Adventures of a Teenage World Traveler

Long Time No Post!

2008-06-19T06:19:00.001-07:00

Let's see...since the last time I posted what has happened...

Well, I'm 17 now. Go me? I went to a nightclub, a first communion, the festa at Serralves, the beach, our last camp. James and Wes came to visit. Nuno informed me he saw my blog. SO HI NUNO!!! How embarrassing...

I only have one more week here. Then it's back to the good ole U.S. of A.

Then what? I don't even know what will happen. I mean I know everyone hasn't forgotten me, but how will it be to be thrust back into the life that I knew, now that I'm so different? I'm almost certain that some friends will expect me to be exactly the same, and will be angry when they see I'm a different person. They'll take it as a personal insult, I've already experienced some of this from my contact back home. I've heard going home is almost worse than coming to the new country. I don't know...it's time to start being pensive and all that.

But summer has been mainly good so far. We had an AFS dinner and got interviewed by a journalist person? Random. buuut...I dunno. I'm a bit embarrassed to write too many details now that I know a bunch of people have seen this. :P But that's the price to pay when you put your life on the internet.

On another note, my host sister got a motor scooter for her birthday. Makes me miss my car...a week and a half and I'll be driving that baby around Virginia! Wo0t!

Longer post coming up later...

Only 4 weeks?...

2008-05-27T02:08:00.000-07:00

It shocks me to think I only have 4 weeks left here (plus or minus a few days). This past week was really really strange...but pretty awesome.

Monday and Tuesday were more or less normal, school and what not. Monday I woke up for school as usual (this is my early day). So I got up like 6:20 to get to school at 8:15, only to find out the workers were on strike and we had no classes. So here I am, an hour from home with nothing to do...thankfully Maud was there and said I could hang at her house for a little bit, so we went back and watched TV and got on the internet, and she let me leave my books and gym clothes there so I wouldn't have to drag them around the city. I met Johannes for lunch, which was cool because we got a lot more time than usual, so we just walked around, ate, went to a net cafe. I got home around 4 and Ines and I became catatonic in front of the television. WOO!

Thursday was a holiday, a catholic religious holiday actually - "Corpus Christi", so there was no school. Johannes and I met up at about 9:45 (and he was on time! gasp!) to take a train to Guimaraes, the "birthplace" of portugal. We wandered through the narrow (WET) cobblestoned streets, had lunch at a really nice restaurant - the beef was excellent, up to the palace where they had refurnished the rooms to make it how it would have been around the 16th or 17th century. He wanted to buy a sword but the giftshop didn't sell any, only plates =P. Then we went to the original castle, which was more of a fort/military stronghold, but this one dated from the 11th or 12th century. It was raining and really depressing, and we ended up going back to porto around 5ish, where right as we got off the train the Corpus Christi procession was going down the streets of Baixa. It was fascinating, everything was eerily silent except for the chanting of the priest and the singing of maybe 500 people following them, but I'm not good with numbers, it could have been a lot more. We had some icecream at McDonalds afterwards and walked down to the Ribeira, up the steps, around, across the bridge...just random.

Friday I had an appointment for my Visa, so I only went to my Philosophy class, then I had to hop on the bus/metro down to Estadio do Dragao. I waited for an hour and 45 minutes (even though I had an appointment!) to sit down for 5 minutes and have the lady tell me I didn't have all my papers, and could I please reschedule for the 11th of June? BAHUMBUG!!! Well...it was Johannes' birthday too, so we met at Dolce Vita for dinner at Burger King, where we just talked for like, 2 hours. Then we took the metro across the river to look at Porto at night. I had to go home, and ended up being late...stupid metro system.

Saturday was the start of the Geres trip! We were supposed to meet at 8:15 at Campanha and "please don't be late!". So I took the 7 o clock express metro and got to the area around 7:45, and Johannes was already ready! He was early! We both were! It was a miracle. All of the AFSers actually got there before Nuno and Renata. The train didn't even leave until 8:50, Renata said she was counting on all of us being late. We arrived in Braga and had to walk all the way to the bus station, with our bags, in the rain...comfortable, right? Well it wasn't too bad. We met an AFSer from China - Shipping - there. So now it was Me, Johannes (faroe islands), Elif (Turkey), Julia (USA), Maud (Canada - Quebec), Shipping (China), Renata and Nuno (Portugal). Quite a mix of cultures. We arrived at the Camp/Pousada place and put down our bags. We were able to get into the rooms and rested for a while and ate some lunch. After a bit we started out on a hike. This was probably around 2:30. We walked through the village, down a hill, then across the mountain with no path. There was a dam with a resevoir so we walked across the dam to the other side where there was a waterfall and the end of the path, then we went all the way back. We were completely wet and dirty and exhausted when we got back. I changed pants and shoes, and we hung out in the lounge and watched some TV. I fell asleep in a big chair practically on top of Johannes...my bad...but it was so warm and cozy! haha...in the meantime Renata, Nuno, and Shipping had gone to buy cake and snacks for Johannes' surprise birthday party.

We had a dinner of Bacalhau com Natas, soooo good. Maybe my favorite Portuguese food, consisting of Bacalhau (salted cod) in a cream sauce with potatoes and pasta. Yummy...After dinner we went back to the lounge to watch this sort of European American Idol thing with a different representative from each country. We went back to the Cabin, took showers (soooo nice after that hike), and convined in the girl's room. The guys were in their PJs, which consisted of tiny shorts...bahhahahahaha. Everyone was supposed to go out of the room one by one until it was only me and him and then I was supposed to ask "hey where'd everyone go?" and so we'd go in the other room. But Johannes kept talking and talking and talking...and i kept trying to ask but he was like "eh, I dunno, doesn't matter where they went, so anyway...". Finally I had to like drag him out of the room. He was really surprised though, and we have it all on video! wooo!!!

Sunday we got to sleep in, had breakfast, and started making a movie. "Scenes from an AFS weekend" or something like that. It was pretty funny I guess...we had lunch, and afterwards walked back through the village filming our movie. We met some Americans from Texas (just south of Austin!) who were hiking through the mountains. We finished the movie then hiked all the way to the top of Geres in about 30 minutes. Go us...then we had to practically run back down to catch the bus and get our things. Everyone fell asleep on the bus and the train ride back was really fun. Getting out in porto was a bit depressing since everything was over...and there is nothing else really big planned besides the end camp until the end of the year. Elif Johannes and I had dinner at McDonalds, then I caught the metro back and talked to my parents on the phone. My host mom had already fallen asleep and my host dad was out, so I had to walk all the way home with my bags. Which sucked...

So that was my super crazy week. Nuno is coming to dinner Thursday, but other than that I have nothing planned really. We'll see where things go...

The week in review. And the start of a FREAKING AWESOME weekend!

2008-05-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Let's see, since Lisboa...

Last Wednesday Nuno, Johannes, and I met to talk after school. Nuno told us some pretty amazing stories, complete with diagrams of how everyone was standing when things happened (during AFS orientation camps). Some were jaw-dropping to say the least, but probably aren't suitable for public consumption on blogger...I will share when I return if you'd like to know ;)

Last Friday I spent at home. Was a bit sick and as my host mom said "BEBE LEITE! QUENTINHA QUETINHA QUETINHA! MAIS MEL! E MUITO BOM PELA GARGANTA!". Ines and I "ummm. I'm a foreigner. Not deaf." This inspired many a humorous comment and representation by Ines, Fernando, and I, practically playing charades for milk, honey, hot, throat.

Saturday I went to Santa Maria de Feiras in the afternoon with Maud, Julia, Johannes, Renanta (AFS volunteer/counselor), and Renata's boyfriend. We climbed to the castle, which was closed, traipsed a bit through the woods (me in my VERY well thought out summer dress...cough). Observed some men playing a game that is basically a mix between horse shoes and bochie ball. These men have to be insane because the metal objects were basically flying RIGHT past their heads. We walked around the town before everything started and there, on the stage warming up, was a french horn player. I dragged the others to the stage jumping up and down yelling in their ears "I PLAY THAT". I suppose I was a bit hysterical after not playing for almost 5 months...

We decided to go get a coffee, which turned into a 2 hour dinner until 9:45 at night. For the first time in my life I tried chicken stomach...which was not half bad I have to say! Reminded me a bit of mushrooms. We had Arroz de Pato (Rice of Duck) for dinner, and after walked through the different expositions (there is a better word for this I cannot remember for the life of me). The main ones were of these people who were painted white with a plasticky substance that grew. There were also concerts, weird, dark shows, people running through the streets with "free hugs" or "abracos gratiz" signs. We waited in a field with a giant light, a bit "strange encounters of the 3rd kind" - esque. As we were leaving (I actually got to stay out late because Renata had a car and could drive me home!) there was a mini parade in the street with a man dressed as a fly doing backflips, people on springy stilts, a giant praying mantus, and a band. Finally got home around 1 a.m. after a VERY long car ride that shouldn't have been long.

Sunday my host cousin Filipe turned 16 and we went to my Tia Rosa's house to celebrate (their house is HUGE). We watched Titanic...but yeah, lots of football watching, eating of francesinhas, drinking of champagne, eating cakes, singing off-key, and loud portuguese familiness. I have so many videos of this day...

Monday and Tuesday I had Portuguese lessons, nothing really special. Today I arrived at school at 8 in the morning after waking up at 6:30, only to find out that the workers are on strike and we have no classes. Thanks for the info...so I talked with some random girls then went with Maud to her house to watch some TV, get on the internet, hang out. She let me leave my things with her and then I met with Johannes for lunch.

Tomorrow Jo and I are going to Guimaraes for the day, then Friday I have to renew my visa and it's his birthday. Saturday and Sunday I'm going camping with Maud, Julia, Johannes, Shipping, Nuno, and Renata in Geres, which I'm really looking forward to. Only 2 more weeks of school!!!!

Last weekend...this one coming in a bit...

2008-05-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.Friday night was Queima - basically the biggest college party of the year. There was a huge thing about Johannes eating with us with my host sister...which wasn't fair if you ask me but WHATEVER. Since when have their been rules about dinner with friends...hmph. So anyway we got there at like 11:30 at night (before we saw this really awesome brazilian dance/fight club, it's sort of hard to describe). When we got there me, ines, and her 2 friends met with Elif and Johannes. Trekking through the festival to the concert was like going through a marsh with the stickiness from spilled beer. GROSS. But yea, the concert with the xutes e pontapes started (they're sort of like a Portuguese U2 type band...older guys playing rock). Jo had to leave around 1...10 minutes after the concert started. Stupid...but I say nothing. Queima was intense. SO MANY PEOPLE. They had booths from all the different colleges, food, games, a tent with a nightclub type thing. I had to pull some James Bond moves to lunge a few times from drunken men trying to grab at me. One of them actually almost got me once because I hadn't seen him but I got out pretty quickly...Elif, Ines, Pipa and I sat down in a little circle and different people would come and join us to talk for a while, it was fun. We stayed until 6 in the morning then got in the car to Lisboa.

We got to lisboa around 9:45 in the morning. I took a shower and went to Colombo to meet Alyssa, Ally, and Jeff. Alex and Dodo, 2 german girls, joined us a bit later. We had some coffee at Cafe Roma (I needed it after only 2 hours of sleep) and went to Oeiras for lunch at Jeff's dad's pizzeria. Much hilarity ensued..."is it raining"...not sure. Have a lot on video. We then walked through this park and saw stumpy the pigeon!! I had a coffee (which actually made me really sick later). We took the train back (really cool ride along the ocean) and Ally had to leave. Alyssa and Jeff and I went to another Cafe Roma and they had some iced tea that I'm fairly sure was drugged. Alyssa walked with us almost to the castle then had to go home. Jeff and I got to the castle and there was some sort of market/festival thing going on. We only had about 15-20 minutes there unfortunately, I would have really liked to stay longer. It's a really awesome castle. Originally inhabited by the Arabs in the...12th century? Correct me here Jeff not completely sure...

I rushed home and we went to dinner at my host aunt's house...the chicken was a bit disturbing to eat. Let's just say mine looked remarkable like a part of the male anatomy...but yea. I was crashing completely at this point. That night I slept 11 and a half hours.

Sunday I got up, showered, had lunch. We drove back to porto and had afternoon tea at my other host grandma's house. I talked with home that night. I have been having a lot of problems with getting the metro lately. I've missed class unintentionally a lot lately. Stupid public transportation.

So I guess now we have the opener written, which is exciting. I have my tickets to Faroes...my summer is so booked, but it's exciting! Only 3 ish weeks of school left. And after like 2 we won't even do anything. wo0t!

Sorry it's a bit vague but I'm having a bit of trouble remembering what happened in general...the days are running into each other...

