Friday afternoon and Saturday were about 1000 times better than earlier in the week. It’ll be nice going to school, and I’m so relieved that the grades don’t really count, and no one even really shows the grades.
Friday I registered at my school, though I’m technically not in a permanent class, because I’m trying to get into the humanities track instead of art. It’s still difficult to understand teachers because they talk at the pace Portuguese students listen which is waaaaaay faster than I can. However the other students are really encouraging with my Portuguese and are helping to get me to speak well. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing in the classes at this point – if I should be trying to take notes on what the teacher’s saying, or if I should just be focusing on the language and learning new words…thankfully I’ll have gym and English for some easy grades even if I get Fs in everything else.
Saturday was the most fun I’ve had since arriving. I met 3 other AFSers in Porto (Brittany, Raven, and Johannes) and we basically wandered from Café to Café and walked around the city. We talked in English (which was a really nice break) and just had a good time.
First I met Raven and Brittany in the Trindade Station. Johannes was apparently still in bed, so the three of us went to a café and had some coffees. When Johannes texted us, we met him in the Trindade Station and set out to find a place to eat lunch. We randomly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk sometimes because we kept getting turned around. Finally we found a small café/restaurant. I had a croissant and coke (their sodas are so much better here! And the croissant was basically the size of my head). Johannes was the only person who actually ordered food. His meal looked incredibly greasy…I’m not quite sure what it was even. I think it had steak, ham, cheese, bread, and a “specialsauce” (yep, one word on the menu). After finishing lunch we decided to make our way down to the Rio Douro. On the way we stopped at this place called “FNAC”. It reminded me of a Barnes and Nobles or Borders, only integrated with Best Buy or FYE. Brittany found a Portuguese book about Barack Obama. When we got to the river, after many an excursion, we sat at yet ANOTHER café and had some coffees/waters (I had a water, but since it was from a bottle cost 1.25 Euros!). It’s so strange here because sometimes they don’t even give you a menu; they just expect you to order. There was this crazy little bathroom that was so confusing and Brittany and I were completely fascinated with it, it was hilarious…though I’m not sure why. By then it was about 4 and I had to go back to Vila do Conde since Fernanda and Fernando wanted me home before dark (though my home will always be Forest).
Brittany lives in Evora, which is actually kind of far, unfortunately. Raven lives in Braga, so he’s only about an hour away by train. Johannes lives in Porto so I’ll probably see him most often. It was so nice to make some friends, even if I might not see Brittany or Raven THAT often, perhaps on some weekends.
When I got back to Vila do Conde (damn you, one hour train ride) I took some pictures of the aqueducts (you’re welcome Chris!) and Ines and I went to Bea’s Café, though I didn’t have anything and just kind of sat there while she and Fernando talked to some of their friends.
My host parents were hosting a dinner party last night. We had tons of food- it was so crazy! These people eat like no one’s business. There was cheese, though I wasn’t too fond of it, a bit to strong for me, ham, bread, sausage, and crackers for an appetizer. Salad, rice, broccoli, pork, vegetables, and lasagna were for the main course. Then for dessert (or Sobremesa) there was a sort of custard pie, pineapples, and something called Camel’s Saliva, which reminded me a bit of a dulce de leche or caramel sauce. Unfortunately, something didn’t agree with my stomach, so I wasn’t feeling too good through dinner. The loud Portuguese conversation didn’t help much either. I’m still not feeling great as of this morning…I’ll probably take a walk a bit later to see if it helps.
After dinner, Fernando wanted to show us all pictures from their trip to California, Arizona, and Nevada. There were tons of them and I actually ended up falling asleep on the floor. Around midnight, I dragged myself upstairs to bed.
This morning has been okay…either everyone’s still asleep or out somewhere, so I’m alone again. I really do miss home. I’m not regretting my decision because I’ve already seen some great things and learned a little bit of the language, but I can’t help but wonder if I would’ve been as unhappy at home as I thought I would’ve been. I dunno if that makes any sense at all…but eh. I thought high school was going to be miserable, and some of it has (take Freshman year for example) but ever since then things have actually been really fun. What with the chorale, summer musicals, church youth choir, marching band this year, amazing friends. I had it good. Now what do I have? I have some new language skills, a few more stamps on my passport (well…I did…). I hope the trade will be worth it.
At least since yesterday things are looking up a bit…maybe? According to the other exchangers your first month is pretty miserable, the second month is great, the third month will be a living hell, and from then on things are freaking awesome. Unfortunately that means half of my stay will be awful if things work out for me the way they did for them. I didn’t expect for things to always be peachy keen, but I thought I wouldn’t be as homesick as I am.
On another note I really need my passport. I need to check with AFS to see where they are with that…
And on yet another note smoking is really gross…I’ve tried to get used to it but it’s still disgusting. I have no idea how people can pick up the habit since it’s so gross. Yucky.
