FROM VERSAILLES TO VERSAILLES
This blog began to document my 47-day journey throughout Europe in the summer of 2012. After having such a great time writing about Europe, I decided to continue updating the blog with posts from all of my international travels. I hope you enjoy reading all about my time abroad!
There are only so many places with free Wi-Fi in Europe.
In other words, “I don’t speak any German.” Something which became super apparent as soon as Ben and I touched down in Berlin, the first stop in our 11-city tour, yesterday. Thankfully I’ve survived the language difference so far! (It helps that almost every German person we’ve spoken to also speaks English. I’m still embarrassed by my ignorance, though.)
Our couchsurfing host had class until 5 p.m. yesterday so Ben and I had an afternoon to explore the city center by ourselves. We were absolutely exhausted after an entire day of traveling, but we sucked it up and made our way to the Altes Museum, the Altes Nationalgalerie, and the Pergamonmuseum. Most of the galleries were filled with Greek and Roman statues, pottery, and other artifacts, but the Altes Nationalgalerie had a pretty impressive collection of paintings as well. Ben and I both admired an extensive collection of work by an artist named Adolph Menzel.
Once 5 p.m. rolled around, we navigated from the city center to a station near our couchsurfing host, Aline. Unfortunately, our “navigation” involved getting my luggage stuck in a metro locker. It was an ordeal to say the least… and I was really upset about being late to meet Aline. Thankfully she is super sweet and didn’t mind one bit!
Aline first walked us to her apartment in East Berlin where she lives with her brother. Then we spent an incredibly enjoyable evening shopping for vegan groceries, preparing Indian food, drinking German beer, and talking until after dark. So far I have nothing negative to say about couchsurfing, and it’s definitely provided us with a more authentic Berlin experience.
This morning, after finally sleeping for the first time in close to 48 hours, Ben and I woke up for another full day of exploring the city! We’ve already been to the Denkmal für doe ermordeten Juden Europas— the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Even though we studied the memorial in our Gaines seminar last fall, I wasn’t fully prepared for how massive the memorial is. It’s made up of hundreds of stone pillars of different heights arranged in a grid for you to walk through. The experience was breathtaking. We also passed by the Brandenburg Tor, another massive piece of architecture.
Now I’m just sitting in a beautiful outdoor space and waiting for Ben to finish touring the Museum für Film und Fernsehen (Museum for Film and Television). We have plenty of things left on the agenda for this afternoon!
I’m in Berlin! Well, technically I’ve been in Berlin since 10 a.m. yesterday. I took this photo of the Berliner Dom shortly after arriving in the city.
Ben and I have made it to Charlotte. One more plane ride and we’ll be in Germany! And, as expected, we’ve already hit a couple of minor road bumps: 1) I forgot my cell phone at home. Mom had to rush home to get it while we checked in at the airport. Thanks, mommy! And 2) Ben’s peanut butter was confiscated by Bluegrass Airport security. So funny.
I can’t believe Tuesday is almost here. And look what my fortune was the other day! It’s as if the universe knows my adventure is about to begin.
For 29 days this summer, I will be embarking on a “grand tour” of Europe that involves visiting art museums, monuments, and other sites in more than 13 cities:
I’m lucky enough to be traveling with a friend and classmate from Berlin to Paris and then with my sister from Paris to Lisbon. We plan on couchsurfing the entire time, which involves staying with people who actually live in the cities we’re visiting. I’m absolutely thrilled to experience Europe this way— I imagine it will be completely different from how I spent my time on the continent last summer.
The entire experience will be funded in part through the generosity of the Gaines Center for the Humanities and, most importantly, Mrs. Evelyn Zolondek. I can’t wait to blog about all of my adventures!
In the meantime, I’ll be frantically trying to arrange couchsurfing hosts, train tickets, and other travel plans— when I’m not studying for the June LSAT, that is.
I can hardly believe that my time in Guayaquil is almost over. Part of me feels like I’ve been in Ecuador for years. I have friends here (Alejandra, Tito, Edgar… sort of). I recognize certain landmarks in Alejandra’s neighborhood and in Salinas. I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of hearing Spanish all the time. But part of me feels like I’ve just arrived. I still can’t handle the heat and humidity. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to throwing toilet paper in the trash can. I have a hard time actively participating in conversations.
I miss my family and friends at home, but there are so many things I’m going to miss about Ecuador as well. I like eating seafood every day. I like going to the beach on the weekend. I like being with Alejandra and her family. (We actually got coffee with one of her aunts today. She was so sweet!) But I honestly don’t feel sad about leaving. It’s hard to explain. I just have this gut feeling that I’ll be back in South America some day soon. Why should I feel sad about leaving when I know I’m going to return?
So thank you, Alejandra, for sharing your life with me over the last two weeks. I can barely describe how much all of this has meant to me and how much I value you as a sister. Thank you, Tito, for driving me around and being a true friend during my time here. And a HUGE thank you, Martha and Enrique, for being the best adoptive Ecuadorian parents a girl could ask for. You are such beautiful people.
If any of you ever come to the U.S. in the future— and I hope all of you do!— my house is your house. I can only aspire to be as loving and welcoming as you’ve been to me. ¡Muchas gracias!