2008-05-06T14:10:00.001-07:00

So, I don't know if any of you even read my blog any more...or if you ever did, but I'm trying to keep it up even if it's just for me! =PIt's been a really long time since I wrote in it...so here we go.

Nightwish was fairly legendary. Though looking back it could have been a lot more legendary. I met up with Raven and Johannes after school. We hung out in the metro station and I laughed until I thought I was going to wet my pants (i didn't though, mind you!). We had dinner at the McDonalds in Aliados "Imperial McDonalds" and talked about guys kissing guys, namely if Conan and Rambo would be sexy kissing...I concluded no. We went to a Pingo Doce and were pretty sketchy. Then the concert! Pretty awesome, though noone really got into it until the end. The end was fairly epic though. After the concert we met with Elif and Raven and I went back to her house to spend the night. The next morning we woke up to breakfast, TV, and Turkish Coffee. Elif even read my Tarot in the coffee which was awesome.

That Sunday...what happened?!?! I don't even remember...I think Johannes came to Vila do Conde...we walked around and went to a net Cafe. Yea! That's what happened.

ummm...week...school...not much. We had a holiday that friday the 25th. I went to Serralves and the Park with Johannes, and we ate dinner at an Italian restaurante. Was supposed to meet with my host parents for a movie but that fell through, so I was a bit late. Oops...Saturday I had a mochachoc in the afternoon and dinner with Johannes and Nuno, which was really fun, though I could have stayed longer. Sunday Nuno met with my family and I...which was interesting.We had a holiday Thursday so Johannes and I went to a cafe by the Ribeira, took the old electric line up the hill, then walked along the Rio Douro. Friday I hung at home with Ines and Pipa... Saturday I had lunch in Porto with Johannes. I called Nuno...ate dinner at home. Sunday I surfed!!! It was freaking awesome...We had lunch in Porto because it was mother's day, then Johannes and I had dinner out in Vila do Conde and walked along the river.

I've been having a lot of problems connecting with the girls in my class...they've been ignoring me, cutting me off when I talk, walking away in the middle of my sentences. One of the girls from my class was working at the restaurante we ate at the other day, and acted all nicey nice in front of my family, but completely ignores me in school. Maybe I was shy in the beginning but I was never MEAN to them. Not even close! And it's not that I'm not trying, they just aren't responding AT ALL. I only have 6 weeks left anyways and I just don't even know if it's worth the effort at this point. They invited me to a dinner they were having AFTER it started, knowing that I live to far to stay out late in porto, and they all laughed when I wasn't understanding where she was saying the dinner was. Then they were like pinning it on me that I didn't come. I try and start conversations and stuff but it's no use...I'm going to be out of town the next few weekends so I can't do anything with them, but again it isn't that I don't want to, I just can't. Then school will be over...then what? I feel like I've failed with friends.

Another week...another adventure...

2008-04-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

nightwish...school...AGH.

Will post more when it isn't 4 in the morning.

Leiria Part 2

2008-04-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

So I left off at Friday night, right?

Saturday - This day was soooo long...We started out by meeting at the monastery in Batalha. It's absolutely gorgeous. Giant gothic sanctuary in the form of a latin cross, huge stain glass windows, an arc, tombs of kings and queens, their figures holding hands in death, even a 13th century sculpture of an asian man! Then we walked out to this beautiful courtyard with the most incredible stone carvings you've ever seen. There was a type of "unknown soldier" tomb guarded by soldiers. When we went in this room, the guide told us it had been built by the Masons because they had left 4 carvings as clues at the corners of the room. One was blank, signifying "mystery", one was a man with leaves coming out of his mouth to signify "sharing knowledge", one was a master, signifying "being the master of your trade", and the last was two angels mounting fighting lions, which signified "nobility and brotherhood". Cool huh? After we walked through the coutyard a bit and saw this fountain with gargoyles. Then we all tried our hand at sculpting! Though we didn't really get very far...After we went to more tombs, this time outdoors (my family laughed when I was showing them pictures, because this is the only place Johannes and I actually posed for a picture. The tombs. "Why not a garden with flowers or something?" me: "ummmm it's more nordic?" But it was romantic how they were holding hands even in death...though maybe a bit morbid? whatever =P)

After the monastery we had a coffee in this square and the Thailand kids continued to teach us swear words in Thai! (yet meh! zut!). After the coffee we had lunch, logistical right? Melody - who's a vegetarian - had gotten in an argument earlier with our tour guide about eating meat, and then Johannes followed suit with his "if we didn't kills whales we never would have survived in Faroes". We talked for probably half an hour about this...no one really one in the end. The both of them were giving arguments for naturality and survival.

Anywho after lunch we got on the bus for nazare and spent the afternoon on the chilly, rainy, but none the less gorgeous beach. We played football for a while then went to eat Caracois...aka snails. Check the photobucket for the wonderful pictures for the literal plate full of snails. We boarded the bus for home, I went back and took a shower, changed and got ready for the night out.

This night was legendary. We had an AFS dinner that "started" at 9...so at about 10 things got going. Only AFS Europe would serve beer at a proper function...=P. We had a "talent show" where everyone from the different countries sang something (and the girl from iceland and Jo's host brother did the moonwalk?) We then went to the town square where Henning, Jo, me, Ursula, Paraguay girl, and two Portuguese found a bar. We met back in the square at 1 and walked for 45 MINUTES to find this nightclub, all the while joking and generally having a good time. Henning and Jo together are RIDICULOUS. If germany and faroes ever formed an alliance it would be insane. People kept rearranging into fake couples to get in and then I had to go to the bathroom really badly...like running to the club. So Johannes and I get there and we get to the front of the line half because I had to use the bathroom and half because we're blonde foreigners. Then the nightclub was a nightclub...dancing...stuff...yeah. Good times. My host sister and I left like 3:30 (early by europe standards) and went home.

Sunday - Woke up fairly late. Chilled with the host family. Jo wanted to leave at 2:30 but wasn't ready, I wanted to leave at 4:30 but bought the 2:30 tickets anyways and explained this to him, then we changed, and then he STILL thought we were leaving at 2:30...frustrating to say the least...everything ended OK and we did eventually get back to Porto.

Today I had a field trip to this house from the Romantic era, was very beautiful, though I kind of zoned out a lot of the time...Nightwish this Friday, totally stoked!

Field Trip and Leiria!

2008-04-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here's the first part of my trip to Leiria...enjoy

What a weekend…I still don’t think I’m fully recovered.

So I guess I should start with Wednesday, since Tuesday was the last time I quasi-posted? Pronto…

Wednesday – Got up the same time I usually get up on Wednesday, but this time we had a field trip! So we met at the school like 8:30 (our history teacher was wearing jeans and a T-Shirt!! Weird!!). We got on the bus for the Aveiro area and I sat next to Maria Loureiro. She’s really nice, we had a long talk about differences in the US and Portugal, crashing cars, boyfriends…it was cool. The first thing we did getting off the bus was to go to this boat, and it actually made me a bit homesick because it reminded me of the Philly trip and going on boats…only there was no Jennifer and Tim and David to be ridiculous with. We “took a tour” of the boat and watched some awfully cheesy film. It was a boat used for catching bacalhau but I don’t remember the name. Afterwards we went to a maritime museum which was sort of the same thing. We had lunch in the cantina at the Vista Alegre and took a tour of the factory. It’s a ceramics factory and was actually really interesting. We were saying it’s like art class every day if you work there! My Portuguese teacher actually freaked out when there was a broken pot in the corner (it was a very beautiful pot) and they said it was “lixo” or “trash”. I thought she was going to have a heart attack! Around 5 we finally left for Porto. I got home the same time as usual but had to pack for the next day. Had some moments of panic when I couldn’t get a hold of Johannes to check times (WHO HAD OUR BUS TICKETS) but it worked out…

Thursday – Woke up, fairly early, but not really. Got my bags together, took a shower, and got on the metro! Johannes and I had planned to meet at 8:45 at the Bolhao metro station to walk to the Rodoviaria bus station to catch our bus that left at 9:30. So I got there at 8:45…and no Johannes. So then it was 8:50…then 8:55…then 9:00…and still no sign. Meanwhile I’m calling frantically, never mind I had gotten a message at 8:38 from him asking whether or not he should bring a bathing suit and towel! He finally calls me at 9 to say he has no change for a metro ticket and could I please come to Campo 24 Agosto to get one for him? You can say I was just a BIT frustrated…all the while he was saying “oh it’s fine, we’ll get there, don’t worry!”. I just told him I’d stop worrying once we were on the bus. So yes, he was right, we did get there in time, but it was a bit of a freak out when it was 9:10 and we were still on the metro.

We got on the bus and who should we meet but Melody! She was going to Leiria as well and happened to be taking the same bus, so we caught up over the bus ride. I hadn’t even seen her for at least 2 months then out of the blue there she is! It was cool though. We stopped in Coimbra but only had time to get a pastry (this is Portugal after all…). We arrived in Leiria and met our host siblings for the weekend there. We had lunch at the cantina at the school then went to the Castle in Leiria. Unfortunately it was raining and not wonderful weather, but it was still awesome. Then we played this “game” – Peddy Paper. It took me a while to figure out what exactly that meant, but then Melody and I figured out it meant a sort of scavenger hunt. So for the rest of the afternoon that we did that, then all met back up at the school. At night, I went with my host sister for the weekend home. We watched the stupid high school soap opera “Morangos com Acucar” and ate dinner. Their house was SO NICE! It was in Batalha and you could basically see the monastery from their porch! So I went to bed in the nice cozy bed and prepared myself for Friday…

Friday – We all met at the school to go to this museum about film. We got to try out a bunch of stuff, I felt like an elementary school kid again! After that we went to this art exposition with a bunch of cartoons. Wes would have loved this, I must say it was pretty cool. We had a café then ate lunch at McDonalds (walking everywhere…yuck!). After lunch we went to this park to play games, hang out, “rock climb” that was NOT rock climbing. Then we all piled in cars to go to LAZER QUEST!! We played Portuguese vs. AFSers…the Portuguese whooped our butts to say the least. Friday night I had dinner with the family again and then all the kids there went to the movies. The movie wasn’t that great but the company was good.
Well I’m really tired…I can’t finish this tonight. I’ll finish later!

I love me some Portugal =)

2008-04-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

I found this list online…most of it is true. The ones bolded are things I’ve experienced first hand, my comments in parenthesis.

