Ben From England

People on the Road Series      
Many times, I've heard travelers say that it was the people that made their trip great. In this series, I will write about the more memorable characters that I was lucky to meet and learn from. Some I knew for only a few hours, others a week or longer. 
*I don't use real names.


Ben was my classmate from England that I wrote about in the post School Week 2 and Banking during my CELTA days. His story was the banking part. Read it to get a background. I want to write more of his stories here. 

Resilience

Part I.      My Experience

Things go wrong. I'm a worrier so I freak about things. I did this a lot when I was traveling alone, and here's usually how it played out:

There's a moment of panic, of not knowing what to do, of being scared. There are thoughts like: 

"What the fuck am I going to do?" 

"Why is this happening to me?"

In the beginning, I had these thoughts a lot. Whether it was losing something important, a bus leaving the border with my stuff on it, or a landlord canceling my contract giving me days to move out.

Free Restaurant Idea: Crepes & Waffles in the U.S.

Jumbo Shrimp in Yellow Curry and Spinach, Thai Chicken, Pepper Steak, French Connection, Mushroom Fondue, and over 40 other kinds of crepes. 

Crepes & Waffles was the most popular restaurant I found during my travels and a personal favorite. Opened in 1980 by two college students, Beatriz Fernández and Eduardo Macías, Crepes started Zona Rosa, the center of the ritzy restaurant and club scene of Bogota, Colombia. Now, it is an international chain with over 70 restaurants, most of them Colombia, in 7 Latin American countries and Spain.

Striking Back at Bogota Public Transportation

I don't know how it compares to other big cities because I know very few, but for some reason Bogota public transportation just sucks. 

Security in Developing Countries: Need a Culture Shock?

They take security much more seriously in Colombia and Ecuador than we do here. The only real culture shock I can remember was in Ecuador getting a sick feeling in my stomach when you going into a bank with a guard outside holding the biggest shotgun I've ever seen. Or walking past fully armed soldiers in a public square. Or driving by houses barricaded and wall tops of broken glasses. Like its a damn war zone. 

About Spain: 5 cool regions and other things

We talked much about the different regions of this cool country...  

Overall advice from J:      Do a road trip because the cities are so close, and be sure to visit Sevilla and Barcelona.

A Great Flight Home with J from Spain

I've been meaning to write this for a few days...


On my way from Charlotte to Pittsburgh, it turned out the guy I was sitting next to was from Spain. He was coming back from a trip to the Bahamas. The only reason he went was because he got a deal, $700 for 5 days on LivingSocial or one of those other awesome deal sites. I can't remember if he said that included air, but it probably did because Pittsburgh is a really busy airport.


This was probably going to be my last chance to practice Spanish for a while, and luckily he was cool so we were able to talk in Spanish and English. From that conversation, I reckon I was about 85-90% fluent. It was probably because he had a really easy accent. Regardless, I feel like I'm bilingual now!

Home Early

Unfortunately, I had to come home a little early. 


I was planning on being back in September (DENISE'S WEDDING!) and staying home for a while. There were some places I had wanted to see in the time between now and then, but once I get filthy rich, I figure that I can always return and see other places.


In the meantime I'm going to post some last thoughts I had about Colombia and the #1 city that people recommended that I go I to. 

Hungry but Low on Dough?: How to Find the Best Street (or Fast) Food Anywhere

I finally found where the best street food is located. 


Instead of walking around randomly searching like an idiot, I actually thought about going to the busier places during rush-hour (where people are mostly to be walking around on their way to buses or the Transmilenio) and found that some of the best empanandas are very close to where I work ( a big bank tower that holds a ton of people). 


Normally, you can find empanadas and arepas anywhere and anytime, but most are just sitting in a box all day and then reheated when you ask for them. These are kind of gross, not fresh at all, and don't taste good. 

Bored: Don't Stay in One Place Too Long

I've been here too long, almost six months I think, about 2 months too long. It's been too much time. I've been starting to do things I would normally do at home, like workout. Its awful. Haha.


Teaching is getting a little boring too. 
When you think about it, with a 1st language there's no learning anything new about the language, or anything interesting at least. When you teach other topics like science for example, there's always something new being researched or developed; or history in which there is different ways to look at things, for example why someone did this or how different events fit together in the narrative of an era. 


There's two problems I fell into here: