took our time eating because we had several hours before our train to Florence was to leave. An hour after the girls had been kicked to the curb we return to find Bailey and Yadira sitting on the curb freezing cold with 7 backpacks.

 

We were not happy with Abu and left him a nasty review on Airbnb.com. Don’t stay with a man named Abu in Venice, Italy.

Our Private Cab

 

Luckily Bailey and Yadira were cool with it and rubbed it off like champs. We headed for our train, boarded and were in for yet another big surprise.

 

This was a long distance train not a communal train we are used to riding in Spain. It had cabs rather then individual forward facing seats. We were very excited about this as can be seen in this picture.

 

The excitement subsisted and we settled in for our three-hour train ride. Some watched a movie; others leaned up against each other and took a nap. Luckily for me there was no one sitting across from me. These seats reclined fully to a flat position, I’m guessing to make a bed type of thing. So I reclined both seats, put my feet up and went to sleep in an almost horizontal position. It was nice while it lasted.

 

About 30 minutes into our ride the train attendant knocks on our window. I wake up and open the door, thinking he is here to collect our tickets. Once the door is open he

Homemade Italian Dinner

begins a yelling at me in Italian! I didn’t know what he was saying, and once he figured that out he switched to his spotty English. He proceeds to yell at me and Ricardo who had done the same thing. The seats reclined to make a bed so that is what we used if for. He was not happy our feet were on another seat. Yelling “not in Italy!” many times. We felt like we had done nothing wrong as there were no signs to warn us and the seats seemed to recline for this sole purpose. I guess I can now say I have been yelled at by a passionate Italian, in Italy.

 

We arrived in Florence and found our apartment by nighttime. In the process of finding the apartment we spotted a grocery store and went back to find some dinner. Amongst the 7 of us we managed to create one of the best Italian meals I had in Italy. Pasta, bread and vegetables, we couldn’t go wrong.

 

We went to bed with full stomachs and dreams of seeing the famous statue of David in the morning!

Day 2 – Venice – Meeting New People/ Learning Our Lesson

–        We headed into the city around 10:30 with the island of Burano as our goal. It is known for lace and colorful buildings, sometimes called the happiest island in Italy.

 

–        To get to Burano you have to take a waterbus (like a normal bus but on water! #awesome). While waiting at the bus stop and trying to figure out which bus to get on a guy comes over and helps us out. He spoke perfect English and obviously was living there. His name was Frank and was originally from Canada. He came to Venice on vacation five weeks before only intending to stay for a little while then fell in love with Venice. Luckily he already spoke Italian and had family already living there. He told us he was thinking about not returning to Canada and living in Venice. CRAZY!!! He was going to the same place and said we could just follow him, so we did.

 

Murano – Island of Glass

–         We talked the whole bus ride about why he was there, how he knew Italian and so much more. After the 20-minute ride we got off on the island of Murano. Yes Murano, not Burano, we were in the wrong place. He thought we had said Murano, Oops. He felt really bad and quickly showed us how to get to where we wanted to go. The best part was that we got a free walking tour of Murano and the many famous Murano glass shops that are there. He even took us into one of his cousin’s shops. We saw small pieces of glass that were intricately worked into masterpieces, something we would have otherwise never gotten to seen without meeting Frank.

 

Burano – Happiest Island in Italy

–           He showed us where we needed to go and we were on our way. Another 10-minute waterbus ride and wearrived at Burano, the island of lace. This island was amazing, each house a different color with canals running down the middle of the walkways, it is something I saw in books and magazines but never imagine being able to see for myself. We walked in awe for a good hour before finding a place to sit and watch the sunset. All seven of us sat on the edge of the island with our feet hanging off the wall. We looked out and watched an amazing sunset remembering this was only our second day of vacation.

 

–         Once the sun went down we got cold, and decided to head back to Venice via the Waterbus. On our way

Friends everywhere

back we met a group of our friends who also were in Venice for the break. It couldn’t have been more perfect. We met on a bridge in the middle of the happiest island of Italy. The air was filled with the exchange of stories and experiences. We caught the same bus back and had a good time together before going our spate ways.

 

–        Although the sun had gone down the day was far from over. The previous day we spotted a promising restaurant, Gino’s. We were determined to have good Italian food and this time we made sure to think about the service charges and tips before hand. I ordered pasta and it was ok. JUST OK!! VENICE DID NOT LIVE UP TO THE FOOD HYPE!!!! We all walked out somewhat satisfied but still disappointed in the Italian food of Venice.

