Being in a foreign country, everything always seems a little different than back home. When we are unsure of something, our first strategy is observational learning. Take a step back and someone will come along and you can watch them go first, then mimic their actions and proceed. Problem solved. Furthermore, some things are just learned through sheer experience. Below is a few of the highlights I have learned thus far.

European elevators are not like American elevators: I hadn’t yet suppressed all of my inner child that had shown up for La   Tomatina and decided it would be fun to jump in the elevator on the way down. Next thing I knew, Marge and I were trapped in a small, hot, metal box somewhere between floors 0 and 1. We waited a minute hoping the elevator would reset itself, but of course it didn’t. I pushed the emergency call button and after what seemed like a forever call out, someone answered. “Do you speak English?” I asked. A man replied “sort of”. I then explained how we were trapped on an elevator and need someone to help us. He then asked “what city are you in?’’. What city are we in?!?! I look at Marge with sheer panic, “he doesn’t even know what freaking city the elevator is in that we are trapped in!!!” After some more yelling for help, luckily the man that worked the desk at our hostel was there to save the day. He keyed open the exterior door and then we pried the interior sliding doors apart just long enough for Marge and me to climb up and out since we were between floors. Lesson learned: don’t jump in the tiny European elevators.

Don’t drink box wine on train rides: Our first long train ride was seven hours from Valencia, Spain to Madrid, Spain. With seven hours to kill we planned ahead with a bag of snacks and two liters of wine to keep us occupied as we cruised along Spain’s countryside. We decided to play the game of “drink every time we go through a tunnel or cross a bridge”. All the sudden both boxes of wine were gone and Marge and I were in deep siestas on the train. I thought I was dreaming when I awoke to a man yelling down the train car at us while standing next to the open door, “you going to Madrid?” I look at Marge with panic and confusion and we both replied “Yes!” He said “you get off here, quick, this is your stop”. Without time to debate what was going on we grabbed all of our belongings and stumbled off the train and it promptly left the station. Now what? We were obviously not in Madrid and there was another train next to us. We decide to get on and try to ask if this train was headed to Madrid. No one spoke English but someone gave Marge a thumbs up so we settled in and hoped the stranger that awoke us was right. Travelers luck was on our side as we rolled into Madrid within an hour. Lesson learned: no more box wine on trains.

“It never hurts to ask”: This is one of mom’s biggest pieces of advice she has ever shared with me. If you are lost, want to barter, have a question, what’s the harm in asking? The worst that can happen is someone says no or doesn’t understand English. For instance, I noticed two guys had coupons on their phones when we were going to the club, by simply asking (even though they didn’t really speak English) I got them to loan us both phones when we were purchasing our tickets which saved us nearly $30. There was a guy selling Mojitos on the beach who wanted 5 Euro per drink. Just by asking I was able to get two drinks for 7 Euros. When we were in the park drinking a beer we saw a man sketching in his notebook. I asked him if he would mind drawing the two of us for a couple Euro. He replied he would do it for free. We were able to make a new friend (his name was Ignacio) and now Marge and I both have a funny caricature as a keep sake. Lesson learned: it never hurts to ask.