The other day I discovered my trip diary from our Spanish Trip in High School, April of 1992. Holy Cow. Reading it has been cracking me up....mostly because I can't believe I ever acted that way and as I am reading it, I am hearing my daughter, Madolyn's voice. Oh My Gosh, I WAS HER and SHE is ME. My poor mother.
We were/are lucky enough that our High School believes in the Language Trip. Every other year the Language classes take a trip to either Spain or France. The year I went it was to Spain. We hit Morocco, Madrid, Seville, Toledo and maybe other places I can't recall. Seville was hosting the World's Fair that year. I don't believe it had opened up, but they were building and setting up everything. We didn't visit the site, but we could see it. It was huge...nothing compared to our local fairs. We went over Easter break and there was quite the hoopla in Madrid. I remember there was a parade where men wore black hoods and robes and marched the streets with a cross celebrating the resurrection. I know it was supposed to be very spiritual, but honestly it was spooky. I have written that it reminded me of the KKK in black. Ugh.
I think the most memorable visit was to Africa. We rode a ferry over the Gibraltar Strait. I got seasick and slept. When we got over there, we had our pictures taken with a large Boa or Cobra snake around our necks and we rode the camels. People were trying to sell us stuff from every angle, grabbing at our arms. We bartered with them and got "good deals" or so we assumed. I have written down that Kim bought a bracelet for $1 through the bus window. It was a fun day. I can just picture the crystal clear bright blue water over there. It was the most beautiful water I have ever seen.
It is so strange that a lot of the things I have written down, I have no recollection of. The things I do recall aren't written down. Funny to see what I thought worthy of writing about 20 years ago versus now. It's hilarious to read. "We got kicked out of BK (Burger King) for playing cards." "Brandi passed out in cathedral." "Kim threw my shirt out the window." "We found a McDonalds and KFC but I wasn't hungry, darn." "The bus driver is crazy, he tried to pass on this curve." "I took a bunch of pictures, but I have no idea what they're of." Oh too funny, I had forgotten about that little camera. It used real rolls of film and the flash was that cube thing you stuck on top!! It was my mom's old camera, the Kodak Electrolite. Everyone made fun of it, but it held strong. When all the others broke or got jammed with sand, the Electrolite clicked on. I remember holding it up in the air and snapping photos left and right. I bet they were dandy's too.
On our flight home, one of the four engines went out. I will never forget that pilot's announcement: "Folks, if you haven't noticed, the sun is on the wrong side of the plane..." He lost me. No, I hadn't noticed the sun. But the gist of it was we had to return to Madrid. We had already been in the air five hours. That was pretty memorable. Several passengers started crying...I was furious. I was ready to get home. I was terribly homesick. The airport put us up in a hotel, fed us a steak dinner and flew us out the next morning.
It was the trip of a lifetime. I'm so thankful to my parents for allowing and making it possible for me to go. It was not cheap and I know they had to sacrifice to send me there. My diary says that I had $3.25 on what should've been our last day...I recall actually coming home with about a quarter in my pocket. As I flip through this little book, I see that I have written every purchase and the amount...does that sound like my Grandpa Lynch or what?! Oh My Goodness. No surprise here, I ran out of room writing in the trip diary, ha, I have squeezed in writing wherever there was a blank area. It is jumbled and kinda hard to read, sorta reminds me of someone I know...
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