Slang's Anti-Singularity
  • Slanghome
  • Slangblog
  • Slangpuzzles
    • CurrentPuzzles
    • ScholarPuzzle
    • PastPuzzles

Adiós Lanza

12/1/2021

0 Comments

 
It is time to go. I leave mañana. Yesterday I took my exit PCR test, my laundry is done, and my bag is pretty much repacked. It's been a good month (wait, MONTH?!) while I’ve been here on the island. As I hoped it would be, it was generally pretty quiet and laid back. I spent a lot of time walking (more than 225 miles), reading, practicing my (still abysmal) Español, and lounging/tanning on a generally empty beach. I also spent a fair amount of time sampling the beer and wine. Especially the wine. I’ve consumed more vino in the last two weeks than I had in the previous five (or more) years. When it’s so inexpensive, it’s hard not to.

What didn't go quite as I hoped was meeting and talking to people. The first couple of weeks, and especially the first ten days or so, I actively sought out places where people would congregate, in hopes of striking up a conversation – in English. I went to the restaurants, the strand along the sea, and walked the streets (no, not that way) listening for English. Despite the island being a tourist destination, and Arrecife in particular being a cruise ship stop, I heard little English at all. It was mostly Spanish, with German, Italian, and French all mixed in. English was a distant finisher, far out of the money. What little I did hear was tinged British. I haven’t heard an American accent since the airport in Madrid.

To complicate the whole “strike up a conversation” plan, every bar and restaurant I visited had table service only; there were no bars to sidle up to, grab a seat and chat with the bartender and/or the person next to you. I don't know about anyone else, but the act of inserting myself into a conversation at a next table was just too intrusive. Striking up conversations with complete strangers is still minimally outside my comfort zone, but doing so across the gulf of different tables is too much at this point. Besides, I don’t recollect even hearing any English at a next table, so there's that.

I have definitely enjoyed my time here, and the length was just about perfect; I'm ready to move on. Lisbon, you're next. The chance to explore a city with history stretching back over three thousand years sounds wonderful regardless of whether or not there is someone to talk to. Who knows, with two million people in the metro area, I may find just encounter one. If not, I'm sure the voices in my head will continue to suffice. They've been up to the task so far.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Just a guy out exploring the world. Former world-class never-was endurance runner.

    ​Hit me up, and we'll catch a beer or coffee in your town.


    Follow @slang4201

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    May 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    June 2015
    August 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    March 2011
    October 2010
    July 2010
    January 2009
    December 2008
    October 2008

    Categories

    All
    2011
    Alfama
    Alternate Energy
    Android
    Angela Sullivan
    Animals
    Antiques
    Apple
    Ash Canyon
    Astronomy
    AT&T
    Australia 2022
    Bailout
    Battery
    Bicycling
    Biometrics
    Books
    Brisbane
    Cairns
    Canary Islands
    Carrier Iq
    Carson City
    Cascais
    Centennial
    C Hill
    C-Hill
    Christmas
    Climate
    Clothing
    Coding
    Colorado
    Columbus
    Cramps
    Curiosity
    Dad
    Dardanelles Lake
    Dell
    Dick's Lake
    Dilbert
    Diving
    Eagle Lake
    Earworms
    Eating Problems
    Eclipse
    Economy
    Ecuador
    Education
    Eldorado Canyon
    El Valle
    Energy
    Errors
    Espionage
    Europe 2019
    Evi
    Fallon
    Family
    Fontanillis Lake
    Food
    Gamboa
    Garmin
    Geocaching
    Goals
    Google
    Google Earth
    Grouse Lake
    Hiking
    Inov8
    Investing
    Ipad
    Iphone
    Iron Mountain
    Lanzarote
    Legislatures
    Lisbon
    Mac
    Market
    Market Drop
    Mars
    Mctarnahan
    Medicine
    Microsoft Word
    Motivation
    Mountain Biking
    Moving Minutes
    Music
    Nevada Day
    Nfc
    Ohio
    Olympics
    Openoffice
    Opportunity
    Panama 2018
    Panama 2022
    Paper Airplane
    People
    Playa Coronado
    Politics
    Portugal
    Prison Hill
    Privacy
    Puts
    Puzzles
    Quito
    Race
    Rant
    Reno
    Retrospective
    Roosevelt
    Running
    Running Dynamics
    Saddest Cities
    Safe & Sober
    Science
    Scuba
    Shoes
    Shopping
    Sicily
    Sierra
    Sierra Canyon
    Sintra
    Slangsploration
    Snl
    Soccer
    Software
    Spasms
    Spirit
    Sullivan Canyon
    Svn
    Tahoe
    Tahoe Rim Trail
    Taormina
    Taxes
    Technology
    Transit
    Travel
    Trees
    Vba
    Velma Lakes
    Venus
    Verizon
    Violin
    Watches
    Weather
    Wolframalpha
    Words
    Wrestling
    Writing
    Xkcd
    Yawbe
    Yoga

This is ALL MINE, I tell you! copyright 2010-2022