“You know you’re an exchange student when…”
before waiting to see if anyone understood what you meant, you start acting it out.
you think 100 pounds to pack up your entire life is plenty of space.(100 pounds!?!?!?! That’s twice the amount I got…)
you don’t have preferences anymore, especially when it comes to food. Nothing tastes familiar, thats for sure.(though I never really had preferences…)
you spend a lot of time smiling, nodding, and pretending you understand what’s going on. (basically the definition of foreign exchange…about 95% of my time)
you classify “doing your homework” as translating half of it. And that alone took three hours.
when your grandma asks you what you’ve been learning, you tell her something general, instead of “how to open beer bottles with a 50 cent coin.”
you sometimes use the excuse “Sorry, I don’t understand” to avoid answering a question….even if you do. (and beggars…just say “no speakie portuguese”)
they offer cocktails at the back-to-school party.
you want to hug the people who attempt to speak your native language to you.
you’ve called every person who says “hi” to you your friend… because you don’t really have any yet. (so true)
you’ll read anything in your native language just to have something to read…even packaging labels. (hahaha!!! I thought I was the only one who did this!!!)
you’ve got on the bus and had the driver say “you don’t want to be on this bus” because you got on the same bus the night before and it was wrong then, too.
you sometimes walk around the school during breaks to act like you’re doing something, because you don’t see anyone you recognize and don’t want to stand there awkwardly. (did this TONS in the beginning but not as much anymore…though I did today until I found Pia and Ana Lucia inside. I was just messed up because it was raining and we weren’t sitting outside on the steps)
you know the answer to a question in a class but don’t raise your hand because you don’t want people to expect to much from you.
you’re better than your teacher in your foreign language class. (kind of a given…)
you are a master of pantomime and circumlocution and still can’t have a conversation.
you actually think the language barrier is a good thing when it comes to things like lying to your host parents. (I mean…of course not…)
you’ve ever mispronounced something in your native language (for example, names of products, TV shows, companies) because you know the others will understand it better if you say it with an accent. (all the time)
you’ve tried so many different foods due entirely to the fact that you cannot understand the person asking you what you want so you just nod your head, say “yes”, and hope to god it tastes half-decent.
you’ve tried to order something in your host country’s language only to be answered in english because you did it so badly. (this happens like at least 2 times a day)
you’ve gotten annoyed with said people that automatically answer you in English when you try to speak to them in their language. (AHHH I’M HERE TO LEARN DON’T TALK TO ME IN ENGLISH!!!)
after you come back everybody tells you that you have a weird accent.
your dreams are bilingual. (so weird…)
sometimes it takes you about 5 minutes to remember a word in your native language that you were going to use. (I could not for the life of me remember the word ferris wheel today…I kept wanting to say carousel)
you automatically use words in a foreign language that you cant even translate but they just seem to fit the context.
you watch television shows and movies that you know in your native language, just to understand it for once. (well everything’s still in english so television is easy)
you begin to enjoy foods that you had previously despised at home.
you’ve gotten out of a punishment or being yelled at because you didn’t understand the language, or at least pretended you didn’t.
it becomes a habit to introduce yourself by saying: “I am from (country) and my name is (name).” (Eu chamo-me Caroline e sou dos Estados Unidos…as easy as pie by now…)
you’ve gotten upset because someone assumed you wanted to do something…and then were told you were asked if you wanted too, and you said yes!
you’ve said something like ‘oh yes’ or ‘no thanks’ only to have everyone laugh because your answer made no sense compared to the question.
you actually got a high five when you understood what someone said to you.
you’re never sure if someone’s being your friend, flirting, seducing you, or sexually harassing you. (AHHHH THIS IS SO TRUE!!! ALL THE TIME!!!! Though the other week a guy followed my down the street asking me my name and actually got in my face about it. He’d been asking me for a month but I just always ignored him. This time I was ready though so when he followed me I turned and said “Eu chamo-me Caroline e tenho um namorado que sabe karate!!” or, roughly “My name’s Caroline and I have a boyfriend that knows karate” He backed off then…)
while you’re having a nice conversation with your Gastopa and Oma, your host sister is making out on the same couch. Then her and her boyfriend are always sure to announce when they are going to take a bath together.
you’re not sure whether it’s a children’s book or porn.
you get a little scared before starting a sentence with big words in it in another language. (I used to be scared to start asking someone to pass the water)
you have been put in a one or more classes with the fifth graders, because you’re supposed to understand more there.
you are always counting the time difference between where you are and home.
you always forget the time difference when you call a friend or family member back home…..sorry for waking you up at 4 AM mom.
you do something wrong and people look at you weird, your excuse is “That’s how we do it in my country” even if it isn’t.
you have gone in to greet someone with a shake of hands and find yourself being pulled into an awkward hug/double kiss on the cheek or the other way around. (beijinhos…accidentally kissing old men…blegh!)
you carry a dictionary and a camera in your bag.
you get so used to broken English you finish people’s sentences even though no one else can understand them.
you get into arguments with the foreign language teacher (English) over how to pronounce something. (I’m sorry but the word “chores” is not pronounced like a K!)
you try to speak in the native language and everyone immediately knows “You’re not from around here”.
you can get into the strictest clubs with your ID from you host country, because most people get confused and just let you get in.
you know every cuss word in your host language, but still cant conjugate into past or future tense.
peoples stares don’t bother you anymore.
you’re ready to drink anytime of the day. (but only wine)
you have mastered the arts of deception and sneakery.
you’ve spent more than one night getting drunk with your host parents.
everyone thinks your playing the tough guy when you say you haven’t called your mom yet and don’t miss her too much.
a conversation is going fine, before it suddenly get stuck on some word or phrase which makes you completely forget what you were talking about.
you buy clothes in your country so you don’t look so much like a foreigner.
*From the Facebook group “You know you’ve been an exchange student if”

annnnd cut!

This weekend was pretty awesome, I must say. I last posted Thursday…so here we go!

Friday I woke up, and went to have lunch at Julia’s house and hang out and such. We hung out in her yard/garden to bask in the sun, which we could not think of how to say. There’s “apanhar o sol” but that’s like sun bathing. We ate lunch with her host sister and host mom and talked about Harry Potter and such. Anywho, my Philosophy teacher was missing so the girls in my class and I tanned behind the gym. In Portuguese (which turned out to be my only class that day) they talked about their tests and I played Sudoko…We didn’t have math either because the teacher was missing, just thank goodness the weather was nice!!! Manana let me put my books in her locker for the weekend and we hung out for a bit.

Since I got out a bit early, Johannes and I met at the Campo 24 de Agosto metro station at 6:30. From there we went to Norteshopping for a dinner of KFC and to see the movie “The Bucket List”. So Portuguese right? =P He was so sweet…he even got me earrings! Apparently my mom thought my account of how he did it was funny so I guess I’ll put it here too…this is how the conversation went.

Johannes: So I have something for you…I guess it’s kind of romantic or whatever…
Me: Mmhhmmm?
Johannes: Uhh…yeah…*digs in pocket* *pulls out empty plastic Kleenex wrapper* *awkward Johannes laugh* yeah! No wait. *produces small plastic bag with earrings*

Saturday I slept pretty late in the day and my host parents were a bit worried because I always wake up quasi-early, or at least earlier than Ines. I didn’t really do much at all…we had salmon for lunch (so good…grilled fresh!) then went to a café. Ines was at the hairstylist so then we went to pick her up…I talked with Johannes on the phone. My parents invited him to Sunday lunch so I had to call him and remind him about 50 times what time he should get here. Ines and I went to the beach a bit later and met with some friends at Bea’s Café, and chilled at home the rest of the night.

Sunday I met Johannes at the metro station at 10:30 (only 30 minutes late, a new record!) and we walked to my house…though no one was home, so we walked along the beach a bit and to Bea’s for chocolate and ice cream. Then we came back and finally everyone was home! I introduced them all to Johannes and vice versa, then this other family came and we had this huge lunch. And Jo just had to bring up “matar baleias” or killing whales…which they do in Faroes…my family was a bit taken back but overall they liked him, thought he was very nice. After lunch the two of us went for a walk along the ocean and the river and he got some more ice cream, though I had to decline. We walked back to my house and he talked with Ines and my host dad a bit just about stuff (I was upstairs looking for a CD) and then we got on my computer for a little while. Around 6 he had to go, which is always sad…we don’t have a lot of time together as it is, but this weekend is Leiria, so we get 4 days together! =)

Today…rain. And lots of it. I hung in the library by the heater a lot of the time. It was also my host dad’s birthday so we had a little festa for him with the family at home. It was a lot of fun with really yummy food and a huge cake. Pictures (and a video of our multilingual birthday song!) should be up soon.

I’m really looking forward to Wednesday-Sunday. Wednesday is a fieldtrip with my class in school, then Thursday through Sunday is the “4 dias em Leiria” for AFS. I will take lots of pictures and videos and try and document it as best as I can!Ate ja!

AHHHH FIRST POST IN FOREVER!!!

2008-03-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long...our internet fried and I just haven't had time to write everything out...here I will try. But I warn you, it will be long...

1st Monday of break: Got up. Was supposed to meet Johannes at 10, so about 10:40 he showed up at Trindade, way to go punctuality. We hopped on the metro, and in the middle of a sentence he yanked me off the train proclaiming "this is the stop!", practically as the doors were closing. Yea, thanks for the warning! We were supposed to meet his sister and her boyfriend to help them switch hotels, but Johannes didn't know where the hotel was. 45 minutes later of wandering up and down the street we finally find the hotel (the first one we'd seen) and meet up with them in a café. I do have to admit their room was awful, purple walls with floral curtains. We spent the next hour searching hotels (and I had a very nice conversation with Freun, Jo's sister's boyfriend about a lot of stuff, thankfully they all speak basically fluent english) until we finally found one near Casa da Musica. We trekked over in the rain to find this very nice hotel. It's funny, Sosannah (the sis) is JUST like Johannes with the cravings, only instead of Chocolate Cake, it's Burberry. We had a lunch at a foodcourt place, then went shopping and basically just wandered Porto (it always ends like this...). I heard some very funny stories about Johannes being spoiled as a kid - and as a teenager too apparently =P - thank god for siblings! So then I had to leave, and met my host-cousin on the metro on the way back. This country is so full of those kinds of coincidences.

Tuesday: Morning was relaxed, then in the afternoon Elif came to visit me in Vila do Conde! She's actually my first friend (besides kip) to come here! We walked up to the mosteiro, then walked along the beach and took about 1000 photos of us trying to jump for the picture, but they all basically failed =P. We got pastries at a pastelaria and talked for a long time. She finally had to leave though, which was quite sad.

Wednesday: Met with Johannes his sister and her boyfriend. We had lunch at this really nice outdoor cafe on the river then went to the coves to see how they make wine. Very interesting day, filled with huge barrels of wine...

Thursday: This day was awesome!!! Well...for the most part. We were all supposed to meet at 12 (raven told johannes 11:45 so he wouldn't be too late). I was the only one actually on time...Raven and Elif showed up about 12:40 and we met with Johannes around 1:15. Another amazing display of punctuality! =P We went to have some mochachocs and then walked across the bridge to this garden in Maia where we just hung out in the grass...rolled down the hill...talked and sang. It was so fun...then Johannes figured out he lost his phone. We looked everywhere in the garden, retraced our steps to mochachoc and the cafe we met him in...but it was nowhere to be found, so we finally just had to get another sim card for him. We actually accidentally asked for free massages instead of free messages though, the guy looked at us like we were crazy...Then we had some mcdonalds and I had to go. =(

Friday: I did nothing basically all day. Didn't even get out of my pjs until 5, but I got an email from Kip saying he would be staying the weekend in Porto! Yay!

Saturday: Met with Kip in Porto, took FOREVER trying to find his hotel. We walked all up and down the city looking for it, finally turned up in the end but yeah, Kip's blog has a better account of this day if you'd like. We had lunch in Gaia with the crazy old woman who kept trying to feed us things and saying she could talk with anyone...then we went to the coves as well, not as good a tour as Wednesday but the same idea. (seriously, check kip's blog it's so much better!)

Sunday: Easter!!! I dressed up and Kip came for the day to our house. We had an amazingly huge lunch and afterwards I gave my family an easter basket and Kip and I watched LOST episodes to catch up at least part of the way. Kip, Inês, Frederico, and I went out for a dinner of francesinhas. When we got home Kip and I attempted to make apple pie, which severely failed. Kip had to go...and it's weird to think the next time I see him we'll both be back in the US...

Monday: The internet fried *NOOOOOOOO!*. It was terrible. I stayed at home most of the day, then went in search of an internet cafe, which I did ultimately find but didn't have enough time to post an entry. My host family and I went to this birthday party that night which was pretty fun, though I only knew like 2 people besides my host family.

Tuesday: Martina came to porto and we met with Johannes, then Brittany and Raven came later...a lot happened that day...but I don't think I'm going to talk about it here. When I come home in June ask me I can tell you then...just not ready to say anything yet.

Wednesday: Martina and I went to Porto...had mochachocs and got on the internet (we were with Johannes). We made cookies when we got home and watched Across the Universe...

Thursday: Martina left...(there is a reason there aren't a lot of details with...some having to do with just...stuff that happened I wish hadn't. Whatever...it's in the past now and one day I may say but just don't push me now, some sore memories. Let's just say things don't always go the way you want them too, with host family and friends and everything. Things are a lot better now but it's still very fresh)

Friday: Johannes came to vila do conde! We walked on the beach...had lunch...and yes, we are officially going out if anyone cares =). It was so sweet...he just said "so...do you want to be together now?" me: uhhh yea! him: ok now that that's settled...very cute. I saw two videos him and his friends in Faroes made of doing backstreet boys and baywatch. It was funny stuff. I have a very funny boyfriend XD (oh my god, I'm actually allowed to say that?!?! no way!) We tried to get on the internet but the "internet cafe" didn't have internet! What crap! Kind of ironic...

Saturday: Met with this volunteer Ana to talk about "things" that had happened over break, but she thought that they weren't as bad as I thought they were...I guess she's right. After I had lunch with Raven and his girlfriend who'd come to porto (Johannes was still in bed...grr! =P). I got home then Fernanda, Fernando, and I took a trip to the very north of Portugal, I even saw spain on the other side of the river!

Sunday: I spent the whole day with family. We had lunch, then Inês, Fernanda, and I took a walk in Vila do Conde, then we drove to Vila Chã for launche with the extended family.

Monday: Returned to school...blegh! But it was really good to see friends I hadn't seen over break. And they all said they thought my Portuguese had gotten a lot better over break (which is a bit strange because I spent a lot of it with English speakers...) Not really a lot to say. We had a sort of Physical Fitness testing day...I thought I'd escaped that last year!!!

Tuesday: Got on the internet for a bit...went to school...nothing interesting. Road the metro with manana which was fun.

Wednesday: Missed the expresso metro but somehow wasn't late to school...? Awesome anyways. Had German and Math in the morning. Johannes and I met for lunch in McDonalds...it sucks I only get to see him 2 or 3 times a week. Just talked with Theresa some after lunch...had history, PE (Theresa, Catarina, Mafalda, and Rita and I hung out outside for a lot of it, the weather here is absolutely gorgeous now!) and English. On the metro back I talked some with Inês and Manana, but we were all tired. I had a latin dance class at night, then watched some TV but I was so exhausted i basically fell asleep on the couch.