 

–        Next we walked to a gelato shop we found the previous day. It was the best gelato I have ever had, needless to say we returned the next day. We sat on a bench nearby chilled and talked for a while before heading back to our place. This is where we learned our lesson.

 

Money Lost, but a lesson learned

–        We hadn’t bought a ticket up to this point to get from our Airbnb into Venice and back. We had been taking our old tickets in the hopes that no one would ask us to validate it. We sat down and a train began stamping tickets. We knew we were busted. He asked for mine first, I pulled out my old ticket and tried to act dumb, as if we didn’t know we were supposed to buy a ticket. Since there were seven of us I thought we might have been able to get away with it, but this guy was not going to let us off easy. We each got a fine of 31.25€. Needles to say we learned our lesson and have been buying, bus, train, tram, metro and every other ticket we could possibly need since that moment. We weren’t prepared lose any more money.

 

We got back to our place and looked forward to the morning of exploring a new city.

7 students, 3 countries, 4 cities and a lot of fun.

The Crew

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN CRAZY!!!

–       In our one-week October break we visited Venice, Florence and Paris; I know we are blessed. The group of 7 included Alex, Bailey, Daniel, DJ, Ricardo, Yadira and me, we are all from PUC.

 

–       The adventure began at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Imagine the look on our parents faces when they here we got up at 5 and were ready with bags packed and passports in hand for our 9 O’clock flight. We were ready to conquer the world in our groggy state. Luckily a dean drove us to the airport so we didn’t have to pay for 2 cabs to the airport, which would have cost 120€.

 

One of the first views out of the train station

–        Bologna Italy is tOne of the first views out of the train stationhe cheapest place to fly from the Valencia airport, about 18€ and from bologna we took a train to Venice where we spent 2 nights. After arriving we threw down our bags, grabbed a warmer jacket and headed into the Island of Venice.

 

–          We stayed on the outskirts of Venice and had to take a train into the city. It was cheaper and still easy to enter the city. Tickets were 1.70 each way but we decided we were smarter then the system and did not buy tickets because they never checked them. (You are probably thinking I can’t believe they did that and got away with it for two days. Trust me we didn’t get away with it, stay tuned for a great description of how we didn’t get away with it)

 

After finding where we were staying and figuring out how to “beat the system” of getting into the city we

Might look good, but it was average

began the search for good Italian food, the food we have heard so much about; Pizza & Pasta!! We sat down at the first reasonably priced restaurant we saw, which was our biggest culinary mistake.

 

–        The waiter brought out bread and a few minutes later took our orders of pizza, pasta, and chicken. Upon receiving our meals we realized everything was average or worse. The pizza was nothing to write home about, the pasta could have been from Safeway, and the chicken was dry. We tried to put it behind us looking forward to the gelato of Italy. Then the check came and we flipped out. In Italy they don’t include everything in the price like the rest of Europe!!!! They have a service charge and a 13% tip they add on to the price of your food. My meal was 9€ on the menu, but I ended up paying 13€. Don’t eat at the restaurant on the corner of the doublewide bridge in the middle of Venice! You will be overcharged and disappointed. You will know what I mean when you are in there.

 

 

A Rainbow of Gelato

After our unsatisfying meal we found gelato and it does hold up to the hype. It was amazing! Smooth, creamy and sweet all together sending your tongue a sensation it has never felt before.

 

 

returned to the Airbnb fairly early since we had been awake since 5a.m. In the morning we looked forward to a free breakfast provided by our Airbnb host.

 

 

This is day one of our adventure, and oh what more this trip had prepared for us.

Volleyball Tournament – Hours upon hours of fun

This weekend our campus hosted a volleyball tournament. The ESDES students had heard about it before but didn’t think much about it. It turned out to be a big deal with Adventist teams coming from all around Spain to compete for a supposed trophy. Teams were teams of every experience level, some teams looked like they had practiced quite a bit and might have even played on a team together while others consisted of high school students looking to have some fun. In the end I think every one had a great time.

I ended up on a Spaniard and American mixed team. Christian, a tutor for the English-speaking students asked if I wanted to play with them and I jumped on the opportunity. I didn’t know who was on my team other then DJ until game day. Our team showed up at 7, introduced ourselves and began playing. There was one little thing that no one had thought to mention to me and that is that the tournament was expected to go until 2 a.m. and continue the next morning at 9:45.

 

One thing I have learned about Spanish culture is that they don’t mind staying out late. Nightlife starts at 12 or 1 in the morning and I guess that goes for tournaments as well. I heard a rumor that soccer tournaments end at 3 or 4 in the morning!!!

