Fuerteventura gives a whole new meaning to being comfortable on the beach. I have never seen so many topless women and bottomless men. I’m sorry but no one needs to play paddle ball on the beach naked. They must really not like tan lines. But the good news for me, I got a tan — and I have the tan lines to prove it!
It was a perfect getaway weekend; not that we wanted to get away from Dublin, but I’m really glad we did because when we returned back to this familiar city it gave me a new wind. I felt close to how I did seven weeks ago where the thought of leaving would stay furthest from my mind. But (to quote my friend’s Facebook status after breaking up with a boyfriend): “Every story has an ending and in life, every ending is a new beginning.” I came here wanting the summer of a lifetime and I absolutely got what I wanted and MORE. Luckily I packed a bunch of shorts and tank tops when I came to Ireland but I had no idea I’d be spending a weekend in the Canary Islands.
This little weekend getaway taught me an important lesson in life: Not everything that happens has to be planned out and prepared for. There are going to be random, fun and sometimes scary opportunities that come out of nowhere and you sort of have to just dive in head first and go for them. This trip was thrown together SO last minute where I’m use to my family vacations being completely planned almost a year in advance. I’ve never just hopped on a train or plane and thought, “Hmm, I wonder what we’ll do when we get there.”
And this mentality, I think, is going to help me in the very near future. Graduation is going to come faster than I could plan it to or want it to and I’m sure that when it does, I’m going to be thinking, “Hmm, I wonder what I’ll do when it gets here.” And that uncertainty can’t scare me because not knowing what’s to come should be a good thing. Throughout my time in Dublin it HAS been a good thing, an amazing thing. I came into this situation with no expectations. I had no idea how I would adapt to my job, my surroundings, my changing self. But I did. And I couldn’t be happier.
I bet there’s going to be opportunities that are going to rise out of places I may not be looking and I may just have to grab them and go with them. And then I’ll think, “Hmmm, I wonder what I’ll do with this when I get there,” and that will, once again, be okay. I don’t know how much sense I’m making but I guess, I’m giving myself a pep-talk and reassuring myself that I am allowed to not know what I want out of my life. There’s the given wants: a husband, kids, a nice home, blah, blah, blah, and I KNOW I’m going to eventually have those one day but whether I’m a journalist, editor, screen writer, filmmaker, talk show host, (I dream, it happens) or whatever, I will still be a happy, successful wife and mother who will be ready to take on all of the unexpected situations and opportunities that come out of nowhere and are not planned.
And if I don’t end up being a wife and mother, well then… I’ll just cry. JUST KIDDING. I know that possibility is there, as well. Maybe in ten years I’ll be doing something I love so much that a family is not a priority for me anymore. Who knows! Nobody. And, once again, that’s a good thing.
So, anyway, back to Fuerteventura!
The first thing I said to our taxi driver was, “Es muy cafe aqui!” and his response, “Sorry, my English no very good.” CLEARLY my Spanish isn’t too bueno either. I felt like an idiot. BUT he was very nice, or muy simpatica, and even within the first few minutes he could tell I LOVE taking lots of pictures, so he randomly would pull over on the side of the road and say, “Saca fotos!” The first time he pulled over, not gonna lie, I was scared. I was thinking, Great, four girls, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by brown dirt and a volcano, this may be the end. But he simply wanted to give me a better view for my pictures since I kept getting a glare from the windshield. What a guy.
Over 30 pictures later, we arrived at our “hostel” but calling this place a “hostel” would be the BIGGEST understatement. We called it our apartment. It was so beautiful. Kudos to my roomie who booked it for us! The four of us had our own place, complete with a bathroom, bedroom and two other beds in our little living room, and a kitchen and balcony. Bring on the vacation! Our view was overlooking our “hostel’s” pool AND the beautiful ocean which was just a quick walk away. And sorry Dublin, but in just three days in Spain we got better service, hospitality and just met nicer people at restaurants than we did during our two months in Dublin. EVERYONE we met on this island was SO friendly and truly wanted to make sure we had a fabulous time. Our bartender (at our apartment’s bar/restaurant) was the funniest man I’ve met in a long time. We couldn’t tell exactly where he was orginally from but his grandfather was Irish and his accent seemed to follow that loosely. And he made AMAZING smoothies. Oh, man, were they good! Another great waiter we had was from London and he was seriously SHOCKED at how much ketchup packets we could go through in one meal. He joked that he should start charging us for each packet, but I’m not so sure he was kidding. I felt like we were Frankenstein/Julian in “Big Daddy” where all he wants for lunch is 30 packets of ketchup. Oh well, they shouldn’t serve fries with every single meal then. Geez.
Our first dinner at this really cool beach bar was delicious! SO much food. AND, we got a FREE DRINK! What a way to kick off our first night. But the free stuff didn’t end there. At this one night club, Waikiki, they were celbrating their 24th anniversary so if you showed them a little card you could get a free glass of champagne. Well, even though the cards are meant for one card per person, we thought we’d press our luck and take a handful of cards and it worked! We each got at least 3 glasses of Champagne for FREE. THEN, the bartender took over 20 minutes to bring back our other drinks we ordered and felt really bad about it and gave us them for free. We were confused at first because we obviously would have paid. We thought the free champagne was more than enough. But THEN they were giving away free t-shirts and nothing makes me happier than FREE shirts. Oh boy, I was one happy camper. THEN we got free stick-on tattoos (not as exciting but still free) and this really cool ball on a stick that lit up… which was very fun to dance with! It was a good night.