Today: FINALLY!!! I am ALMOST done with this update!!!! I had a portuguese lesson in the morning, I'm almost finished with the first level book, and the material is even pretty easy where I am. I had history and the teacher made me read out loud from the book which was very scary, but everyone said I'm doing really well so that was cool. I talked with Maria over the break, it's so cool I'm actually beginning to have real conversations in Portuguese, and I can understand most of what's said to me. I had MACs (math) last period...but the teacher was just dictating examples the students were supposed to write down, but it was a bit fast for me, so that was really boring...and now I'm sitting here in the computer lab...it's taken me over an hour to finish this! So if you actually read everything (if anyone even still reads this after 3 weeks of nothing...) don't give up! I'm going to try harder to post more...I even think we're going to have working internet soon! Anywho...até logo! Comment please so I know someone's still reading...or shoot an email. =) have a nice day...

I LOVE LIFE HERE!

2008-03-16T16:42:00.001-07:00

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. =) x 10000000

I have a boy. I have a CUTE boy. I have a cute, foreign, hilariously random boy who "really likes me".

Am I dreaming? I must be.

Life is so much better than 2 months ago, losing my passport, no friends and all that jazz.

So anywho, as I said. I met Johannes for lunch last wednesday at the McDonalds near Casa da Musica (sometimes there's just no escaping American food). We had a lovely lunch, then just sat on a bench in the rotunda, trading different types of American/Faroese music. We walked to the bus stop and low and behold I got on the wrong bus. Ended up being late to history, but the teacher loves me. And guess what! I got a 16 on a history test!!! They use the 20 point scale and that's actually a really good grade! Probably would correspond to a B or maybe even an A or something here. We had a foro in Gym and we just sat outside talking and singing, it was a really good bonding time with the girls from my class. We hadn't clicked before, but Wednesday we sort of did, it was cool. After school I met with Nuno to talk and he's just so awesome. It was a good day for me and he was like "Exchange is like that, today has been great, and tomorrow could be a waffle day!" Me: "umm you mean awful?" him: "ya!!". He also said something along the lines of "Give me the scoop Caroline! Everyone already knows about you and Johannes!". It was fairly cute.

Tuesday...oh Tuesday. Such a perfect day =). I met with Johannes in the morning for breakfast near his house, (he took my books in his backpack because they were heavy! sweet isn't it?) then we climbed the Torre dos Clerigos, the tallest tower in Portugal (look it up!).

Random divergent story to show how small a world it is: I was wearing my Carnegie Mellon Sweatshirt, and on the way up the steps of the church a man stopped me and said "do you go to Carnegie Mellon?". I said "no, but I'd like to go there, we're exchange students here". He said "oh! I'm a professor there, I just gave a talk in Lisbon and now we're seeing Portugal". I was a bit taken aback and said "oh, do you know Randy Pausch?". He said "Not in drama, but professionally yes, he's a colleauge of mine" I said "oh my god, he's my friend's uncle!". small world eh?

So anywho, back to climbing the tower. It was freaking tall. And when we got to the top we basically were beat. It was a beautiful view though and I took some pictures- don't forget to check the photobucket by the same name! We stayed up there for a bit then went back down...a lot easier! We had lunch at an outdoor cafe, Johannes has this thing about maionaise...don't ask me....But yea. We ended up getting on the wrong train (WTF WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN WHEN WE GET TOGETHER?!?!) Then we were saying goodbye and....
well...

I leave the rest up to you ;)

But I got to school, and we just watched a movie in history. I got my math test back (15.5, one of the highest grades in the class and it was scored the same as everyone else'!!!). German we watched a movie...greaaaat day =)

Friday there was this random strike because people really aren't happy with the government and their education reforms so there was no school. Vacation had begun! I met with three girls from school for lunch in Porto (I got a happy meal!) and some mochachocs, and random hanging out. We left for Lisboa Friday night, got there, had dinner with the avo, and then off to bed.

Saturday I woke up, had some breakfast, then went to this huge mall where I met Alyssa and Martina! Well, I met Alyssa, Martina was really late...but we just talked and quasi-shopped and had icecream. We finally met Martina but only had about half an hour all three together until I had to leave. But now, ALYSSA MIGHT COME NEXT WEEK TOO!!! We have to get it cleared through AFS but I don't see the problem...

After the mall we had lunch at avo's house, then drove past Baixa (didn't stop, so sad) to the rio where the pais registered for this marathon thing. We went to this monument thing and this really beautiful monastary, and tried to go to the Torre de Berem, but could for some reason. Then we drove to Cascais as the sun was setting on the ocean, beautiful drive! Sunday I slept basically forever and stayed in the house all day. Unfortunately I accidentally kissed an old man...damn you beijinhos. The old people here...We were watching a nature show and this one tiny little old lady was yelling at the cheetahs as if it were a futbol game. Then we had "lunch" for about 3 hours...the old people got a little tipsy off some whisky and showed me all this noncirculating money. So random. Then Ines and I went back to the mall so she could buy some shoes and after that we headed back to Porto where we had dinner and now I'm writing this! Actually a very uneventful weekend. I would've liked to see a lot more in Lisboa, but maybe next time!

Anywho I better go sleep, I'm spending tomorrow in Porto and I want to be well rested =)

Midweek...almost

2008-03-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

Only 3 more days til break!!! It's been pretty non-eventful since Sunday...we're going to Lisbon this weekend. And i have no more tests this week! Yay! Tomorrow I'm meeting Johannes for lunch and I dunno...maybe meeting Nuno for an AFS meeting thing. Whatever, non-eventful week, and lots of rain, but yea, I'm feelin' good! =D

LALALALALA

2008-03-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

Well, today was actually really awesome. Johannes and I met up around 10:45, later than we had planned (but that's typical). We caught a bus to the Pausada de Juventude where they were having an AFS orientation for Portuguese students going abroad next year (and hey, Martina's host sister was there!). Before going, Johannes dragged me into a Pingo Doce, a sort of supermarket, to buy some donuts. Two packs of donuts and a short walk later, we were stuffing our faces in front of the youth hostel when a bunch of the students came out on one of their breaks to smoke cigarrettes (it's Europe). Embarrassed, J and I shuffled inside to try and find Nuno, our counselor. We found him in a sort of lounge area doing an activity with some of the students. We went upstairs and a little while later, and after talking to this one guy who'd been in the US a few years ago and spoke english pretty fluently, all the students came into the room. Johannes and I introduced ourselves (yea, ok, REALLY scary that for the most part we're the only AFSers these students have met). We went outside for a "donut break" for a bit while they were doing this other activity...we were going to try and have lunch with them but it got to be a bit late. While we were waiting though I listened to some Faroese music, and I showed him some Nickelcreek/bluegrass type stuff.

So around 1:45 we went back to the Pingo Doce for some sodas and chocolate (this boy is making me fat) and got on a bus that was supposed to take us to meet Pia at Santa Catarina. I told Johannes to stop when we got to Santa Catarina, but he forgot, despite me reminding him constantly. So we went all the way back to Campanha. We were going to walk to Santa Catarina, but I needed a bathroom first. I stopped at a cafe and got the key for the bathroom, but it didn't work for the women's so I tried the men's which I got in. As soon as I closed and locked the door, the automatic lights shut off, and there was no lightswitch. After using the stall and washing my hands in the dark, I went to leave, to find that I could not get out. Wonderful right? A man finally opened the door and the worker lady proceeded to yell at me about using the men's.

Johannes and I FINALLY got to Santa Catarina, and out of nowhere appears Maud, one of the only 4 porto AFSers besides Johannes and I. We met with Pia too, and Ana Lucia and Theresa. We got lunch in a shopping mall type thing and afterwards met with Julia (the other American AFSer here). I guess we sort of just looked around a bunch of the outside stalls and a store or two in Rua Santa Catarina. We then went to the Camara Municipal and the Rua Aliadas, and after that tried to go to the Torre (the highest point in Porto or something, you can climb to the top), but it was closed, so sad! The three girls from school left and Johannes and I sat on a bench and talked for a while, then he got a Sundae from McDonalds (which he pronounced "Sundee"). We made our way down to the Ribeira where the sun was setting. We sat on the edge by the river and talked some more as it turned to night (and got FREAKING COLD). Very very cool place to be at night. We walked back to the metro station and had to leave =(. Funnily enough, Johannes was a bit distracted and got on the wrong train. 5 minutes later I saw him going the other direction...That's Jo for you.

Got home, had dinner, watched TV, and crashed after my extremely long (extremely wonderful) day. (check photobucket, I'm uploading pics of the day as you read this!)

An ordinary week

2008-03-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

ok well this week has been good

Making some friends and what not...Monday I got a pastry with Manana, a girl from my school. Wednesday I had lunch with Johannes at this cafe near Casa da Musica....

Yesterday I had lunch at an outside cafe by the River with Johannes, it was so nice. We walked across the bridge, had some cake, then he went with me to meet with my friends, and stayed with me since they were late until they showed up...how sweet :) Then I went with two friends from school shopping for clothes and such, then we had crepes.

Today I wanted to go to Porto but my host mom said I needed to study...lajwefakmef;liafj. Because grades really don't count here, and I am trying. I don't see why I needed to be quarantined in the house. More updates later with more detail - but maybe that will hold you off ;)

6 Week Orientation

2008-02-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

So this weekend was our 6 week orientation. It was crazy amounts of fun.

Friday morning Johannes and I were supposed to meet at 9:00 for some coffee, but I was 15 minutes late and he was 25 minutes after that, so all we had time for was (you guessed it) a quick pastry/slice of cake. A few awkward chocolatey cheek kisses later, and I was on my way...well sort of. It took me a few minutes to figure out where to go in the street to get to the bus station. I did catch the bus eventually for the 3 hour bus ride to Lisboa. A guy behind me was speaking in English and when I asked him if he was American, he smugly replied "Canadian and British" and ignored me the rest of the trip...stupid prick.

When I arrived in Lisboa, Martina was the first person I saw, followed by Isabel, Adrienne, and Ben. Then I met three of the four Argentinians: Gabriele, Ursula, and Hugo (who WAS esteban from James' musical). We got on the bus and headed to Vila Nova de Milfontes. Alyssa (YAY!!!) and the orther Argentinian Andres met us in Setubal. We met Mariana in Vila Nova de Milfontes and walked to the hotel (there were tons of random slugs on the ground, quite strange). That night we ate dinner, went over rules, then just hung out for the rest of the night. Alyssa and I had this thing about a banana, hilariousness. We stayed up until about 4 in the morning doing random crap and talking. Alyssa's host family is MESSED UP! Her host parents are getting a divorce and they're basically crazy...

Saturday I had to get up for a 9 o clock breakfast (yuck), which the hotel totally skimped out on...all we had was bread, yogurt, and coffee, while in the other part you could have cereal and all this other stuff. We stayed in Camaratas too, which are big rooms filled with about 20 bunks each. All of us were wondering where all this AFS money goes, we spent all this money and don't even get real hotels. The bathrooms were really nice though, Alyssa andI were going to sleep in them...but not really.

Anywho, Saturday we got up for breakfast and then did some really pointless activities. We had lunch and after lunch and after some more pointless activities, they let us wander the town. Alyssa, Ben, and I found a clothes store, a candy store (amazingness...), some supermarkets where we discovered that sour cream just does not exist here, and wandered down to the beach. After the beach we had 30 minutes to go back to the Supermarket to pick up some stuff for my Mac and Cheese dinner dish for the "international dinner". We were running through the streets
of Vila de Milfontes to make it back in time, only to find out we had 30 minutes longer than we thought. After that, we made the Mac and Cheese, ate the dinner (Ursula made Empanadas and Tuna Pie things - both were AMAZING). After dinner we did this talent show thing that was sort of dumb, but somepeople sang and played guitar so it was sort of fun.

The volunteers took us to this Turkish Cafe where we had cappuccinos and just hung out, it was a really cool place, the decorations were awesome. The rest of the night we all just hung out talking a stuff. It was crazy fun...Alyssa and I hung out in the sort of common room, and the night shift nazi kept coming down and telling us to be quiet, even though we were WHISPERING! Then we went to the kitchen to get some cereal, and the night shift nazi FOLLOWED us and kept asking what we were doing, so we just had to tell him we were getting water...nazi...Later we took some videos, I don't remember everything exactly but it was pretty awesome.

Sunday morning we got up for breakfast (which we saw they had set out the night before - teh nast) and took a walk along the beach. We had to do a few more pointless activies unfortunately, but we still had time to eat lunch and hang for a bit. When it was finally time to go, we all parted with beijinhos and promises to meet up again soon.

