Faro & Seville

When I got off the bus in Faro I had a couple hours to spare before my next bus. As soon as I stepped off, the station seemed seedy... there was a guy there who looked like he had been wearing the same clothes for weeks with no shower. He had a white phone in his hand that was beat up and he was trying to sell it to me. I just kept on trucking - I had to get lunch and find somewhere that would cash my travellers cheques.

Faro is a kewl little town. Perhaps I will end up back there if I decide to venture over to Africa. I find that since my budget is limited, I end up going for food that is reliable to me (which is usually crap, but it fills me up and doesnt make me sick). It isnt very cultural of me but eating is more of a neccesity (sp?) than a hobby. I got half of my cheques cashed with not too much of a comission charged so that was good. I love having cash. Cards are not reliable, since a lot of places especially in smaller towns dont take them!!! I have run into that problem at least 4 times so far so I think cash is king will remain my motto.


I barely made my bus! He left a few minutes early for one, and I think the clock I was looking at was a bit slow when I was judging how long it would take me to get back to the station. I think I was the last one on, and the guy who tried to sell me the phone was on there. I didnt have time to buy gum and water so I was pretty dehydrated and looking forward to the next stop.

It ended up not being too far down the road, where the smokers get off the bus to smoke because they dont know when the next stop will be either lol. I ran off the bus and bought two bottles of water and went to get back on.. but the door was shut and the driver was gone! Then I hear this guy yelling and he runs around the corner and waves at me, then motions me back the other way - oops, I was trying to get on the wrong bus. He smiled and I thanked him. It was the same guy who had tried to sell me the phone earlier!

We made another stop once we got into Andalucia, which is the southern most province of Spain. I didnt realize we had crossed into spain because we didnt go through any kind of border. The bus stopped there for 20 minutes so I got off to pee and grab a snack... but inside that bus station the womens bathroom was broken. Once again I saw the phone guy who told me to wait and he went and asked a guy working there in spanish where we go, then he came back and told me. When I went back to the bus he was standing outside smoking and there was a big line of people boarding our bus and a new (female) driver. I saw one guy who was sitting in front of me try to get on the bus and there was this big argument going on, so the phone guy laughed and pulled his ticket out of his pocket and pointed at it. I reached into my pocket, since it was a new driver she was checking everyons ticket. My ticket was gone! I thought maybe when I pulled the tp out of my pocket that the ticket fell out in the bathroom (always carry your own TP, the bathrooms are out more than 50% of the time!). So he said Uh oh, and I spotted the old driver so I went over with phone guy and he told him in Spanish that my ticket fell out but he knew I had paid to be there. The guy gave me a look of disapproval but told me to go with him... so we passed everyone in the line and went into the bus where the guy sitting in front of me was still fighting with the woman driver who was adamant that he have his ticket. The male driver started giving the guy crap as well but pointed me passed them to my seat lol. Once I sat down, phone guy followed me and I started checking my seat for my ticket... there it was sitting under my backpack. He took it up to the front for me and told them I found it.

Eventually after fighting through over an hour of stop and go traffic (because of a Horse and Carriage Festival that closes main streets), we made it to Seville. It wasnt the station that I wanted it to be, so I grabbed my bags and said bye to phone guy. I walked up to information and asked how to get to Prado de San Sebastian and the lady directed me to catch bus 4. Phone guy was getting on the same bus! So were a few other people from our trip. He was also getting off at the same stop as me so once we hopped off the bus he asked me where I was going and I said I didnt know. He walked with me and asked people in spanish... bus drivers, who directed us to the cops, who also didnt know... but they directed us to the taxi drivers. They were right, but since everyone was saying different things I decided to go to a payphone and call Nani to tell me. We did that and she answered... I asked her but she wasnt explaining it very well so I said Hey, why dont I put you on the phone to my friend who speaks Spanish. She said, I dont speak Spanish!!!! What? You dont speak Spanish? You ARE spanish!!! So then she said again, no I dont speak spanish. I was in disbelief but whatever, I said okay tell me again how to find your house from this station... then I can hear two girls laughing in the background and a bunch of talking... and she says to me "I speak Spanish" I said, okay I thought so, here is my friend. They chatted and while the time ran down I put more euro coins into the machine.

After we got off the phone I asked my friend his name. He said Rui, which rhymes with Louie but roll the R. I cant roll the R lol. He told me to go with him where we proceeded to get on bus number 25. We got off next to the university and walked up to the burger king. After that we had to start asking people again and despite the fact that the street was only a 5 minute walk away, people didnt know! Its because the names of the streets are long and they change regularly.

Finally after being pointed the wrong way a few times, we made it to Nanis. The building she was in was kind of like town houses, but there were no numbers on the doors so I was wandering, looking in peoples windows lol. She opened the door by fluke while we were outside. I said goodbye to my incredibly good hearted friend Rui who took me all the way there which was out of his way. I asked him why he was trying to sell me his phone earlier in the afternoon and he said he needed money to pay for his bus ticket to get home. I would have paid for him if I knew that! I thought it was stolen! Everyone in europe carries two phones so he sold his nicer one to get on the bus.

I wanted to give him something but he just said bye to us, my friend thanked him in Spanish for delivering me, and then he left. He was going to work the next day so I hope he got money for food and stuff there.

Once in Nanis I met the two girls I had heard laughing on the phone. Julie was from France and Marie from Germany, but they go to university together in London. They slept on the futon in the living room and I had a single bed in the spare room. It was my first ever female couch surfer host and I think the first two female surfers I had met! So once I got introduced, I had to ask about the confusion over why my host said multiple times that she didnt speak Spanish! Apparently when I say Spanish, she hears "Danish" pronounced Dan-ish... and even when I repeated it, she still heard Danish! The girls were laughing because they figured it out, then told her "She is asking if you speak SPANISH, not Danish"... then she came back on the phone and said "I speak spanish". hahaha. We went across the road and bought a series of different kind of fried white fish. The one prepared with lemon was the best, I had a few pieces of that.

The next day (Friday) was spent on the computer booking all sorts of things for my stay in Sevilla and figuring out what to do once I got to Madrid! I found a host, Francisco, who will take me on Monday and Tuesday nights! Wednesday I will have to find another host or find a hostel.

Friday night we all went out together for a typical Spanish night of Tapas. We walked to the centre and then went from bar to bar and order tapas. After that we had Seville ice cream and then walked to a bar where there was Spanish Music, called Flamencito. The singer was awesome but it was not dancing music. They smoke inside the bars here so I had to stand by the door at both the music place and the disco.

Eventually we just walked home. None of us wanted to or could afford to drink so we carried on. It was after 2 by the time we returned and it was great to see how they operate here.

The centre of Seville is beautiful. I will take lots of pictures on Monday, because tomorrow I am hopping on a bus to Cadiz which is a ways south of Seville! I am excited.

Nani had another couch surfer arrive tonight and 2 more tomorrow, so this morning she took me and the other girls to our next destinations. I am at a hostel which is nice, in a room on my own (I had a great nap already!) but it has no kitchen, so now I will go find dinner.

Heading to Madrid on Monday I think and then flying up to Santander on Sunday morning very early. I am sooooo excited to get there, be in one place for a while, fix my diet and fitness. Meet the family! Yayyy!

If you are reading this, please leave a comment so I know who is keeping tabs on me! Thanks :)