 

It was a good fun and it adds a different dynamic when you can’t communicate exactly what you want to happen with the team. It’s difficult when my Spanish is very bad and I can’t remember the difference between equipo (team) and eqipaje (luggage/suitcase). Nonverbal communication becomes a real necessity in these situations.

 

I had fun and cant wait until tomorrow (Monday) when I can play Volleyball again!!!!

Festival de Zaragoza and a quick update

These past 2 weeks have been crazy! I went to northern Spain for the Festival del Pilar in Zaragoza, returned on a sunday night, then left monday morning for Andalucia, and spent a week in southern Spain. Between traveling and  homework I have not had time to edit videos or write for this blog as frequently as i would like.

I am about two and a half weeks behind in editing/writing & Just finished a Zaragoza recap video and put up a small Picture gallery.

Zaragoza was filled with people. The normal population is 700,00 but during this festival it is over 1.5 million!  Something that I didn’t notice until the last day is that it is only Spaniards who are interested in this festival. We didn’t meet anyone visiting Spain for the festival.

We walked a lot and had a great time during the last days of this week long party. I would definitely recommend anyone who is in Spain during this time to take a train over and join in the fiesta.

When I get caught up with my travels, schoolwork, and editing I will post a greater in-depth play by play of what this festival was like. Until then just watch the video and check out the gallery.

Don’t Dwell on the Negative, But…

I am a firm believer in that there is nothing that can put a damper on my spirits. If it rains, I go on a rainy hike to a waterfall, avoiding flash floods, instead of going to the beach. When I had a sprained ankle I learn to juggle instead of playing basketball. With a good attitude there is always a good way to spin a bad situation. Dwelling on what you don’t have or what has happened to you doesn’t get you anywhere in life.

It is awesome here in Spain!! But, there is always something that you just wish were different. I’m going to list a few of the things that I wish could be changed or are not the ideal situation I am used to.

Spanish Staple Paella

1. The Food

Food in Spain is not my favorite. Normally it is not hot in temperature or very flavorful. They really like their blandness and being on a vegetarian campus doesn’t seem to help the quality or diversity of the food.

BUT!

The fruit here is excellent. Every day in the cafeteria there are pears, plumbs, and kiwis that taste amazing.  Also, the school is surround, in a literal sense, by orange groves. These are the best oranges I have ever had. It only takes a few minutes to gather as many oranges as my heart desires. I guess that could make up for the food.

2. Laundry

I expected to have to do my own laundry like on any campus. Here, they want you to turn your clothes over to an industrial washing service that will wash. Great right? Wrong!!! I have two problems with this. First, how are they going to wash the cloths? Hot? Cold? Whites? Colors? I have asked and it is in an industrial washer with 2-3 other student’s laundry not specifying temperature. Secondly, we turn our cloths in on Monday morning and will not get them back until Thursday night. I don’t have enough cloths to last that long. I only brought a carry on and a backpack, about 10 changes of cloths, not enough for two weeks. You are probably wondering that there must be another option. Yes, there is. They have washers and dryers in the dorms but you are only allowed one wash per week for your personal items (underwear and sox) these washers are so small that is basically all they fit. So far I have resorted to hand washing my cloths and fitting what I can in the one load a week.

BUT!

I’m learning to wash cloths effectively if I didn’t have electricity. Also I have learned that the sniff test is a good way to tell if you can wear a shirt again 🙂

3.  Internet

Staying Connected

When I talked to student who previously attended Sagunto Adventist College they warned me the Internet and Wi-Fi were bad but this is ridiculous. There basically isn’t Wi-Fi on campus. I only can access the Internet from my room where I have an Ethernet cable. I plug the Ethernet cable into my computer and project Wi-Fi out from there. Luckily La Fonterra (the nightly hang out spot on campus and tutoring center) is below my room so I can use my phone there. Otherwise I do not know what is happening out in the world unless I am in my room. I don’t need it, but I don’t understand why they don’t just go out, buy a few routers, and plug them in around campus. Seems simple enough.

BUT!

Internet is not a life source. Sure, it helps me keep in contact with family and friends, but people have lived centuries without having instant access to knowledge and the ability to communicate far distance why do I need it all of the time. If anything, it is teaching me patience and the ability to not always be checking my phone.

 

That is it! Those are the only things that make me a little heated but I’m sure I will come to love these characteristics of this school and look back with fond memories