Those of us going by bus had to take a taxi to Sines, then a bus to Lisboa, and then another bus for me to Porto. It was long, but I had music and books...my phone did die, but whatever, I got home alright...and I did fall out of the bus walking down to meet Ines, equally painful and embarrassing.

Today I had a lesson with my Portuguese tutor, and I must admit that after a weekend of speaking mostly in english, it was a bit hard getting back to speaking mostly in Portuguese. I'm starting to make friends here, Ana Lucia, Pia, and I might hang out in a weekend or two. After school I went with Manana - we had some pastries, went on the metro together, I helped her with her English homework, and her mom gave me a ride home. Tomorrow we're meeting to walk to the metro together, and this weekend I think we may play some Tennis.

Well, I believe that's it...or at least all I had the patience to write. Stay tuned =)

Kip Visit

2008-02-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

So, Kip has already written a lovely description of his trip here...and I was lazy and wouldn't be able to write anything this good anyway. Here's an excerpt from his blog, hope he doesn't mind. Enjoy...

Well, basic outline: I found Kip eating in my kitchen Saturday morning looking a bit worse for wear. He apparently had gotten semi-mugged in Porto. And honestly I think he might have gotten the wrong idea of Porto, it is probably as safe or unsafe as any big city. (comments by Caroline in green)

"After my lovely post-arrival nap, Caroline and I talked a little bit with her host-padre about my cooking and apparantly Caroline had been setting high expectations that I would be cooking there. Hehe, well I am not one to disappoint with food so I agreed one of the days to make an American meal and afterwards we headed out to Porto where Caroline was supposed to meet one of her friends.

After a long metro ride and some catching up Caroline and I arrived to find a tall thin blonde-streaked guy looking just a little younger than me (actually Kip, he's 17, so not much older than I am) dressed in a nice European style. This apparantly was Johannes from the Ferro Islands, which come to find out is a territory of the Dutch, with its own language and mythology and songbooks! We fascinated ourselves by taking a little tour of Porto complete with a trip to a coffee shop where I tried a Mokachok - served in layers, I think it included whipped cream (chantilly in Portuguese), thick thick chocolate and something else. It tasted like chocolate gravy, outrageously thick and chocolatey with a light and ever so slightly spicy flavor. I personally got a mixture of this chocolate drink with coffee, since I needed a good waking up.After enjoying this refreshment, we toured around a bit.

Porto I would describe as similar to the London of the movie Sweeney Todd just with more monuments - same sketchy people all over and really dark and dank with stone streets and buildings. Several times I asked the two of them where we were and very nonchalantly they would say 'eh, I have no idea... where does that alleyway go?' (hey, it wasn't that bad! We knew our general area...maybe). I was not feeling good about this. But we stayed out of trouble and spent a good amount of time hanging out by the riverside, which was pretty wide open and nice (hah, and you guys sat in birdpoop and Johannes FREAKED OUT). I liked having open space with good lightinig and not-sketchy looking people around. Across the river we could see the buildings of different Porto wine producers, and as well there were some boats in the river and as we crossed to the other side, we amused each other with international swear words and the various translations thereof. I think Johannes won out with his Ferroese phrase meaning something like 'damn you to the flames of hell' (I'm so learning that language someday). It had a nice ring to it. But we circled around a couple of times, found some Spanish speaking girls from Catalunya to take pictures of us, got some Portuguese pastries (Johannes wanted chocolate cake... and he wanted it right then. It was very out of the blue... C: '...yeah, so I told him I wasn´t interested...' J: 'I want chocolate cake.' K:'What?' J: 'I want chocolate cake, is there a cafe around here?' ) (so true...he was after that chocolate cake all day). We had a nice time walking around Porto and Caroline and Johannes even bought tickets to the Nightwish show in Porto for mid April (hellz yes).

I had told Caroline that I wanted Chinese food for dinner, but her host Padre had told us we needed to be back home by 9pm which in Spanish time is dinner time, so we just went home and discussed food options. Her host Padre of course was very friendly and pointed out some nice places we could visit along the seashore. Well we went out looking and toured around the beautiful plazas and seashore and eventually settled on a café reasonably close to her house that had pizzas. (yay random pizza) I got a pizza wth egg on it while Caroline got a tropical pizza.The whole time we were walking and talking, we discussed what we missed from home, who we missed from home and crazy things for the future - for instance Micajah, he is the first child to kind of enter into our group at home, the 'View Crew' if you will (or VC for short... not VietCong, none of us is named Charlie... or Asian for that matter). In as short as 5 or 6 years, some of us in the VC may be getting married or even begin having children! That´s just too soon! We discussed it at length and heck I couldn´t even decide who my best man would be at a wedding. The point is, we´re getting older and even though we still get together as much as we can, the dynamics will continue to change and I don´t know if I´m ready to be called Uncle Kip, you know? We talked also about what it will be like when we got back to the US, and as we talked about it, there aren´t any hangout places or cafés in Forest. So Caroline and I talked at great length about a café that we would like to make in Forest, a place with enough space for a dance floor and a band, good tapas and snack foods for students and people on a hurry, good generally inexpensive coffee for people on the go (there is no such thing as a to go cup here, we miss that). My thought for the name was Iberia, but who knows. We could have pastries and scones and good bread and tapas and snack foods (not junk, real food), it would be an awesome meeting place and hangout place, especially if it were out by Sonic or Carol´s or something.

We entertained ourselves a great deal talking about that until we finally got home late and got some rest before the next day.I was a little bit lazy after all my travels and so I got up about 11am to shower and be ready for the day. We resolved to be cooking lunch which could be ready about 2:30 and so we went out to tour the Vilha do Conde area. We went out to the seashore where we hungout on a pier above some rocks. We watched the waves and admired the shells, it was a beautiful and peaceful place, not to mention the pretty awesome weather. I commented that sometime we should come out for a little cookout of all the mussels hanging out on the shore. There were also tons of little gastropods such as limpets and tiny conch-like snails with curled shells. It was beautiful and peaceful, and we also went out to see a 16th century high seas exploration ship called the Nau. It had realistic mannequins inside that were for lack of better words creepy, but all in all it was an interesting boat with lots of robe and barrels and rocks in the bottom (supposedly for road paving in the 'New World').

When we got back, it was time to decide what lunch would be! We had already told them that we wanted chicken, spinach and a couple of other things, but we finalized the menu to: grilled barbeque chicken, roasted potatoes with onions, spinach salad and my fruit parfait dessert. There were two interesting things about this meal. First was my invention of a barbeque sauce, the second was their complete revulsion to the idea of eating spinach raw. To create a barbeque sauce, I pretty much rounded up everything in the kitchen that looked like it could fit and cooked it together for a little while. I think I used apple cider vinegar, ketchup, sugar, salt, black pepper, hot chile powder, oregano, and some other stuff I couldn´t name. But you know what, it actually turned out pretty good! I was very surprised and pleased with myself, it could have maybe used some mustard or brown sugar or molasses or cumin, but it worked! Then the host madre had already very nicely cut up the chicken for me, so I just let the sauce marinade with the chicken for a little bit while we prepped the potatoes. Caroline, of course was my very deft and helpful assistant every step of the way. I quite enjoyed being able to cook again and have my own dominion of flavors and construction of something delicious and beautiful. It was a very freeing and lovely feeling to be creative with what I know best. Caroline even added to the atmosphere by bringing down her laptop and playing some musical songs that we could sing along to. It was just like being back at home cooking :-). We cut the potatoes into cubes about an inch wide, along with semi-circle thin slices of onion and a dressing of olive oil, salt and this pesto that the family had (it could have used more salt all in all I think). That we just tossed together and put into the oven at 400ºF, which as it turns out is 205ºC. Then I made a little vinagrette for the spinach salad. The spinach, I should note, was much tougher and darker in flavor than American spinach. By itself I could understand why they were not very pelased with the idea of raw spinach, but I think with my dressing it was going to turn out just fine, and I was excited to have them try something completely new to them. I whisked together some apple cider vinegar with olive oil and honey to emulsify it, then I added some slices of tomato meat to give it some body and texture. Then it was time to face the chicken. Some of the pieces that were cut off the whole chicken were definitely not what we would be interested in eating grilled in the US - chicken ribs, the keel bone, the neck and several other things I could not even recognize. I asked the host dad if I could give the neck to the dog, and he very vehemently (though friendly) insisted that he would eat it himself.

I must point out that this family has a dog in their little back yard, he´s a very friendly golden retriever that generally seems to not be treated with love (I must say...it's true). The family hardly ever pets the dog, much less lets him in the house and never gives him treats and the host padre at least handles him very roughly, by the collar and with harsh words and always dismisses the dog from anything. Meanwhile, Caroline and I are generally hoping the dog can come over so we can pet him and give him little snacks and stuff. It was very different treatment from what I´ve even seen in Spain. All across Spain, dogs I´ve seen were treated very nicely, usually even without a collar, just running around free. All the while Spanish dogs are generally really really well trained to voice and signals to stay and come and get down and all that. Caroline´s host family seemed to really enjoy the trick of having the dog shake their hands... but other than that he only had commands to go away or get back in his little area of the yard or to be pulled over and chained to a tree. I did not really agree with the handling of the dog, but he is under their care and seemed to still like people and very healthy, so it´s not a great violation of anything I guess.

Anyways, after sifting through a couple of methods, the host padre showed me that they do have something similar to a grill - it´s very much like a cooling rack set right on top of a heating element, set overtop a pan to catch the runoff juices. Having the heating element set right underneath the rack on which the food was set made for lots of charring, but in general it looked very good and cooked nicely through. The smell of it and the music and the company of Caroline brought both of us back to our summer tradition of fourth of July festivities at the Ballard house (gotta love it, eh?), which we tried to describe to the host Padre who was most curious about our yankee culinary creations.

So there it was! We had a nice salad dressing for the spinach, which they seemed most curious about, as well as beautiful grilled barbeque chicken and roasted potatoes and onions. It made me miss my mother´s home cooking but at the same time I was satisfied to be there with this beautiful home food with Caroline to enjoy and also the wonderfully pleasant and welcoming company of Caroline´s host family. The entire family was very very receptive to the meal and even rather enjoyed the spinach salad, despite their preoccupations! (they have cooked spinach here ALL THE TIME. I must say I will be happy to get home and never have to see that mushy crap ever again. Please mom, if you read this, I am never eating mushing warm spinach when I get home) Then it was time for dessert!

The night before they had brought out some frozen raspberries which were by this time thawed with some liquid. They then had some fresh strawberried which we sliced up. All of this we macerated in the liquid with a good deal of sugar and a little salt to taste, to let thicken and marinade (I guess) in the fridge. We then crushed up some portuguese cookies (hey I did this!) (important note here... the Iberian peninsula does not have soft gooey cookies. They do not exist. There is no such thing as a hot soft chocolate chip cookie to eat with hot chocolate or milk or whatever. It is a sad state of affairs, and something that everyone mentions from time to time missing from home. I think some day I may simply make a lot of soft chocolate chip cookies to bring to the JMU office. They will be gone in a flash, but it would be nice I think.) and we set the cookies in the bottom of single serving bowls. Then we whipped up some Portuguese natas (it went everywhere with that blender...), which I guess is like heavy cream into chantilly, or whipped cream. This was laced with sugar and a little bit of vanilla, then set on top of the crushed cookies. Then we brought out the macerated fruit and spooned that on top of the whipped cream, then topped it all off with a swirl of honey, just for that extra touch of home. If I do say so myself, it was my favorite part of the meal, and very well received by the family. In response, they told me that 'next time I come' I should bake some bread, too! I can definitely do that. I think they liked it, and I do dearly miss my bread.

The rest of the day we just spent walking around and discussing our future café for Forest and relationship stuff. It was just nice to have a friend to talk to who knows me well enough to finish sentences and knows exactly who I´m talking about and what I mean, not to mention what I miss. Then again Caroline is kind of a special case in any way since she´s my little sister (aw yay...), eu ermão (btw- it's spelled irmã) or mi hermana.It was sad to go since Vilha do Conde was such a beautiful and open place, not to mention friendly. I hope to go back sometime and actually I might be dropping by at the end of my spring break to Santiago de Compostela and then maybe later again on my last weekend free, the first weekend of April.

It´s nice to see your friends."

OK- this week has been good so far. Today two of my teachers didn't show up to class so yea, menos muitas aulas...I had lunch with Johannes near Casa da Musica and then we just hung out, talking and such on a bench in the Rotunda park thing. Hanging out is a precious thing...a lot of the time it's like you always have to be doing something to have fun, it's nice to be comfortable with someone to "just hang". He's really fun to talk with, I'm glad we both go to school in Porto. Anywho, yea. We went to a McDonalds for lunch, got some Sundays, and talked about Family, Politics, Friends, Activites, Exchange...it was good.