Friday I registered at my school, though I’m technically not in a permanent class, because I’m trying to get into the humanities track instead of art. It’s still difficult to understand teachers because they talk at the pace Portuguese students listen which is waaaaaay faster than I can. However the other students are really encouraging with my Portuguese and are helping to get me to speak well. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing in the classes at this point – if I should be trying to take notes on what the teacher’s saying, or if I should just be focusing on the language and learning new words…thankfully I’ll have gym and English for some easy grades even if I get Fs in everything else.
Saturday was the most fun I’ve had since arriving. I met 3 other AFSers in Porto (Brittany, Raven, and Johannes) and we basically wandered from Café to Café and walked around the city. We talked in English (which was a really nice break) and just had a good time.
First I met Raven and Brittany in the Trindade Station. Johannes was apparently still in bed, so the three of us went to a café and had some coffees. When Johannes texted us, we met him in the Trindade Station and set out to find a place to eat lunch. We randomly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk sometimes because we kept getting turned around. Finally we found a small café/restaurant. I had a croissant and coke (their sodas are so much better here! And the croissant was basically the size of my head). Johannes was the only person who actually ordered food. His meal looked incredibly greasy…I’m not quite sure what it was even. I think it had steak, ham, cheese, bread, and a “specialsauce” (yep, one word on the menu). After finishing lunch we decided to make our way down to the Rio Douro. On the way we stopped at this place called “FNAC”. It reminded me of a Barnes and Nobles or Borders, only integrated with Best Buy or FYE. Brittany found a Portuguese book about Barack Obama. When we got to the river, after many an excursion, we sat at yet ANOTHER café and had some coffees/waters (I had a water, but since it was from a bottle cost 1.25 Euros!). It’s so strange here because sometimes they don’t even give you a menu; they just expect you to order. There was this crazy little bathroom that was so confusing and Brittany and I were completely fascinated with it, it was hilarious…though I’m not sure why. By then it was about 4 and I had to go back to Vila do Conde since Fernanda and Fernando wanted me home before dark (though my home will always be Forest).
Brittany lives in Evora, which is actually kind of far, unfortunately. Raven lives in Braga, so he’s only about an hour away by train. Johannes lives in Porto so I’ll probably see him most often. It was so nice to make some friends, even if I might not see Brittany or Raven THAT often, perhaps on some weekends.
When I got back to Vila do Conde (damn you, one hour train ride) I took some pictures of the aqueducts (you’re welcome Chris!) and Ines and I went to Bea’s Café, though I didn’t have anything and just kind of sat there while she and Fernando talked to some of their friends.
My host parents were hosting a dinner party last night. We had tons of food- it was so crazy! These people eat like no one’s business. There was cheese, though I wasn’t too fond of it, a bit to strong for me, ham, bread, sausage, and crackers for an appetizer. Salad, rice, broccoli, pork, vegetables, and lasagna were for the main course. Then for dessert (or Sobremesa) there was a sort of custard pie, pineapples, and something called Camel’s Saliva, which reminded me a bit of a dulce de leche or caramel sauce. Unfortunately, something didn’t agree with my stomach, so I wasn’t feeling too good through dinner. The loud Portuguese conversation didn’t help much either. I’m still not feeling great as of this morning…I’ll probably take a walk a bit later to see if it helps.
After dinner, Fernando wanted to show us all pictures from their trip to California, Arizona, and Nevada. There were tons of them and I actually ended up falling asleep on the floor. Around midnight, I dragged myself upstairs to bed.
This morning has been okay…either everyone’s still asleep or out somewhere, so I’m alone again. I really do miss home. I’m not regretting my decision because I’ve already seen some great things and learned a little bit of the language, but I can’t help but wonder if I would’ve been as unhappy at home as I thought I would’ve been. I dunno if that makes any sense at all…but eh. I thought high school was going to be miserable, and some of it has (take Freshman year for example) but ever since then things have actually been really fun. What with the chorale, summer musicals, church youth choir, marching band this year, amazing friends. I had it good. Now what do I have? I have some new language skills, a few more stamps on my passport (well…I did…). I hope the trade will be worth it.
At least since yesterday things are looking up a bit…maybe? According to the other exchangers your first month is pretty miserable, the second month is great, the third month will be a living hell, and from then on things are freaking awesome. Unfortunately that means half of my stay will be awful if things work out for me the way they did for them. I didn’t expect for things to always be peachy keen, but I thought I wouldn’t be as homesick as I am.
On another note I really need my passport. I need to check with AFS to see where they are with that…
And on yet another note smoking is really gross…I’ve tried to get used to it but it’s still disgusting. I have no idea how people can pick up the habit since it’s so gross. Yucky.
1 comment:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_D5lq-6HCEic/R5NcwIK3XGI/AAAAAAAAABk/0i8bGOzcCj4/s320/PortoAFSers+007.jpg
THAT. PHOTO.
hahahahaha.
best, EVER.
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