7/22/07

Despues nos salimos Lisboa, el tren viaje fue muy intersado. Nos encontramos a otra Americana. Ella estaba muy triste y bebiendo muchas cervezas. Ella dejo a sus amigas en Holanda porque ellas eran muy malas. La Americana fue viajando con sus amigas alrededor de Europa, y se regreso a casa porque a sus amigas no le gusta a beber la cerveza y a la Americana si. Pore eso, ella fue volvindo a se casa en America. Aunque la Americana tuvo muchos problemas, ella fue muy divertido en el tren.

It was unfortunate that after we departed the poor girl still had a day and a half to travel to get to France. She already was seemed a little disorientated and was letting her emotions cloud her judgement. She seemed to take pride in the fact that the train staff had taken a liking to her. However, she didn't seem to pay any regard to how vulnerable she may have appeared to anyone who looked her. The poor girl was from California and it was the first time she had been away from home. She was only 18, a teenager like many other backpackers I met traveling across Europe.

Just like in the Spanish courses in Salamanca, it was amazing to see that Europeans and Americans alike would send their children abroad when they hadn't even finished high-school. At first I thought this was an encouraging model and an example I would consider following with my own offspring. But I discovered my experience with the American girl wasn't isolated by culture. Some youths, met the experience with responsibly. Others just did not possess the maturity the trip required. When I returned from Portugal, I read that a French girl was raped near the plaza, after strolling around by herself, late at night, intoxicated. I bet if she were in Chicago she wouldn’t of stayed out past midnight. This town is so endearing, it’s dangerous to your sensibility.