The Language Barrier
Okay, now what? It was kind of a rainy day. The guys who had been on the train had caught a taxi to the airport, but that was the last thing 2 adventurous girls wanted to do when they had 4 hours to kill!
So, suitcases in tow, we ventured out into the town that we couldn't pronounce. Heck, we couldn't even get anyone to understand our version of "thank you". Mind you, it was only about 7 AM, so there wasn't a lot going on, but it was a weekday, so anything could happen!
We stopped in a little side store and bought some breakfast. It was interesting to communicate with the store people, they smiled and tried to help as best they could to our American demands - bread, cheese, a little yogurt - why not more polska kielbasa??
We wheeled our suitcases a little further and found a park, next to a busy area of buses and taxis, and vendors selling breakfast goods. Now came the people watching. Kids going to school. Women, dressed in suit attire, getting on the bus. I was DYING to know what these people did for a living. It was a busy city-like atmosphere, yet seemed like a small town. The rain dried up just long enough for us to sit and eat our breakfast and have fun watching the way of this world we had never seen before.
Soon we headed back to the train station to try and get a bus to the airport, which never appeared. I was getting nervous, some guy started asking me a bunch of questions to which of course I had no clue about. Plus we were within a couple hours of our flight to London, and we weren't exactly sure where the airport was! I wasn't about to miss this flight - because this led to the next leg of our adventure...London and then Barcelona!
So, we ended up in a taxi. The airport was so small!!! I couldn't believe that jets even flew here. We went through security with our passports. Evidently they don't get Americans through there too often, as both Jenny and I had our documents studied and gone over with a fine tooth comb. There didn't really seem to be too many that spoke English at all.
By now I was tired...sooo tired...apparently the rush of the last couple of days had done me in...I was pushing my stuff through the x-ray machine, kind of staring off into space...
What? Why am I stopped? What are they looking at? Oh no. Was I being targeted as an American? My heart started beating faster. What are they going to take? My prized Polish vodka???
As it turns out, that wasn't the case...I had forgotten and put my makeup bag in my carryon...this had the distinguished personal item - and not everyone will understand - my favorite tweezers! Into the bin they went, along with hundreds of other personal items that had come before me - scissors, sharp objects - oh my. You may not understand why I was so upset over it - normally, who cares, right? But here I was, in a foreign place, not sure where I was landing next or even sleeping or eating. Man, I WAS tired. And missing my tweezers!
So, it was onto the next plane. I didn't see how all these people would fit on this plane. It really was like a herd getting onto the plane - everyone trying to get on as quickly as they could to get a seat. Jenny and I got seats, put our stuff away, and just tried to relax for a while...
Next stop, London!
So, suitcases in tow, we ventured out into the town that we couldn't pronounce. Heck, we couldn't even get anyone to understand our version of "thank you". Mind you, it was only about 7 AM, so there wasn't a lot going on, but it was a weekday, so anything could happen!
We stopped in a little side store and bought some breakfast. It was interesting to communicate with the store people, they smiled and tried to help as best they could to our American demands - bread, cheese, a little yogurt - why not more polska kielbasa??
We wheeled our suitcases a little further and found a park, next to a busy area of buses and taxis, and vendors selling breakfast goods. Now came the people watching. Kids going to school. Women, dressed in suit attire, getting on the bus. I was DYING to know what these people did for a living. It was a busy city-like atmosphere, yet seemed like a small town. The rain dried up just long enough for us to sit and eat our breakfast and have fun watching the way of this world we had never seen before.
Soon we headed back to the train station to try and get a bus to the airport, which never appeared. I was getting nervous, some guy started asking me a bunch of questions to which of course I had no clue about. Plus we were within a couple hours of our flight to London, and we weren't exactly sure where the airport was! I wasn't about to miss this flight - because this led to the next leg of our adventure...London and then Barcelona!
So, we ended up in a taxi. The airport was so small!!! I couldn't believe that jets even flew here. We went through security with our passports. Evidently they don't get Americans through there too often, as both Jenny and I had our documents studied and gone over with a fine tooth comb. There didn't really seem to be too many that spoke English at all.
By now I was tired...sooo tired...apparently the rush of the last couple of days had done me in...I was pushing my stuff through the x-ray machine, kind of staring off into space...
What? Why am I stopped? What are they looking at? Oh no. Was I being targeted as an American? My heart started beating faster. What are they going to take? My prized Polish vodka???
As it turns out, that wasn't the case...I had forgotten and put my makeup bag in my carryon...this had the distinguished personal item - and not everyone will understand - my favorite tweezers! Into the bin they went, along with hundreds of other personal items that had come before me - scissors, sharp objects - oh my. You may not understand why I was so upset over it - normally, who cares, right? But here I was, in a foreign place, not sure where I was landing next or even sleeping or eating. Man, I WAS tired. And missing my tweezers!
So, it was onto the next plane. I didn't see how all these people would fit on this plane. It really was like a herd getting onto the plane - everyone trying to get on as quickly as they could to get a seat. Jenny and I got seats, put our stuff away, and just tried to relax for a while...
Next stop, London!
posted by Gluten Free Gourmet at 3:13 PM
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