I apologize for not keeping you posted. It’s been quite a trip. Let’s see, I left off when I was at Grand Central’s Starbucks sipping on a bitter cup of coffee. Oh, the leisurely life of an American girl! I have to say, that lax attitude had to go out the window very quickly. When 12:30 rolled around I decided I better make my way up to where I was supposed to meet the shuttle. After searching hopelessly for the right standing point on 42 street and Lexington Ave, I decided to ask the next (seemingly) best person for advice, the bellboy at the Grand Hyatt hotel, figuring he would know where a lot of people pick up the shuttle for Grand Central…false! Instead of directing me towards the most obvious spot to stand (on the street) he told me to go upstairs to the mezzanine level of the hotel because “the supershuttles ONLY ever come there to pick people up.” I believed him, since he was a new Yorker, and I was just a gullible Ohioan, inexperienced traveler type. I went upstairs and waited. At 12:55 they still weren't there. By one o’clock my toe was tapping, and I was getting progressively more annoyed thinking that I would have to pay two-fold for my transport to the airport, once for the no show super shuttle, and once for the overpriced, most likely disagreeable cab driver I would have to hail. Finally, the bus boy upstairs felt bad for my situation and called the Super Shuttle company to tell the guy to turn around and come upstairs to get me. I barely gave him enough for a tip since I had mostly Euros in my pocket, and almost no cash money (except for coins). When I got to the airport I checked in and got body scanned for the first time and headed upstairs to wait for my flight to Madrid. The flight went well. I watched some corny movie called Arthur and sat in a typical overly-crowded seat on the scanty 2 rows-of-3 seats plane. The airplane food made me revel in the fare yet to come once I got to France. The Madrid airport was large and I had to take a shuttle when I got off the plane to the connecting terminal where my plane was to fly out for Toulouse. I was famished, since I wasted most of my pasta dinner and boycotted the feaux blueberry yogurt I was given for breakfast, since it made an airbag impacting sound when I opened it. I don’t think having a churning stomach was worth the acidophilus hook-up. The second flight was very short and ended up leaving about 1/2 hour behind schedule. When I got to Toulouse I purchased a ticket for a bus to take me to the Toulouse train station. I quickly bought a ticket and took the train one stop to Montebaun. I had a harrowing experience trying to make a phone call to Dorothee to come pick me up. It was definitely entirely my fault, as I dialed a 33 before the phone number which apparently notified Verizon that that “cellular user is not answering calls at this time.” It all made sense when I asked the woman at the convenience store in the train station if the number looked correct. When I tried again, I got through. The first time a man answered the phone who did not speak English. He told me to call back in two minutes to talk to someone who “parlay anglais.” I did, and he answered again. He told me to hold on and got someone else on the phone. She understood the language a bit better than he, however she then handed over the phone to (who I hoped was) Dorothee, who sounded completely English. I am a simpleton for not being more fluent in the language under such circumstances. For those of you fluent in more than one language, you can attest that it is no easy feat to learn, and that it takes time. That is why I am here. I do, indeed, want to learn French. I want to feel uncomfortable trying to ask questions in broken French, and to be talked to and only understand half of what is being said. I will learn that way and feel like I have done my part. For the past two times I have traveled out of the country I have had many willing individuals help me find my way around, order items for me, and give me tours. Now is my time to undergo what all of them had to in the beginning. Until next time, au revoir!
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