Travelin Monkey

SADNESS!!! I have officially been in the US for 48 hours suffering from RIDICULOUS jet lag (EU is 9 hours ahead) and in culture shock that I am not in a hotel, dealing with dollars, and I can’t just pick up and leave to go somewhere FUN!

The last couple of days in europe were something else! Poppa left barcelona and that night I went out with our friends there drinking till 4 am. It just won’t be the same going to a pub, getting hammered, and having this 17th century gothic church right in front of me as I stumble away…

We got home at 4 am and after a quick 4 hour nap, I was at the train in barcelona snagging a ticket to Andorra, the border of Spain and France. 3 hours later I snagged another ticket to go to Toulouse to meet up with Florence, a traveling mate Matt & I met 3 years ago in Brasil!

I got to the town and gave her a call and this is what she said:
“I didn’t know how to get there, so I sent my friend, who is short and bald, to pick you up”

and i thought “WOW, Matt is here too?” hehe

So now I am at a train station back in France and I have to look for a bald stranger to pick me up… 45 minutes go by and as I am about to call her again, this guy with long shaggy curly hair comes up to me and says “Are you Travelin Monkey?” BAM! I spent 45 minutes thinking “how does one find a complete stranger at a train station?” And then I had my question answered!

I told him that Flo must be crazy for thinking he is bald, and he told me that the bald guy got there and forgot what my name was, so he drove back and sent him instead! HAHHA AWESOME!

So Toulouse is the 5th largest student city in France.. and I stayed in dorms the entire time I was there. It reminded me a lot of the dorms in UCSB, you know, trash everywhere and random stuff like a shopping cart full of clothes instead of a closet!

I got to the first dorm and we had a bottle of Ricard (some french ouzo type thing) as an aperitif (drink before dinner). We hopped on bicycles and rode to another dorm, where we had another bottle and 3 bottles of red wine.. From there we grabbed some dinner and began the bar hopping of the night.

Every bar we went to they ended up stealing the glasses.. and telling me “hey, we are still poor students!” haha. at about 3 am we went back to a dorm and continued the drinking.. on the way some guys started playing football (thats soccer people) with some cushions they found on the street and one of them looks at me and says “France is in trouble… this generation is no good”

We ended up riding our bikes at 4 am, drunk, through this city to the first dorm to crash. Awoke at 3 pm the next day, grabbed some food, two 12 packs, and headed to the river bank to enjoy the day and drop some beers before going to a belgium beer bar and starting it all one more time. This was to be my last night in France and having fun in europe. At 4 am we went to sleep.. and after a 4 hour nap I awoke and found myself doing the reverse from the previous day, leaving france at 8 am towards barcelona to catch a flight to Frankfurt.

I got to Frankfurt Hahn at 11:45 pm, just in time to catch the last bus to Frankfurt International 120 km away..but not before our pilot at Ryan Air almost crashed the plane against the ground while landing, inches away from taking out the left wing .. have you ever heard an entire plane GASP?!

Frankfurt had a 24 hour free internet area with a 24 hour resteraunt.. I lounged until about 5 am then crashed in a construction zone in the arrival area, the only quiet place in the entire airport (everything was closed and so I had no choice but to bum it there).. BTW, it was 10 degrees, windy, cold, and rainy… and i had to sleep under the AC system..

I woke up at 9 am and was heading to the showers (yes, the airport has shower services for 8 euros) .. to get ready to shave too.. because when people look at me, they don’t think “He looks like an Andy or a Mark” they think “OH M Y GOD! LA LA LA LA JIHAD! It’s OSAMA”

And i guess 3 days prior they had arrested those guys in london! As I was making my way, thinking, “God, what am I going to do for the next 24 hours before flying out” I passed by the ticket counter, popped some Dental Smint (that’s what they call it in europe).. put on my best smile.. and approached the young las at the ticket counter.. I joked around with her for a couple of minutes, then asked if there was ANY possible way to leave Frankfurt today… instead of tomorrow…

She put me on a flight that was to leave in 3 hours via DC to SFO to LAX that same day.. arriving on the 15th at 10 pm… I went to check in, thinking “Damn, I haven’t had a chance to shower in 4 days and I haven’t shaved in 2 weeks…I might be pretty fucked here”

I passed through the security check point and had EVERYTHING searched.. including a very intimate pat-down by a big german dude… YAY ME! They took my deodorant, gel, bug spray, ointments, even my freakin otic drops… but left a couple of things I won’t mention.. but they should have been removed..

I ended up boarding the plane, and was surprised to find my seat was on the top floor in business class! YES! that is what status gets you baby! see people, this is why I fly to boston for the day just for miles! so when I really want something, it just happens! WOOT WOOT!

I ended up landing in DC.. which to most means nothing.. but I have this track record with immigration in DC. It seems that EVERY time I pass through there I always get ‘randomly’ chosen for an inspection.. SURPRISE SURPRISE! at the nations capital! NO WAY! and now we are at code red threat level.. It is 3:30 pm and my connection leaves at 4:30. Will I make it?

Poppa took all my luggage and left me with one backpack. I walk up to customs and they guy says “Did you lose ALL your luggage?”
“nope, this is all I have…” said the monkey
“You’ve been traveling for 2 months with just THAT?”
“No, I met my dad in barcelona and he took the rest of my luggage”
“Why don’t you explain it to the police. What random are we at? 3? ok”

I roll my eyes and think “great.. this again..” as he writes R-3 on my pass… I walk up to 5-0 .. with a big stupid smile and hand the card over.. he looks at it and says “Wow, you’ve made quite a run through europe!”
“Yup, 2 months!”
“So what do you do in the states”
“I graduated 2 months ago, so I guess I am a dentist”
“How much cash do you have on you?”
“$300″
“Looks like someone needs to do more root canals! What were you doing in europe?”
“World cup for a month, then travel for the other month”
“And that is all the luggage you took?”
“Nope, I gave the bulk of it to my dad in Barcelona”
“well, then, let’s have a look”

Opens it up and hardly looks inside, makes sure my baggy with all the toiletry stuff has no ‘liquids’ .. and off I went.. with the 2 items STILL in there in disbelief!
I walked through a third security line, no one said anything, and off I was to Los Angeles..

55 days traveling through Europe
72 days of alcohol consumption since the end of WREBS…
One amazing month of World Cup festivities…
One amazing month of traveling around europe by myself..

and here I sit.. back in the SFV.. ready to start work!

It’s something different coming back home!

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading about all these adventures as much as I have enjoyed living them.. and that is the end of my summer vacations!

This is the travelin monkey, signing off until the next adventure……..

P.S. If you are planning on visiting people in France for the weekend, make sure that the only jacket you took and spend the entire time wearing ISN’T a german one.. because everyone stopped me to ask why I was wearing a german jacket !!

P.P.S. One tip to all travelers. If you think that listening to stand up comedy on a flight where everyone is sleeping is a good idea, trust me, when you start laughing and everyone starts giving you dirty looks.. you realized that maybe Robert Schimmel wasn’t a good choice in your ipod selection..

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