Before I even stepped foot in Montañita, I had already heard quite a few stories about the little coastal town. People all over Ecuador wear “I ♥ Montañita” t-shirts, and almost every person I’ve met so far has asked me if I’ve been to the beach at Montañita yet. So when we first arrived in Montañita on Saturday evening, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
Alejandra warned me that there would be a lot of tourists. People from around the world are lured to Montañita by its international surfing competitions and its eclectic population. (True— I met people from Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and all over Europe.) She also said that there would be a ton of drugs and alcohol. (Also true.) I think Tito described the atmosphere best: Montañita is full of people who come for two days and end up staying for two months.
We spent the first portion of the evening in Montañita trying to find a hotel. Both Alejandra and Tito knew people with hotel connections in the area, but we ended up at a place in the neighboring town of Olon called Susi’s Boon. The rooms were advertised as first class, with private bathrooms, hot water, and air conditioning. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, they forgot to advertise one of the biggest perks of staying at Susi’s Boon: dealing with the HUNDREDS of crickets present on the property. Not only were they crawling all over the outdoor hallways, but they were also sneaking into rooms underneath the door frames. The furniture looked like it was moving… not even kidding. Let me just say that the room was NOT worth the $50 I spent (which ended up being $40 once they refunded me $10 due to a lack of hot water AND air conditioning). All that aside, the entire hotel experience actually ended up being pretty humorous precisely because the rooms were so miserable. Tito’s jokes about the hotel’s handyman also lightened the mood, even if they were incredibly inappropriate. Thanks for those, Tito.
Once the hotel situation was figured out, we finally ventured into the streets of downtown Montañita. At night, Montañita is transformed into one gigantic two-block party. The narrow streets are lined on both sides with tropical cocktail stands, an assortment of dance clubs, and hundreds of twenty-something-year-olds dancing and laughing and having the time of their lives. The whole scene is absolutely unreal. At one point I looked over my shoulder and a group of people were gathered around a table in the middle of the street rolling blunts together. Like, what?
After surveying the crowd, and pausing to purchase a strawberry daiquiri or two, we ended up going into one of the clubs and dancing the night away… literally. We danced until Alejandra dragged us out of there at FIVE in the morning. (Apparently the parties go strong every night in Montañita until about 7:30 a.m. Isn’t that insane?) I’ve never had so much fun in one night, but I walked out of the club covered in so much sweat and sand and spilled liquor (from other people, mom and dad) that I was forced to take a freezing shower back at the hotel. On the bright side, the hotel looked a little less miserable in my exhausted state.
After our big night out, we woke up late this afternoon, checked out of the hotel, and spent another hour or so eating lunch in Montañita. It was super neat to see the same town in the daylight— it had instantly transformed into a vibrant surf community with tons of colorful vendors and musicians. Sidenote: I’ve never seen so many people with dreadlocks in my life. They made me wish I had dreaded my hair back before I cut it all off. Remember when I wanted to do that, mom?
Now that we’re back in Guayaquil, I actually already miss the weekend at Montañita a little bit. I think I’m definitely going to have to come back at some point in my life. The final verdict? I ♥ Montañita.
If things keep happening like they have over the past couple of days, I might end up with an Ecuadorian boyfriend by the end of this trip! Now don’t have a heart attack— I’m only kidding. But for some reason a lot of Ecuadorians are absolutely enamored by white skin, red hair, and blue eyes.
It’s actually super hilarious. For example, yesterday I was sitting in Alejandra’s bedroom in front of the air conditioner when Alejandra’s mom and a cable tech guy entered. He spent a couple of minutes tinkering with the TV and asking Alejandra’s mom some questions about whatever problem he was here to fix. At one point, she walked out of the room to check something outside that he was asking about. While he waited for her to return, the guy started talking to me! I had absolutely no idea what he was saying so I just smiled, laughed, and nodded my head. It seemed to suffice for an answer— crisis averted! Then, after Alejandra’s mom had shown the cable guy out and returned to the bedroom, she told me that he had asked if I was her daughter. When she said no, he told her that he thought I was super pretty. Alejandra’s mom loved this story, and proceeded to tell everybody she met for the rest of the day about it.
Now that I’ve pointed that out, I’m going to make another list of random musings about things here in Ecuador:
Now I need to go get ready for the day! It seems like plans have changed and we’re actually headed to Montanita (a famous beach town where surfing competitions are held) for the weekend.
Yesterday was such a fun, relaxing, and INCREDIBLY hot day in Ecuador. Alejandra had school from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., so I spent the entire day at home with Alejandra’s mom. We complained about the heat, ate good food (turkey minestrone and a shrimp omelette with rice), danced around Alejandra’s room while changing bedsheets, napped in the afternoon, and talked for over two hours in the kitchen about everything going on in our lives. Our conversation was so funny because it was a jumbled mix of Spanish, English, and attempted sign language. It went really well, though!
Once Alejandra got off school, Tito picked us both up and we went to a sports bar with Tito’s friend Edgar. The evening was full of food, jokes, and funny English conversation (most of Alejandra’s friends speak English pretty well!).
Edgar invited us to go to the highlands this weekend, so we might do that depending on everybody’s plans. Either way, I’m sure I will find myself doing something awesome over the next couple of days!
