2 Month Wrap

We are at our 2 month anniversary, having left Portland, Oregon on October 2nd. We are in Madrid today before flying to Paris tomorrow morning. To summarize...... 1. We have been on 3 planes, 10 trains, 5 buses, 2 boats, several trolleys, cable cars, subways, taxis and a private shuttle, and one rented car. Sounds like the 12 days of Creosotamos! 2. We have been in 8 countries. Hungary, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain. 3. We have spent about $10,000.00 of our $25,000.00 budget. 4. We stayed with 4 Servas hosts. http://www.servas.org/ 5. We completed two volunteer programs, over 180 hours of our time helping teach conversational english to the Spanish people. http://www.vaughanvillage.com/, http://www.vaughantown.com/. 6. We have drank wine in every country we have visited! 7. We´ve become experts at charades, as at times its the only way to communicate. 8. We have eaten a lot of food, some of unknown origin. 9. We have made many new friends on our journey, both from countries we´ve visited as well as other people traveling. 10. We have had only 3 bathtubs so far! Ouch! 2 a gift from Melissa´s parents and one a result of a volunteer opportunity. It has become a goal to get one on our own. 11. We have begun to think globaly. Noticing the stock markets and economic indicators from countries we didn´t even know existed. Taking a look at what businesses are thiving, where, and pondering the different world views each country holds. Learning more about the people, culture, and history of the places we visited in the past two months than in our combined 34 years spent in the American school system. 12. We´ve seen sun, rain, snow and hail, but mostly sun. 13. We´ve decided DHL has some delivery issues. 14. We´ve been startled by the vast differences in each countries postal systems. 15. We have used 5 different currencies. 16. We´ve taken about 1500 pictures so far. We bet you can´t wait for that party!! 17. We have gone through more socks and shoes than we could have imagined. 18. We have only had 2 brave soles come and travel with us. Melissa´s parents. Anyone else? 19. We began to understand the rules of lawn bowling, team handball, paddle, and cricket. 20. We have stayed in 17 different overnight accomodations. As a result of this we can pack in about 3 minutes. " The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust. Let the journey continue!!!