The adventure continues...

ok, so when i said that the rest of Spain and Switzerland were going to be just as crazy as the weeks past... i din´t know then that in 2 hours everything would change...

We went straight from the internet cafe to the train station, which by the way is not pleasant... don´t remember if I wrote about that before, but avoid BARCELONA train station at ALL COSTS... it is impossible to get out! We were sitting applying aftersun lotion to our burnt bodies, when a woman approached us and asked if we spoke english... then she asked us for directions for the metro- she was in and out of spanish and french, so im not sure why that first question was relevant, but anyways, we kept pointing in the direction of the metro, but she kept pointing behind her as if she was confused. We gave up and said, sorry, we don´t really know- so she left.

About 20 minutes later we realized my purse was missing. I ran around the station...looking in every place we had been in the last hour. The lockers, the bathroom, everywhere, when it dawned on me that someone had stollen it when all of our attention was on that lady... now that we think about it...we kept pointing in the direction of the metro, which also happened to be in the same direction where my bag was sitting, and that is why she kept pointing behind her.

We sat stunned for a little bit, not quite sure of what to do. We went to the security officers in the area and they said they were closed... so we sat and discussed our next move. My purse not only had my camera full of pictures over the past couple weeks, my ipod, my portable silverear (quite valuable believe it or not), anti itch cream, my bible, pens (which are hard to come by), train timetable, chapstick, electricity converter, and my passport, i was carrying all three of our eurail passes. (eurail passes are basically our transportation around Europe, without them we don´t go anywhere without paying A TON of money) We were planning on catching an 11 pm bus to pamplona. It being 10 45 and the tickets being in my stollen purse, it wasnt looking like that was an option.

The last week has been a bit difficult, all of us wearing thin. Minimal sleep, mean people, travel difficulties had us all frustrated and tired... this was it though...my breaking point. I finally allowed myself to let down and cry. Siutting in a little circle on the train benches, shocked at what had happened, a man interrupted us with this question ¨do you speak english?¨ We all looked around half joking that it was happening to us agian. Jenny turned to me...i watched her face go from joking to absolute shock, i turned to Hope who was turned around towards a man hunched over the seat next to her, her purse in hand.

Hope grabbed the purse and ripped it, quite forcefully, out of the man´s hands. She looked over at me, almost confused and started to say ´¨That man almost stole my...¨ I interuppted her with a öh hell no¨... black woman style, and then proceeded to slap my hands loudly in his face and yell ¨come here¨almost inviting a fight. I ran after him and got pretty far, but stopped dead in my tracks when he turned around. In that instant i came to the realization that i was chasing a criminal. I didn´t know that I had it in me. I really shocked myself the way that i reacted. The man who had distracted us, joined his friend and sarcastically blew us kisses. Jenny responded by yelling ¨kisses, huh? yeah, well kiss my ass¨

We realize now how rediculous we must have looked. I, a stupid blonde american girl, was chasing a spanish criminal and yelling at him to come back while her friend in the background was yelling for them to kiss her ass... real threatening!!!

Hope was for sure the most collected of the three of us, and she was the only one who actually accomplished anything... she ripped the purse out of his hands...

We sat laughing hysterically that it had almost happened to us again... those guys had no idea what we had been through, and what we were willing to do to protect our other bags...haha!

Oh, and there were two security guards who were standing there watching this whole second interaction going on and didnt´do anything. They walked away like 3 american girls hadn´t just about made justice themselves on two spanish criminals.

We decided the next best step was to contact the police, so we walked to the nearest police station.. which wasn´t that near. The lady said that they couldn´t do anything tonight, but that i should come back first thing in the morning to file a report (good thing we were in spain when all of this happened... people here don´t speak a word of english...it is very good practice)

It was 2 by this time, and we had no where to stay, so slept outside the train station (when i say slept, i mean for about 22 minutes. the rest was sitting staring at the homeless men snoring next to us, or the one shuffling around in circles.)

The next morning we ¨woke up¨and walked to the police station to file the report... then walked what felt like miles to the american embassy. We were never so happy to see an american flag and a clean waterfountain. We walked in and were greeted by the most friendly americans i have ever met!! I LOVE america!!!

They were so kind and so quick- i had an emergency passport within the hour... i sure was looking foreward to the next one having a good picture... instead i got one of me wet with sweat, tear stained and running on 22 minutes of sleep... oh well!!!

WE made it back just in time to catch the bus to Pamplona...FINALLY!! (only after we stopped at our new favorite restaurant... the owner gave us free french fries, because we were practically regulars... 3 meals a day for the past 2 days!!)

The bus ride was slightly less than pleasant...all of us looking foreward to catching up on some sleep, until some well- rested american students decided to start a running game of a very enthusiastic and loud card game!!-

Jenny and I were about ready to create a sleepers union offering presidency to the guy in the chair directly next to them... noticing his equal frustration. WE laughed a lot about the fact that they were shamelessly OWNING the bus at this point... loud americans? pretty accurate steriotype....generally there is no one guiltier than i!!

Señora, y Señor Idoate (family friends of the Hardaways) picked us up from the bus station and immediately we were ok. mommi and poppi were there (they insist that we refer to them by these names!!) They don´t speak a word of English... NOT A WORD!! IT has been really fun getting to know them and translating for the girls... though jenny knows spanish pretty well and hope is learning very fast!!

They immediately took us out for dinner in the crazy city of Pamplona (fiesta de san fermin- running of the bulls) Mommi told us of how she couldn´t sleep at all the night before, she was so worried about us. Her next question was... do you have dirty clothes!!??? haha!!

I don´t think we have had a clean t shirt in about 3 weeks!!! They took us back to the house after i threw up in the mens restroom- sitting on a floor covered in urine (the girls was closed and it was comin fast)... 45 minute drive home and we were in paradise.

WE walked in. flowers in the entry- warm wood floors, hot chocolate and cookies. The most amazing beds we have slept in yet!!! cant explain what a relief it was to be safe and feel like we could sleep easy!! We slept in and walked out onto the porch in the morning. we hadn´t seen the scenery the night before because it was dark. The old house is placed by the most beautiful little river. Looking just past the river are rolling vibrantly green hills full of sheep and cows. It is like a dream!! In the afternoon, Poppi took us the all the little pueblos in the valley (there are 14) they are out of a storybook and this place is climbing the europe favorites... for sure top 5- Ignacio...mommi and poppis son (friends of the hardaways)wasnt lying when he said its the best place on earch... ancient stone walls covered with ivy and bursts of flowers!! the grass is so green and the water so clear!! words cant describe this place...or how much we needed it!!!

We had the biggest meal of our lives... hot chicken with peppers... pasta with bacon, bread, salad, yogurt and fruit with walnuts... it was incredible... safety, full stomachs, clean clothes, and warm beds... something we hadn´t had in a while!! We took full advantage of the traditional siesta!!!

We went to the running of the bulls this morning in Pamplona... they are not joking when they say it is a drunken festival... it is crazy... everyone is drunk, no one has slept in days and they are running away from bulls!! It was really fun to watch and i am glad that we have the three of us together... the spanish fascination with american girls gets a bit old, but we now know that we have it in us to fight to the death!!! We are returning this afternoon to mommi and poppis safe paradise!!