That Friday morning we went on a 4 hour ATV/Buggy tour ride all over the island and it was AWESOME. We got unbelievable views of so many volcanos and we rode right along the coast line and got even better views of the teal blue ocean. Unfortunately, it turns out I’m not the best ATV driver so our tour guide had to stop the tour twice to correct me. The first time it SO wasn’t my fault. Out of no where my car just stopped. But, nonetheless, it was embarrassing. The second time he came over, I was like, “Hey! I’m doing really good this time, right?!” And his response was a plain, annoyed, “No.” Gosh, I was just looking for some positive re-enforcement. It was obvious he was happy when we had to switch drivers and my friend was in control. But it was so FUN and actually pretty scary because in order to reach our back roads we were literally driving on the highways! We were getting passed by so many fast cars and trucks and the scariest part was when we had to stop at stop signs and cross streets, hoping cars wouldn’t come.
But then there was that beautiful beach. The water was so clear that you could be standing ten feet away in the water and I could clearly see your legs. At one point I said to my roommate, “I can see your legs. Woah!” and I think she got a little creeped out. But the water was so, so warm and relaxing. Nothing like the Jersey Shore I’m used to. I’m going to stop telling people I live near the beach because when you see beaches like on this island, saying I live near Atlantic City and Ocean City beaches is just pathetic. They’re not the same AT ALL. Now I’ve been to Hawaii three times and I don’t think any place in the world can truly compare, but, I have to say, for not being a big tourism place, I was shocked at Fueteventura’s potential. I bet in 10-20 years it’s going to be a HUGE vacation destination. But, since the commute from America to the Canary Islands is so far, barely any Americans go there. In fact, this one sweet, old couple who has lived there for years, said besides us she has only ever met one other American in Fuerteventura and that woman lived there permanently.
And if you’re wondering if I’d ever go back, the answer is 100% absolutely! There’s one main reason for that… WIND SURFING. Now, I don’t keep a bucket list, but I decided after this trip I am going to create an “Activity List.” I’m going to write down every activity I’d ever want to do and plan my vacations around those activities. And no offense to anyone over 30, I promise I still think your young in your thirties, but I would want to complete these “activities” before I’m 30. And Wind Surfing is first on the list! It looks like so much fun. I’m sure it’s difficult, but they have classes on the beach that teach you, and I can only imagine was it feels like to have the wind flying you through the clear waters so fast. These people were slicing right through the waves on their boards and then at any moment they would fly into the air and do all sorts of flips and turns. It looked like they were floating in the air… like a kite. It was such a spectacle to watch. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them… which thank god because I was starting to get really uncomfortable when I’d glance to my right and glance to my left and see nothing but nakedness. Ugh. I tried to pretend I didn’t notice but come on! People of ALL ages and ALL sizes… naked. Ugh. Not my cup of tea but I will say, when you see one old naked man, heck, you’ve seen ‘em all. By Saturday afternoon I couldn’t be phased by another man standing on the beach enjoying the view of the ocean. If that’s what makes him happy, do what ya gotta do, I guess.
The only negative about our trip happened Saturday afternoon. We had planned to spend the entire day on the beach but the wind was so intense that we were literally getting blanketed in sand. Within an hour our towels and our one roommate who tried to withstand that constant pain were covered. And for some reason, no one else on the beach seemed to act bothered by it. I mean, I can usually stand a little sand here and there but it was painful! And it wasn’t letting up. So, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon back at our pool to soak up some sun and we got A LOT of sun. More than we maybe would have liked. But nothing some Aloe can’t fix.
Our last night out on the island was such a great time. We started at a karaoke bar where my two roommate sang a lovely duet together. They both were just grand! Now I’ve been a little bummed out this past week or so because my family’s big 2-week vacation has been going on and we always get to celebrate my Pop-Pop’s birthday. And I NEVER miss his birthday. And, no matter what, I don’t care what state or country I’m in or however many miles away I am, I am not missing his 90th birthday! But, anyway, so to celebrate his 89th this year, I ordered his favorite drink, a Mai Tai, which did NOT look or taste like one, and I took a picture with a little sign that said, “Happy 89th Birthday, Pop-Pop!” I’m thinking about framing it and giving it to him as a gift but I don’t know how he’ll feel about a picture of me drinking. Whoops! It’s cute because he still thinks I’m a little girl who thinks alcohol is yucky. Oh, those were the days.
But like every other fun and eventful weekend I’ve had over the past two months, it came to an end. And now, I’m sitting here with just a few days left at my internship. It’s one thing to say goodbye to Dublin but I know I’ll be back here someday soon. What’s going to make saying goodbye to this whole experience the worst is when I leave this internship for good. I feel like I finally just fit in with the way we all work together each day and I’m going to hate to just walk out of the door for the last time this Friday and know that this place will never be mine again. I’m sure I’ll see my two bosses again sometime whenever I do visit but its the saying goodbye to my actual little job that is not going to be fun. I like my desk. I like my little editing projects. I like our lunch breaks together. I love my internship. Something tells me next summer’s internship is just not going to compare. But at least I have set the bar high for the next job I pursue and I have standards and I know what it means to have a good internship. Like many other amazing things that have happened to me in the last 6 years, I’m lucky. I’m simply very, very lucky.
I am a junior at Penn State double majoring in Broadcast Journalism and English. I am currently working abroad in Dublin, Ireland and loving every second! 