Carnaval...and the insane way these people party

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!