When I told people back home about my itinerary for this run the general reception varied from excitement to envy. Most people tell me that they've "always wanted to" or it's one of their "dreams" to see Europe. For me, not so much. I have different dreams. Europe is not one of them. I've always believed that Europe exists and I never felt the desperate need to verify that belief with my own eyes. I've been here for two and half weeks now and I'm ready to leave.
Now, before you start getting all self-righteous and start mixing up an indignation cocktail about my take on Europe, consider that I completely understand that I haven't really 'seen' Europe yet. All I've done is been to a few islands off the coast of Spain and Portugal. I haven't been to Italy, France, Germany, the U.K., or any of the countless other famous and historic place to visit here. I'm just done with being uncomfortable and off my game. A short list:
1) I'm not comfortable with currency exchange. I never quite know how much money I'm spending here. As a bonus, when using my credit card there are extra fees and charges associated with being out of the States.
2) The language barrier is significant. Even though I speak a few words of Spanish, it's nowhere near enough to be communicatively competent. This issue reveals itself in the strangest places, for instance, the grocery store. I wandered around the laundry aisle for almost 20 minutes yesterday in search of dryer sheets. I never found them. Later I realized two things. First, because I couldn't comprehend the words written on the packaging or the recognize the names of various detergents, I couldn't zero in on what I was looking for. None of the American brands are sold here. I was having trouble distinguishing between various types of cleaners (don't even get me started on trying to locate Clorox wipes). Second, apparently in Europe dryer sheets are not used. People use liquid softener. Either that or they put up with huge amounts of static.
3) I'm on a completely different eating schedule. You can't go to lunch at 11:45 am here. Lunch joints don't even OPEN until 1:00 pm. Can you imagine a Burger King closed at noon in the States? Well, that's what you have here. I even have trouble locating coffee shops that are open for breakfast. So much for getting off the ship early for some WiFi and blogging.
4) My cell phone doesn't work here. This one is largely my own fault, but, it's still frustrating. I haven't talked to Ted on the phone since I joined the ship. Getting calling cards has proven more difficult than I originally thought it would be. Plus, with the time zone difference, it's nearly impossible to Skype.
In short, I'm SO ready to cross back to the Caribbean. American dollars, English speakers, Easter Standard Time. The works! The good news is, we start that this coming cruise. Here's the weird thing though: I'm considering extending my contract a couple months this coming summer. That will give me the opportunity to cross back over the Atlantic with the ship and see some ports in England, Rome, Nice, and Barcelona. How's that for a dichotomy, eh? I can't seem to tell if I'm coming or going these days.
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