Yesterday it was decided that I should ride the bus from Tojal, the village I am living in, to Vialonga, the village the Fairbanks are living in. The plan was that I would take the bus into Vialonga and get off the bus at the fire station and then I would walk up the road to where the Fairbanks live. I was suppose to get to the Fairbanks house by 10 am to begin my Portuguese lessons.
Last night I looked up the bus routes and calculated how long the bus route would take and found out that the 5 minute drive would take a little over an hour. I decided that I would take the 8:30 am bus so that I would have enough time to get to Vialonga, walk to the house and still be on time. Not wanting to fail at my first assignment I set my alarm for 7 am but woke up at 5 am and couldn't go back to sleep because I was afraid that I would sleep through my alarm.
I headed to the bus got on and paid my 1,95 euros and road the bus through tons of small villages but after about 15 minutes I started seeing signs for Vialonga and I just thought the part of Vialonga I wanted was further. Pretty soon I was in Povoa de Santa Iria, which is past Vialonga and is the last village on the bus run. So, the first bus stop we came to I hopped off and went to use the phone to call the Fairbanks and tell them that I was lost and was now in Povoa but the phone didn't work! I started freaking out! So, I ran across the road and waited for 20 min. for the next bus. As I waited for the bus an old Portuguese woman decided that she needed to talk to me and I told her, "Eu nau falo Portugues," but she decided that she still needed to talk to me so then I tried, "Nau compreendo," but she still decided she needed to talk to me but thankfully another Portuguese lady told her again that I don't understand Portuguese, so then she finally left me alone! When the bus finally came I hopped on and went to pay and again they asked for the 1,95 euros but I only had 1,65 euros, so, I got kicked off and by this time I was boardering tears and wanting to just curl up in a ball and hide. I decided that me crying would not solve any of my problems so I sucked up my tears and started walking....and walking....and walking.....
Here is a map of what I walked. I walked a total of 3.5 km which when converted is a little more then 2 miles.
The thing about walking in Portugal is that they don't really have sidewalks....they more have a largish side of the road. As I started walking I was terrified! I was 90% sure I was walking in the right direction and was quickly comforted by the occasional Vialonga signs. While on my walk I got honked at! Oh yes, somewhere in Portugal is a creeper man who decided he needed to honk at a poor defenseless woman walking on the side of the road. During my long walk I finally got to a store that I recognized! It was a Pingo Doce, which is a grocery store chain here in Portugal.
This grocery store was such an excitement for me and I thought for sure they would have a pay phone that I could use but unfortunately I didn't see one...the only thing I saw was the gun strapped to the hip of the security guard and I decided I didn't even want to try Portuguese. So, I continued walking but THANK GOD there was a payphone right around the corner. I called the Fairbanks and as soon as Idalia picked up the phone the water works began! Through my tears I told her that I was lost and had no idea where I was but I thought I was in Vialonga but I forgot to put more money in so we got diconnected so I called back again and remembered Pingo Doce and thankfully there is only one Pingo Doce in the small village of Vialonga so with in a couple minutes they were there to pick me up! I don't know what was more exciting when I landed in Lisbon or when they picked me up at Pingo Doce!
When we got to their home my Portuguese lessons started and I learned some very helpful things
- Passa Por Vialonga?
- Do you pass vialonga?
- Gostaria de parar perto dos Bombeiros em Vialonga.
- I like to stop by the fire department in Vialonga.
- Pode me dizer quando la chegar?
- Can you tell me when we arrive?
- Aonde fica os Bombeiros?
- Where is the fire department?
- Aonde fica os Igreja Catolica?
- Where is the Catholic Church?
I also learned a little factoid about Vialonga, the city gets its name from Via, road, and longa, long, so it means long road, which I definitely got to learn all about today!
Tomorrow I will be hopping on a new bus route but this time I will know how to get to my final destination! Woot Woot!
Peace out!
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