Monday, September 20, 2010

Vialoooooonga

I want to start out with the fact that I am fine and if you are scared of me being here by myself you might not want read this blog.......

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?
I also learned if I am lost on the street:

  • Aonde fica os Bombeiros?
    • Where is the fire department?
  • Aonde fica os Igreja Catolica?
    • Where is the Catholic Church?
Today I also learned that you do not add up the times but that the time given is the time it takes to go from the start to the stop you are looking at. I also learned that the bus route that I chose to take is called a milk run route because it stops at every single little village!

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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