Once I got back to school I went to the bibliotecha with these girls from my class Raffa and Mariana. They were really nice and we showed each other pictures and talked about stuff. Then there was English...very easy.

When I got home I went to the gym stressout and I think I'm going to start taking a latin dance class there or something - que fixe! I feel like I'm starting to fit into the family a bit more and this weekend is the 6 week orientation which I'm pretty excited about. Here's to a good rest of the week! Don't forget to check my photobucket - worldtravelercaro - for pictures!

A week in review, and a rollercoaster of one at that!

2008-02-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

Another week, another post…

Yet again I apologize for the time in between posts, it’s ridiculous that I should have so much time and not be able to post…then again most of that time is spent on train rides. Now let’s go over this week shall we?

Friday – Some friends of the Nunes’ arrived. They had two daughters and a son. After dinner Ines, Fred, their daughter Raquel and I went out to get coffees with some of their friends. It was cold and I felt sick and they wouldn’t leave until like, 1:30 in the morning, which really sucked because we had to get up early the next day. Not exactly a very fun night.

Saturday – We went to Ponte de Lima, which is a medieval town where Fernando works as a professor. His school was originally a monastery built in the 12th century, so we went on a little tour. After the tour of the school we went to the town to see some of the architecture and monuments and things. They had a bridge built by Romans! And there’s a market here that’s been taking place every other Monday for 2000 years! That’s how much history is here…Once we had eaten lunch we went to this nature walk thing, and the landscape here reminds me a lot of New Mexico or El Paso…dry with the sort of piney trees and rocky mountains. Saturday night I went out again with the other kids and this time was a lot more fun. People talked to me and I could talk back.

Sunday – I went to Porto with some of the other AFSers. It was so much fun. We ended up eating a late lunch/early dinner at this Turkish restaurant (Elif helped us with the names of the foods), got some Mochachocs, and walked across this bridge overlooking the River and all the wine factories and stuff. I love hanging out with them, they’re the only people who really get me here…And Johannes and I and maybe Raven might go to a Nightwish concert in April!!! That would be soooo awesome.

Monday – gosh…I don’t even remember what happened Monday…a whole lot of nothing! But I did get two packages from home – AND MY PASSPORT!!!!

Tuesday – yea…kind of the same…nothing happened, except I picked up my passport at the post office

Wednesday – this is the day that I have all day at school…leave the house at 10 ‘til 7 and get to school at 8:15…I hate it. After school though we had an AFS group meeting with my counselor (Nuno, he’s awesome- sort of like chic nerd, he's got the emo glasses and everything!) and some other Porto AFSers, and we went to eat and just talked. Nuno said that I’m progressing fast with the language and if I try really hard I might be able to become fluent by the end! But when I told this to my host dad, he said he didn’t think that was the most important part and that he didn’t think I could do it. When I got home I really had to go to the bathroom so I said a quick hello and went upstairs…unknowingly I apparently offended them though…

Thursday – I got up and didn’t have any clean clothes and my host parents got kind of angry that I hadn’t taken my laundry sooner, but I didn’t know! Thursday night they sat me down for a sort of “serious talk” and I asked me if I was happy here…and you know…I’m not really, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell them. I don’t like taking 2-3 hours just commuting to school every day, and I feel like it’s hampering my ability to make friends. But my host family said I’m not making enough of an effort and that I’m too passive with friends and school and activities. I felt so cornered and accused. My host mom was just spitting out one “I don’t understand why you do this!!” after another. She said she didn’t understand why I had to go to Porto Sunday to be with the other AFSers instead of staying with the family. And that she didn’t know why if I was bored I hadn’t tried to look for anything to do BUT I HAVE!!! I went to the Centro de Juventude to see if they had anything to do but they said they didn’t and I’ve been asking about dance schools… They kept mentioning that it was okay if I wanted to switch families, like they wanted me to or something. I’m kind of confused about all of this, and Nuno is going to be gone to Switzerland for 2 weeks so I’m not going to have him to ask what to do or to talk to. I have a lot to think about…

Friday – today I vowed to be positive and keep an open mind – and it was so much fun! I talked to this girl Manana on the way to school. She lives in Vila do Conde but is the only other person here who goes to Garcia da Orta. She’s really nice and invited me to play tennis with her on Saturdays. Even she said it's hard to live so far from the school, and she's Portuguese. I can see myself being friends with her though, and it’s cool she lives close! We even like some of the same movies, and I think maybe she'd like to have a friend in Vila do Conde as well. And thankfully she’s one of those people who are really patient with my language skills…hopefully that can grow into a friendship or something…I might even meet up with her this weekend and introduce her to Kip.

Later, my stupid Filosofia teacher made me do the test, which I had no idea what to do for it, let alone what the material was about. Estupida…

After school, Julia and I went to her house and had a snack and just talked for probably an hour. It was so nice…then her friend Sara came and the three of us and her family had dinner. Afterwards, Julia, her family, and I went to see a small concert of Fado! It was held at a Jesuit center and was raising money for a charity. We walked up this stone path lit was candles into a dim room with curtains and scarves and pillows and candles everywhere. First was a group from Coimbra, 3 men with guitars and 3 men singing. They wore the traditional black fado scarves and sang very melancholy songs. Then there was a break and Julia, me, and a few girls from my class at school and their friends went outside to talk. It’s a lot nicer being in an environment away from school, it’s easier to open up to people. Then there was a group playing music more typical of Lisbon, which is a brighter sound and louder…but that could be because we moved to the front where you could sit on pillows on the floor instead of in folding chairs. Unfortunately I had to leave around 11:45 (I hate being so far from Porto…) and came home…AND KIP IS COMING TOMORROW!!! I’M SO EXCITED!!!!

I miss home so much…every last one of you!!!!

(by the way - I have a photobucket now, just go to photobucket.com and search for worldtravelercaro, the same name as this blog)

2008-02-14T01:44:00.000-08:00

new post coming tonight so don't forget to check later today!!!....Happy Valentine's Day (blegh)

Carnaval...and the insane way these people party

2008-02-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe I’ve been here almost a month. It seems like an eternity and no time at all at the same time. It’s hard to describe…the other exchange students feel it too though. You live in this place where time and money have no significance…both seem not to exist. You either have too much or too little of both.

The past few days have been Carnaval, which means no school. Just as a bit of background info, Carnaval is sort of like our Halloween. Everyone dresses up in costumes and goes out, though minus the trick or treating and plus parades. Today’s my last day of break, but school hasn’t seemed like school yet, so there’s not a lot of difference. Lots of free time as usual.

Saturday – went shopping in Baixa (the downtown) with Ines and her friend Pipa. The weather was great. Didn’t buy anything though, just looked and went to a café. And when were outside the mall, this crazy guy came up to me, mumbled some stuff in Portuguese, touched my hair and walked away. It was so creepy!!! I was supposed to have dinner with some AFSers but it didn’t work out, so I came home and watched Phantom of the Opera. I also found out the word for ladybugs = Joaninhas, which means “little Joanna”. Thought some of you Sweeney Todd fans might appreciate that.

Sunday – Ugh, the weather was terrible! Rained a ton in the morning. By afternoon it had cleared a bit, and Ines and I went to a café with her friend Joanna (everyone here is named Joanna! Seriously!). After the café, Fernando and Fernanda picked us up and we went to Vila da Cha for launche at Fernanda’s parents house with a bunch of family. Kind of boring for me, since my language skills are limited.

Monday – I woke up, had breakfast, took a shower. I went with Ines to the Centro de Juventude to see if I could join an orchestra or choir or have lessons or ANYTHING. But alas, nothing. You can only start anything if you sign up in June or September. So I seriously don’t know what I’m going to do for the next few months without music at all and no extra curriculars. Extra curriculars (music and arts) are my LIFE! Around 6 pm, Ines and I took the subway to Porto where we went to Pipa’s house to get ready. I was meeting up with Raven and Andi (a Hungarian AFSer), but a lot got lost in translation. At first we were going to meet at the Sao Bento metro station, then at a bus stop, but they eventually called a cab and came to Pipa’s house.

We then went to Pipa’s friend Ana’s house for dinner. Very yummy actually, sort of like
a Portuguese version of Mac and Cheese. I actually found the Super Bowl on TV, broadcast in Portuguese…though I only watched for about 5 minutes…so sad I missed it =(.

After eating, we walked to this place called Mario’s Bar that was right by the Ocean. It was really cool, if not extremely windy. I got a vodka and raspberry and a vodka and something limey while I was there, really good. It was a bit small, but they played some Latin music, which was fun to dance to. At about 2 am we left the bar. Andi had to leave (sad, she’s really awesome) so we went up to the street to meet her dad, and found this outdoor bathroom that was really hilarious, but beside the point.

When she had left, Ines, Pipa, Sara, Raven, and I went to the nightclub Industria, which was in this shopping mall thing. Raven and I swing danced a bit (though it’s freaking cramped in a club) and I got this coconut rum thing – might have been my favorite of all. A live band played, and they weren’t great, but OK. Not good dancing music though, which kind of sucked. They had two dance floors with two DJs, so we sort of went between the two all night. Unfortunately, someone spilled their drink on me (yuck) and it was really smokey. I’m still feeling it in my vocal chords.

I was really surprised at how many people I saw that I knew. A few from my class, a girl from my German class, and even Maud – one of the other two AFSers at my school! We finally left the nightclub at 7:30 and went back to Pipa’s house to crash.

Tuesday - Fernando and Fernanda came and picked us up around 1 pm on Tuesday. We went back to the house and there was a parade! We watched it from Ines’ window. It reminded me a lot of the Bedford Christmas parade, only no marching bands, and way better floats – though they were all schools and organizations and such. At night, I got my webcam hooked up and Chris Woolley and I fiddled for an hour or two with how to get it to work. At one point, Chris couldn’t hear me and I couldn’t hear him, then I tried with Fuzz, and Fuzz could hear me and I couldn’t hear him. VERY FRUSTRATING. But finally, Chris and I finally got it to work, but at that point only had 10 or 15 minutes to talk. At least now I (think) I know how to make it work, so it won’t be a problem.

Wednesday – woke up, had breakfast, read a bit, watched some TV, took a shower, had lunch…writing this. Really boring. *yawn* I think I’ll take a walk soon. The weather is gorgeous, almost hot here, like 70s and sunny. Maybe spring is on its way? Hopefully!!

Kip is (I think) going to visit in a week and a half (the weekend of February 15 through 17). I’m so excited!!!! Unfortunately though, I’ve had a toothache the past couple of days. Not good…I just hope it gets better and I don’t have to go to a dentist here.

Miss you all so much…please comment, or email, or IM, or write…anything! I love news from home, it gets me through the week!

Food

2008-02-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me how a Portuguese woman can come home after a long days' work and whip up a meal that looks like it belongs at Crown Sterling. Seriously. Last night I came home from school (it was pouring, blech) and Fernanda whipped up a meal of chicken courden-bleu, greens, vegetables, pie, chocolate fondue, and homemade whipped cream. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Today I thought I was going to go to dinner with some other AFSers, but no one could go...so I went shopping with Ines and her friend Pipa. I came home and had dinner (fabulous as usual, fresh fish, spinach, rice). We watched Phantom of the Opera...yet again, funny how snippets of a previous life can catch you off guard. So many memories are associated with that music for me. Now I'm here. It's Carnaval, which means tons of little kids dressed in costumes, and (hopefully) going out on the town.

Getting LOST

2008-02-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

I just want to watch LOST =(

But the free ABC online is only for people in the US, and iTunes downloading takes hours and costs my host family money.

It's just one TV show!! It shouldn't be this hard to find!!!

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

2008-01-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been a week, I just haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write. I'll do a bit of a quick overview for now, and go and elaborate perhaps a bit more tomorrow.

Thursday - My German teacher exiled me from the class for drawing too much attention for being a foreigner...whoops. =)

Friday - We had a family friend come and visit, so of course the dinner was out of this world. Salad, Bacalhau, Dessert...yummy.

Saturday - Started out feeling pretty lonely and homesick. Then it got a LOT worse. I was stuck in the house and not able to receive my package from home, which was very aggrivating. Finally I was about to lose it when Ines and I took off for NorteShopping at last. We met up with a few of her friends for dinner (they're really nice) and went to FNAC where I got a few English books. After dinner I went bowling with some kids from school for two of their birthdays. Can you believe they have AMF bowling in Portugal?!?! Well they do! I even rolled a strike, but we all did terrible. No one got higher than an 86. It was one of those nights where they do blacklights and disco balls and strobes and stuff. The kids were all nice to me. Sometimes it pays to be the cute foreigner! (though with all these pastries I'm getting fatter every day...)

