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| A happy heart |
After finishing finals in our intensive language program, buying numerous bus tickets and booking a few hostels, 3 girlfriends and I took off to the southern coast of Portugal. We had a smooth bus ride and landed in the land of Faro at 2AM. We had no idea what Faro had to offer, but we knew we were 4 California girls that needed a beach A.S.A.P. We heard there was a bus that came every 20 minutes to take us to the nearest beach. After waiting for about a half hour Shannon and I decided to walk back to the hostel to ask if we were at the correct stop. About half way back we saw our bus coming, looked at each other and started sprinting in the other direction after the bus full of people. I am sure they thoroughly enjoyed the sight of two tourists sprinting after the bus, trying not to kill themselves on the cracked, cobble stone streets of Faro.
The beach was everything we hoped for, warm Atlantic water, sangria and sun. Even better, Faro is not a tourist city and so the beach was filled with Portuguese friends and lovers. After returning to our hostel we decided to check out the nightlife and stumbled into a Portuguese karaoke bar. We were the only non-Portuguese in the place. People really tried hard to communicate with us, but there were only a few who spoke English and none that spoke Spanish. After listening to too many Portuguese drunken love songs, we decided we needed to spice up the party. Of course, Spice Girls, “Wanna Be” was our song of choice. We gave it all we had and definitely had the bar’s attention. Not sure if it was good or bad attention, but we got a couple pity claps at the end and decided it was a good time to leave.
The following day we took a train to a nearby port town, Olhão and then took a ferry to the island of Farol. We heard this was the island of shells, diving and snorkeling. The southern coast of Portugal has a few tiny islands surrounded by marshlands with various birds and unique nature. I enjoyed my alone time on this island and took a walk down the beach collecting shells for my room. We swam and watched the Portuguese lifeguards play paddle ball and work really hard at not doing their job. We caught the Ferry back to Olhaõ at sunset and took the night train back to Faro.
The following morning we took the train (which by the way is extremely cheap in Portugal, cheaper than the bus) to our next stop, Lagos! Immediately we realized that Lagos was the place to be for everyone who was not Portuguese! We were determined to enjoy all that the city had to offer and find the real Lagos that lied beneath the Australians and Kiwis. We walked through the town, past the alien child statue in the town center, until we found our hostel, “The Stumble Inn.” We knocked 3 times (that’s what it said to do on the website) and a friendly, dread-lock man greeted us and showed us to our rooms. We walked 5 minutes to the nearest beach in cloudy weather, explored a little and found a cave that was swimmable. We didn’t have our suits so we did what the Portuguese would do and had a sweet lady watch our clothes while we dove into the warm water. We swam out for the cave and walked through only to find a boat full of tourists on the other side. I am sure they got more than they bargained for that day. We swam, explored and laughed the whole time. Those memories are the ones that make me feel so blessed to be alive!
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| The daily grind in Portugal |
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| Fernando, you will be missed. |
The next day after finding our next hostel in the hills surrounding Lagos we made our way back into town to, of course, go to the beach. We were stopped by Portuguese men telling us to take their boat tour of the southern coast. We talked down the price and hopped in a little boat with our new friend, Fernando. He was the sweetest Portuguese teddy bear who had an image and a story for every rock formation we saw. Along the coast were ruins of an ancient Arab castle, an elephant, a yellow submarine, a wedding cake, and other creative things that Fernando has thought of in the past 30 years he has been giving tours. We took in all the Atlantic had to offer, the uniqueness of the small coves and rock formations. After we said goodbye to Fernando we walked along the bluffs until we found a perfect cove to enjoy a little game of paddle ball and what was left of the sun that day.
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| The sweetest thing in Portugal |
We walked back into town as the sun was setting trying to find a Portuguese restaurant that Fernando recommended to us. We were lost and stopped in front of a men’s sports bar. Little, old Portuguese men started blabbing directions off in Portuguese, but not before another little, old Portuguese woman could get in on the action. Before I knew it, we had multiple recommendations and a Portuguese conversation going on. We had our dinner and started on the journey to the outskirts of town. On the way we spotted the sweetest lady in the window of her home. She looked radiant and when Adrienne asked to take a picture of her she nodded her head and posed. I almost had tears rolling down my cheeks and was ready to ask if she would be my grandma. She was by far my favorite memory from Portugal.
Our cove for a day
After numerous bus mishaps we arrived back in Granada at 3AM. Reality had set in and school was going to start on Tuesday. All of the nerves were back and my Portuguese vacation was over. I was excited to see what the "real life" would hold. Along with the Spaniards, the Portuguese have learned to love life. I realized that the majority of people were the happiest sitting in their boats, taking in the sun and not doing much of anything. I would venture to say the world would be a happier place if we all took time for sitting in the sun and naps on the beach.
Fernando and I sending our love through a conch shell in Portugal.
This halloween weekend I find myself at another puente in Spain. What's new? :) Instead of planning a long trip Adrienne and I decided to hop on the train and travel to a little city in the province of Málaga, Andalucía called Ronda. We heard it was a beautiful place and one of the largest "white villages" of southern Spain. After a train ride that seemed like the French pea pod scene out of a Veggie Tales movie, we arrived. As we left the train station it started to rain, so we ducked into a little cafe to make our plan of attack. We walked towards the beautiful views and found where we would spend the next six hours. It was breathtaking. The colors of the country side screamed autumn and the air was oh so fresh! I was so happy to be in another place and out of the city for a day. Our French-Canadian tour group from the train flagged us down for what we thought was to take a picture of them. Instead they wanted pictures with us! Adrienne and I were in tears we were laughing so hard. We had no idea that our train ride bonded us so closely with them.
Since being in Spain I have found a great church in a barrio right outside of Granada. It's a family barrio with a large Muslim population. The church is an international church of about 50 people maximum. Christina and I have been going on Sunday evenings and enjoying worship in English and Spanish. After the messages there is a time for prayer where the floor is free to thank God for whatever is on your heart. I am almost in tears every time. Listening to honest words to Jesus in English, Spanish, and Arabic has been an experience and I am blessed to have found a Bible believing church here in Spain.
A couple weekends ago the church was distributing winter clothes to the Zaidin neighborhood to bless families that were in need. Christina and I took our Saturday morning to help organize winter clothes and help fasciliate the distribution. It was so encouraging to see this church investing in their community and blessing people in need. I was so blessed to be a part of it and hope to find more opportunities like this in my year here. I don't want to leave Spain without knowing that I have made a difference somehow. I want to invest in this city and although traveling and spanish are great things, I hope that God uses me for something greater here.
