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October 15, 2004

Tarif, Spain

I wrote this a couple days ago, but it wouldn't post from the stupid net computer. I'm not in Tavira, Portugal actually, leaving for Selema and Sagras today. Here was the orig message that didn't post. ------------ Im in a small beach community near the Rock of Gebralter now, called Tarif, known for its windsurfing. We can clearly see Morocco accross the channel. This is the first time I've seen the African continent. Back to what I was saying in my last entry. I got on a bus from Barcelona to Madrid a week ago. En route, it stopped to let us get food. I got off, got food, ate, and got back on. Some hours later, we stoped again for the same reason, presumably. I got off (leaving my small bag on the bus to save my seat), and went inside this little diner in the middle of nowhere to buy a little premade, truckstop sandwhich. I sat and ate for 5 minutes, got up and went outside. The bus, along with EVERYTHING I had, was gone. At first, I didn't panick. So the bus left without me, I'd figure out a way to catch th next bus and my stuff would be waiting in Madrid. No one at the truck stop spoke ANY english. Another bus came and I tried explaining my situation to the driver, but he did not speak any english either. It was night at this point. Some young woman saw me trying to speak to the driver and translated for me. The driver asked where my ticket was. Unfortunately, it was on the other bus. He agreed to take me to Madrid. I got to Madrid around 1:30am and walked to the Alsa bus info place. There was my big bag, but my little bag was nowhere to be found. Long story short, I spent days trying to get the Alsa bus people to help, but truthfully, there was nothing they could do, it had been stolen, probably by the old lady sitting next to me on the bus that shurly noticed I had not gotten on again. In the bag was my Camera, sunglasses, KSR book, Europe book, headlamp, phrase book, cell phone, and most importantly, my journal. This journal not only had tons of writing in it, it also had all the contact info of everyone I'd met. The only fortunate thing was that I had transcribed much of my journal into an email to myself when I was in fountainbleau. I also had already emailed a number of people. Still, I lost weeks of journaling and months of contacts. All of my travel notes as well. I've tried as best as I can to rewrite a lot of what I wrote, but I'm afraid its woefully inadequate to replace what I lost. Oh, and the voucher for my ticket home. Needless to say, this mishap will end up costing me a lot of money, but theres nothing I can do and no way to turn back the clock and try and undo any of the many mistakes I made leading up to this event. Barcelona was constant craziness and meeting my parents in Madrid was a nice change. I have been traveling with them ever since. Madrid, Teledo, Grenada, and now Tarif. Tomorrow we'll go to the Rock of Gebralter which is actually still a British Colony and will require passing into British territory and using the British pound while we're there. Then we're off to the Algarve coast and Portugal. We'll be in Lisbon in a few days for a few days, then back to Madrid where I'll likely fly to London for a little, then off to Amsterdam to meet Obigabu. Thats all the time I have for now. Lots to think about, lots to do. I'll be back in the US in mid november, probably on the east coast for a week or two before heading to Phx for a couple weeks, then back to the LA and Mammoth. No idea what from there.

Posted by wonko at October 15, 2004 01:40 PM

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Posted by: falke at October 18, 2004 07:36 AM

Posted by: Brandon Sheaffer at October 19, 2004 09:03 PM

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