Sunday - I woke up on Sunday and ate breakfast with the host Pais. I then proceeded to go around Vila do Conde taking some video. It was a gorgeous day - wonderful walking weather. Expect videos soon...I'm still figuring out how to change them so I can put them on the internet. After I came home, I headed to Porto to meet with some of the AFSers (Raven, Johannes, Elif, Melody, Christina, Svenja). We did the usual of AFS kids - wander around the city looking for good cafes. However, we did stop to look around Casa da Musica - this strange place that's a concert hall but also weird with design and architecture. We had lunch on the other side of the river where I tried francisinha. It's a porto specialty, but I probably wouldn't have it again. Basically it's Texas toast, sausage, ham, beef, cheese, special sauce, and french fries all on a plate...I felt like a beached whale afterwards. We then traipsed back across the bridge to Porto and went to this AMAZING chocolate place with these things called Mocha-chocs. AKA heaven on earth. It's sort of a thinner version of hot fudge, condensed milk, and whipped cream. Oh my goodness....so after Porto I went to Vila da Cha to my host grandparents' house. Where we had afternoon tea (launche) and cake. Fatness.

Monday - The day of chasing trains. I woke up on time. Got ready. And the damn metro was 20 minutes late...never mind I had to catch a train to Lisboa!!! So anyway, it finally got to the station and I had to SPRINT to my platform (which I had no idea where it was). I got on the train about 5 minutes before it left. It was a good trainride, about 3 hours more or less. When I got to Lisboa I met Nadia, this really cool volunteer. We went to lunch in this huge mall and then to the American Embassy. And now I can finally have some piece of mind about the passport...it should be in the mail in 2 weeks! Then we had a few hours, so we went to the AFS headquarters in Lisboa and baixa, the downtown. What a small world, but Kip was leaving baixa, Lisboa about exactly the same time as I was coming into baixa! If only we could have met up! I didn't even know!! But I did get to see Martina, and the three of us talked about exchanges and stuff...got pastries (I need to stop!) and walked around. Then I realized I was late for my train. Again. So I parted with Martina (so sad!) and Nadia and an AFS staff and I ran to station...where they weren't selling anymore tickets. So I had to buy a ticket for a later train and wait another hour...but eventually I did get back to Porto!

Tuesday - Finally got that package! Lots of goodies. Getting mail here is like Christmas in an envelope. Write if you want! I also met another American who said he's here because his wife is Portuguese and has daughters my age.

Today - Long day! Wednesdays are my only day with morning classes so I have to leave the house at ten til seven. I had all my classes except Filosofia (probably a good thing since the teacher wasn't too happy when I had the Portuguese lesson yesterday instead). I went to Casa da Musica for breakfast with Maria Joao. My classes can be a bit boring and I tend to daydream sometimes...but that's ok. I had lunch alone, but after everyone heard they were like "next time you'll eat with us". I came home...we had salmon for dinner...yum.

Hopefully this weekend/Carnaval I will get the chance to go to some discos/bars with Ines, other AFSers, kids from school...we'll see where the weekend takes me! And Kip might visit soon!!!

One thing that does bother me a bit about the Portuguese is that they don't have a lot of regard for personal possessions. So if you have a book on your desk, they'll take it off and flip through it without asking. It just sort of bugs me, especially if I have stuff I've written and they start looking through it. Today I was passing a note with this guy Joao in my class, and there wasn't anything really in it. Just sort of like "oh where do you eat lunch? You live in porto? what are you doing for carnival?". But still people (who I like, they're nice but...) just picked it up and read it and started passing it around. I guess I just have to get used to it, and keep personal things WAY personal.

2008-01-29T03:51:00.001-08:00

don't stop reading! I just haven't had time to write everything out, but expect a long post very very soon!!!
Beijinhos,
Caroline

The new kid...part 2

2008-01-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry I’ve been a bit MIA, just haven’t had time to sit and write everything out, so here’s an overview of the past 4 days.

Sunday - not much worth writing. Basically just watched Pearl Harbor (with Portuguese Subtitles, of course). Took a walk, wrote some, had dinner…bummed around the house.

Monday – actually a very good day! The weather was gorgeous and I didn’t have morning classes. I woke up around 9, took a shower, and decided to go for a walk. As I made my way towards the river, I stopped at a café for a breakfast of Bolo de Arroz – a sort of lemony pound cake -, yogurt, and café com leite. After suitably stuffing myself, I walked to the sundial sculpture and met with Inês at Bea’s café. We went to buy some notebooks (writing has taken up a lot of time in which I would otherwise be homesick).

Around noon we caught the metro to go to school. In school we had English – easy, Art – wrote, and Geometry – read a book. Classes (called aulas) ended around 6:30 and we headed back home. When we got into Fernando’s car, he had a riddle for me. He told me I had a “Forest Burning Letter” at home. It took a minute but I soon realized he meant that my letter from the Burns had arrived! It was waiting for me in the hall but I decided to wait until after dinner to open it in order to build the anticipation a bit longer.

The dinner was traditionally Portuguese, made especially for me to try. It started with a sort of vegetable soup. The main course included Bacalhau (the national dish) with olive oil, chickpeas and onion, potatoes, spinach, and egg. Can’t say it was my favorite thing in the world but it wasn’t half bad – Kip you definitely should try it when you come. After dinner, Fernanda brought out a delicious chocolate cake she’d made because “Caroline tem suldades” – I had been homesick.

Finally – I could open my letter! It definitely brightened my day. I can’t provide details of the contents online, lest the wrong person read it, but let me just say John Burns is my hero. If you want to know what it is, just ask. A hint: JF is famous for it’s colorful rules…and now I have a piece of them! =)

Tuesday – fairly decent. I woke up around 6:00 (yucky) to get ready for school. I still hadn’t been placed in a permanent class so I was still going with Ines to class. Inês, her friend, and I went to breakfast at “Café Beomia”. We then caught the bus to school where we had Geometry and Filosofia. I had lunch with Julia, the other American AFSer at my school. It was really nice to talk (in good English) with someone who’s been through the same stuff as I’m going through now. I’m still lacking Portuguese friends, but I’ve made some good contacts with the other exchange students. After lunch there was Portuguese, Art History, and Gym. It was an okay day. When I got home (we walked) I tried to explain the Superbowl to Inês and Fernando. Fernando made homemade pizza and we ate at the kitchen table – very rare! We almost always eat at the dining room table.

Wednesday – Today started out AWFUL! I felt so homesick. Everyone had left the house, so I was home alone and couldn’t go for a walk or anything because I didn’t have a key – complete bummer. I had some yogurt and bread and watched Cartoon Network and Dr. Phil. I was really starting to feel awful about the time I had to leave for the metro. Since Inês wasn’t home, I had to go by myself. I got a bit lost on the way, but just had to look for the aqueducts and I could find my way. I successfully arrived at school (thank god) after having to do everything alone.

I went with Inês to her first class – English, but after that we went back to the secretary to check on my classes. And they had me in a permanent turma!!! 11M is my turma – humanidades. I started in Gym. They told me I had to pick a particular section to participate in, and the one I picked was all guys and only one girl! It’s pretty cool though because I have a lot of one on one with the teacher who speaks pretty fair English, and the one other girl. After that I went to my English class, and I’d already met the teacher in the Library on Tuesday! She was really nice, and got me to read a lot to demonstrate how a native speaker talks. It was really cool. I already knew one of the girls in the class as well, she’s a friend of Julia (Julia’s host brother’s – who’s in the US – girlfriend). Everyone was really nice and excited to meet me, I hope I make some good friends in the class!

I came home and had a letter from Tim (god I LOVE snail mail, I’m so keeping up the habit when I get home, it’s just more fun than email), which was pretty hilarious as well. Fernanda also got a letter from Eunice Neto about my passport. I’m supposed to go to Lisboa Monday to apply in person at the US embassy for my passport. I also have an invite to dinner with some kids from Ines’ class for Pedro’s birthday, and Sunday I will hopefully be able to go to Porto with some of the other AFSers. Tomorrow I have Portuguese Lessons with a tutor, which is exciting as well.

Here are all my classes:

Inglês, Português, Alemão, Filosofia, Historia, MACs, and Educação Física.

In English…

English, Portuguese, German (SWEET!), Philosophy, History, Math, and PE

Random observation: Guys dress WAY better here than at home. Nice shoes and jackets, pants that fit, pay a bit of attention into the hair. Doesn’t make them any more mature but is kind of funny, way nice. And I’m almost done with my book…I hope I’ll get that package soon from Mom or I will be so bored.

Oh and I was talking a bit with Fernando and he said that he didn’t know about AFS, but if I wanted to invite a friend from the US to come and stay for a few days, he was fine with it. Let me just say: AHHHH THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!!!!! Though I wouldn’t want anyone coming before April, because that would make me even more homesick, but anytime after April would probably be fine, especially since after then I would know the family better and be on the downhill road home.

I talked with Martina just now and it was so good to compare experiences and talk and stuff. We’re gonna try and hopefully meet up Monday when I’m in Lisboa, and perhaps she will be able to come and stay a weekend in February or March. Today has ended MUCH better than it started!

Até logo!

2008-01-20T05:12:00.000-08:00

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.

One is the loneliest number...

2008-01-18T03:32:00.000-08:00

Wednesday and Thursday were really hard days for me. I still don’t have friends and am not going to school, so I’ve just felt so alone. There have been times back home when I’ve thought, “Oh I’m so alone!” but nothing compares with this feeling. It’s sort of like a pit at the bottom of your stomach that grows bigger and bigger every minute that ticks by inside your head. I can’t really ever be 100% completely understood here. All this loneliness and miscommunication really makes me appreciate and miss all the more what I had back home. Great family, great friends, nice house, good environment, fun times…I always complained about there being nothing to do (which there isn’t on a daily basis), but now I kind of wonder why I actually went through with all of this. I’m missing so much – Orlando, Prom, festival, the spring musicals, my friends’ graduation, the beginning of the summer musical, turning 17 at home. Everyone keeps telling me that by giving up those things to go overseas I’ll gain so much more…but right now I just don’t feel it. I have gained a new respect for home, but if things don’t get better, this will be the loneliest 5 months of my life.

Wednesday practically no one was home (except Fred who was there in the morning with his friend Sara). I ended up watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which got me to thinking of the time I went to go see it with the original movie group and made me even more sad that now the group has been revived, I’m gone. It seemed like everything I did reminded me of home, or reminded me of the countless ways home was different. When everyone came back to the casa things were better, since the house was a bit busier. We watched the movie Chocolate and I helped Fernanda with dinner.

Thursday was slightly better. I was alone in the morning and ended up in my room feeling sorry for myself. But I made lunch with Fernando and learned some new words. Then he left and I was alone, again, feeling sorry for myself. I watched some of the videos I took before I left, which made me miss it, but also made me feel a little better, like they were actually in the room with me.

I was finally able to get out of the house around 4 and ended up wandering the town. I walked down the beach, toward this old fort thing. I rounded the corner and started down the river. This huge sundial statue loomed ahead, with many small sculptures beneath it of mermaids and spheres. I walked across a small bridge toward the towering convent up ahead. On the way I passed a replica não, a boat that used to carry cargo for explorers. I ended up turning left at the ponte (bridge) and purchased a tarte de maçã (apple tart). It was quite good, seeing as Vila do Conde is known for its pastries (Kip, you really must visit…). After that I just sort of wandered the streets, went to this really old church (think 14th/15th century) and finally arrived back at the casa. Fernando was home, so then he and I went to go purchase some fish. We had salmon that night and boy was it delicious. After that Fernanda, Inês, and I looked at some pictures and talked.

Nights are always better than mornings…since then I at least have someone to sort of talk to, even if we can’t always understand each other.

Today I got some selos (stamps), invelopes (envelopes), and fotos (photos) so I can send letters and send the photos to the American embassy for my dang passport. I wonder if I hadn’t lost my passport if maybe I would have gotten off to a better start and wouldn’t feel so crappy. Who knows…I thought I would be the last person to want to go home after a week, but the world is full of surprises.

I’m not going to give up though! If I don’t believe it or even if I don’t want to do this anymore, maybe if I keep telling myself I can do this, I’ll actually be able too. Maybe I’ll even enjoy myself a little bit.

In about an hour, Fernanda and I are supposed to go to my school to sign papers and get a schedule and stuff. I really would like to do the humanities (humanidades) track, but AFS already talked to them about putting me in Inês’ class. It’s not that I don’t like Inês, I just don’t think it would work out well if we were ALWAYS together, because you spend all your time with the same 25 people, and if every day I was with her all day, we might end up killing each other.

I did get an invitation to lunch with some of the Porto AFSers and an AFSer Brittany from Èvora, but my family might be showing me around Porto in which case I won’t be able to meet them. I’d love to go with my family, and if they’ve planned that I’m kind of obligated because family comes first here, but right now I’d really, REALLY like to spend some time with other kids my age who aren’t family. I could also ask them about being exchange students here and…well I think it would just be good for me, but we’ll see. I told Fernando about Kip wanting to come and meet them and he said, “We’ll see”, so maybe I’ll bring it up again in about a month when they know me better and trust me.

I know when someone goes away it hurts at first for the people back home, but they forget pretty quickly what it was like to have them around. I’m so afraid of being forgotten…it will happen, I know, things will return to normal for everyone except me. I just hope that it doesn’t get to the point where when I come back, everyone will be so settled in without me that it won’t matter I’ve returned. By then, at least I’ll have a lot of practice in being alone.

The New Kid

2008-01-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my first day at school, and boy was it an adventure.

First off, it poured pretty much all day, which made it doubly gloomy. I’m technically not registered at school, so I just went with Ines to her classes. All the students in her class went to every single class together, so you’re with the same 20 or 25 people all day – pretty different from U.S. schools. All the teachers taught in Portuguese (obviously) so all that went pretty much right over my head. There were many times during the day when I wished I could just be home in Webb’s office eating lunch with people who I know and love…it was a very hard day.

There were some good points though! I met Maud from Canada and Julia from the U.S. – the two other AFSers at my school. They were both really nice and gave me their phone numbers (yes I did get a phone! My host mom was so sweet - she bought it for me…). Julia even sent me a few texts after school to check how I was doing, which I really appreciated after not being understood all day. I also met these really nice Portuguese teenagers in Ines’ class – Mariana, Maria Rui, and Joao. Mariana talked to me all throughout Gym and they were just super nice (and were pretty much the first three Portuguese teens I met that don’t smoke).

So here’s my day, in a time line sense:

6:40 (am)- overslept. Rushed to do hair and brush teeth and wash face.

6:50- left the house for the metro station

7:00- train gets to station, get on it, sit near front with Ines and her friend

7:30- gets to Casa de Musica, Ines and her friend and I eat breakfast at a café, I had a croissant with butter and warm milk…yummy!!

7:55- Ines, friend, and I catch the bus to school

8:15- school starts, aula(?) de Geometria (Geometry class), where they’re doing something COMPLETELY different from our Geometry classes, it all went over my head. After the class I got to meet Maud, the Canadian exchange student.

10:00- Filosofia, the teacher was really funny, even though he didn’t speak English. This kid was asking a lot of questions or something, and apparently the teacher said something like “You’re talking a lot today, perhaps you’re trying to impress our new student”.

11:30- Ines, her friend Pipa, and I caught the autocarro (bus) to a café where we met about 4 other students. There was this one kid who was pretty funny and was like “I like Britney. Not Pop Princess, I like fat and bald Britney. I’m from the Bronx. I’m Jennifer Lopez’ cousin”. The café was nice, I had a chicken salad, and finally got to break my 100 Euro note.

2:00- After lunch (yes, there lunch break is 2 hours long…so not fair) I got to meet Julia, the USA AFSer. I’m so glad I’ve met her, maybe I can have someone to talk with about being an exchange student here.) I went to Ines’ Portuguese class. I can tell I’m going to have a lot of difficulties there, it seems REALLY hard, even for the Portuguese students. I ended up writing a letter for the whole class. After this class we went by the principal’s office to check about me being registered, and she said they hadn’t processed my paperwork so I shouldn’t come back until it’s done.

3:30- Ines had history, but her teacher wasn’t thrilled I was there, so I ended up going to the Library, which was actually nice. I read old Time Magazines by a heater…yummy.

5:00- Ines had gym, but I sat with Mariana, a girl Katerina, and a boy Pedro. We talked about Portugal and the U.S., pop culture and politics and stuff. They were so nice to me, which was quite refreshing after being whistled at by a bunch of seniors on the bleachers.

6:30- We left the school and the rain completely CUT LOOSE! We ran to the bus stop, but then the bus didn’t come for about 20 minutes (maybe less, but that’s what it felt like). After the bus, we caught the train home where I played Sudoku on my new phone.

8:30- Sat down to dinner. We had soup, salad, meatballs, and mashed potatoes. They even bought me peanut butter, which is really hard to come by in Europe. After dinner, I gave them some gifts from the U.S. (UVA jackets/sweatshirts, Williamsburg peanuts that they ate in about 5 minutes, and a Christmas ornament of Tim). Then I showed them pictures of my friends and family, the marching band show, some home videos, and a few songs from Once Upon a Mattress.

A very, very, very long day.

Oh- good news everyone (at least for now, when I’m still pretty homesick). I will be coming back to the U.S. about 2 or 3 weeks earlier than I expected.

June 14 is the day (I think) I will either leave my host family, or leave Portugal, I’m not quite sure. They just said June 14.

Tchau!

2008-01-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

Today I went to my school.

I. Am. Going. To. Die.

The Language is ridiculous. And beautiful. Beautifully ridiculous.

I met 2 of the AFSers in the area that go to my school. Julia from Vermont and Maud from Canada, then Mariana, Maria Rui, and Joao were Portuguese teens who were really nice. Anywho I will do a more conclusive post tomorrow but at the moment I'm super tired.

Boa noite!

Finally here

2008-01-14T07:32:00.000-08:00

Ola!!!!

So I'm finally here! Let me tell you it's a completely different world...I still suck at the language, but I think it will get better. And the two kiss thing is different too, but I like it.

The Arrival Orientation was MUCH better than the Gateway. We stayed at this Quinta (inn) about 30 minutes away from Lisboa. There was the 5 USA kids, a girl from Costa Rica, and 4 Portuguese teenagers, plus about 3 Volunteers and 2 Staff. We did a ton of team building activities and things involving communication. It was absolutely gorgeous...I'll have to post pictures soon. The bread here is fantasic! Freshly baked with marmlade = scrumptious. They eat a lot of soup and pastas and such. One thing I had at the orientation kind of made me nauseous...but it wasn't that bad. Saturday night we did a thing with writing what we'll miss down and having to let go of it, which was kind of hard. Then there was this talent show that by the end just turned into a singalong with guitar and a mix of Portuguese and Beatles songs. Soon everyone just dissapated into talking and I stayed up late with Mariana, Martina, Sara, and Bernardo just talking. Twas lots of fun.

Sunday started out great. We learned some Portuguese and talked about living here. The language is very hard...and almost has an arabian accent because of the moorish influence. We had lunch and I said goodbye to the other AFSers, which was sad because all of them were really cool.

Then came the fiasco. Pedro (an AFS staff member) was going to drive me to a Volunteer who would take me to the train station (I had to take a train because my town is so far north my family couldn't drive). It was raining and I had my black passport case in my lap, and some where between changing cars it went AWOL. It had my passport, my train ticket, 74 Euros, my AFS info card, and some other various documents. So yea...not good to lose it. We got to the train station (Dulio and I) and he bought me another ticket, we reported the missing passport to the polizie, and we cancelled the credit card. I missed the first train, so I got on the next one around 5. Everything worked itself out, but it was a long, trying day.

When I arrived in Porto, Ines, Fernanda and Fernando were waiting for me at the train station. We rode in their car (a BMW!) to Vila do Conde, the cutest little seaside town ever! The beach is pretty intense though, it looks a lot like pacific beaches, you probably wouldn't swim in it because of the waves. There are tons of little cafes and Porto is about 45 minutes by comboio (train).

Tomorrow I'm going to meet with the principal and do some paperwork for my school. I really want to go soon and start meeting people....

well, here are some pictures from the week.

2008-01-09T20:09:00.000-08:00

Today, I suppose, is the real start of my adventures. We started our Gateway Orientation today and yea...long talks/lectures about stuff. Long day in general. Some people here got caught doing some not so good stuff by the volunteers just now (don't worry I was NOT among them) so I dunno what's gonna happen with that. Drama already. I've mainly been hanging with Alyssa though and we've just been goofing off and hanging out around the computer. I'm really sad that she has a late departure though, cause she would've made an awesome travelling buddy. The 2 women running the Orientation are...characters. Oldish and loud and...yea.

There are 6 people here going to Portugal and 6 going to Ghana. This number could perhaps change because of the incident,though I won't go into detail. All the other Portugal people seem pretty cool. My roommate's actually from Juno, Alaska, which is pretty awesome. As I said, I really wish Alyssa was coming with us on the flight and to the orientation is Lisbon.

New York was definitely fun. Lots of visiting colleges and such. My parents and Wes saw Young Frankenstein on broadway tonight, which I am thoroughly jealous of, though I will be on a plane to Europe in less than 24 hours, so I guess I don't have a lot of room to talk. I have no idea when the next time is I'll be able to access internet, perhaps tomorrow but I may not have time. Wish me luck!

A Very Long Car Ride

2008-01-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Sunday (yesterday) we packed up the car, and headed from Forest all the way to the Big Apple. I must say, it was a very long car ride. About 8 hours to be exact...and I did absolutely nothing productive. But come on! Give me a break! I had been up until 4 or 5 am the night before finishing my packing. Basically the entire car ride consisted of me gazing out the window, drifting in and out of sleep, and occassionally listening to some Portuguese tapes. About an hour out of Allentown, PA, it started to smell. Yucky horrid cow manure smell, even worse than Forest! I thought we had it bad, but man...I feel sorry for Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

A bit of backstory: my dad had gotten one of those new navigating devices for Christmas. Great, right? Well...until we actually gott to NYC. Turns out my parents didn't specify 8th street Manhattan, so the thing started to take us to Brooklyn. We ended up having to pull over to figure out why we drove onto and past Manhattan. Anywho, we finally got to the hotel (Hampton Inn on 8th and 51st) and went to dinner at this Mexican fast food place Chipotles.

This morning my parents and I went down to Soho to take a tour of NYU (after a frustrating subway journey). I like it a lot, methinks. Very different from Columbia, but cool nonetheless, and I got my picture with the Washington Square Arch! After the NYU tour, we met up with Wes and all four of us went to Rockefeller center for some lunch. They didn't charge us for our sandwiches, but I didn't feel bad because places like that cafe overcharge for everything. We then went to the NBC store, a Starbucks (where we saw Edward Hibbert! The Wizard from the TV Once Upon a Mattress, he was in the Prestige, and plays the Director in Curtains), and Barnes and Nobles near Lincoln Center. I thought I saw Sean snogging his girlfriend in Lincoln Center, but alas it was not him, I could tell by the shoes. Sorry Sean! I know you have more class than that...I think =P!

Sean had given me this girl Martina's, another AFSer, phone number. She called me and I met up with her at their highschool for the end of their Opera Workshop rehearsal, then her, sean, two of her friends and I went to get some food and talked near Lincoln Center. She seems really cool, I imagine we'll get to know each other pretty well over the next 6 months.

After talking, Sean walked me back to my hotel and then my parents, wes, and I went to John's Pizzeria and my mom, wes, and I went to Rockefeller Center again to see the tree all lit up.

Quite a good day, I'd say. Tomorrow we're gonna hit Columbia, Fordham (?), The New School, Chinatown, Soho, perhaps do some shopping, see Sean and Martina's opera workshop...you can't run out of things to do in New York. I love this city...

We meet again!

2008-01-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

Greetings all!

In a few minutes, I will be departing from Forest to go to New York City. I must say, it's been hard to say goodbye to everyone: I will miss you all more than you know. The "view criew", the newly reinstated movie group, the caitlins and emma, my video game playing hanging out crowd...you are all special to me. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for each and every one of you.

Now, enough of the sappy! My dad, mom, Wes, and I will arrive in New York City sometime tonight (later than we thought)...and will probably just eat and go to bed. The rest of our time in the big apple is negotiable, so I'll fill you in after the fact. Wednesday I go to the AFS Gateway Orientation, then Thursday night I will depart from Kennedy to fly to a connecting flight in Frankfurt which will take us straight to Lisbon.

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE traveling? =)

Vila do Conde e la familia Nunes

2007-12-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone!

So exactly one month from today I will be arriving in Portugal. Pretty scary, huh?

Scary...and way exciting =)

I received my host family and town I'll be staying in earlier this week. They live in Vila do Conde in northern portugal, 27 km north of Porto on the coast. The town was founded in 1318, but was settled first by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, and is obviously chock-full of history.

My host family sounds pretty cool as well. Here's a brief description of all the family members:

Fernando (pai) - the father, dedicated to his work

Fernanda (mae) - the mother, present and active mom, also works

Frederico (irmao) - the brother, funny and active

Ines (irma) - the sister, loves art and shopping

Tim (cachorro) - the dog, golden retriever

I still need to send off some pictures and forms to NYC before departure orientation, but I'm set with a lot of things so far. Just need the visa, the passport, and...well, frankly a lot of other things, but I'm getting there!

in the mean time I'll leave you with a few pictures of Vila do Conde.