Portugalloween

I apologize for once again getting a full week behind. I haven't been able to use my hands this week as they have been frozen in the nasty bout of weather we've had. It dropped into the 50s this week. What on earth is happening? Instead of sunshine we have rain and instead of warmth we have blustery wind that is so strong it makes the palm trees dance. The Portuguese do not believe in central heating even though the brick buildings are colder on the inside than the weather is outside. Thus, I have been wearing 2 pairs of socks indoors except to shower. Wearing long underwear. Long sleeves. Sweatshirt. Wrapped in a blanket. My feet could chill a bottle of wine.

I mean, I might be exaggerating a little. I don't think everyone else is quite as cold as I am, save for Noey who is also from Texas. But I am cold when I'm inside the dorm. It's ridiculous.

I am fairly certain that I left off at Day 5 of the Adventures of Daniel and Elena. I had a lot of work to do that day, including a presentation to give, so Daniel ventured off on his own while I got to study. An uneventful day for the most part, save for the sheer exhaustion on my part. I told Daniel to meet us at the dorm at 9 so we could go to dinner. The Portuguese eat fairly late, so our arrival at our favorite Indian place at 10:30 was fashionably on time with the Thursday night dinner rush. We feasted, stuffed our faces, ate so much we couldn't move. And then we digested by wandering through the streets of Bairro Alto to give Daniel a taste of prime Lisbon nightlife (and his first-ever Lisbon caiprinha, a must-have if you ever visit) It was a fun evening and a great sendoff for my favorite visitor. Friday we slept in and took Daniel to Elephant Walk, another one of our favorite haunts, where we indulged in tostas (paninis) and drank lime-apple-orange-beet root juice. It was...a culinary adventure. And I'll leave it at that.

No, I won't leave it at that because I haven't mentioned Elephant Walk. It's a delicious little cafe that makes (experiments with?) fresh fruit juices daily. They let you sample each of the juices in tiny shot glasses so that you're totally satisfied with your purchase. And for the delicious price of 3.10euros, you can have a huge glass of fruityliciousness with a hot tosta and walk away feeling beyond satisfied. There are 2 people who work there that we have become friends with. One, a Brazilian grad student, is trying to work on her English because she is in a journalism masters program. So she speaks English to me and I speak Portuguese to her. It's amazing how friendly everyone is here. Most people are impressed that we even try to speak Portuguese and they are very patient with us. It's extremely refreshing, especially since popular culture encourages the idea that the rest of the world hates Americans. I haven't really had any problems with that here and it's nice to feel like I don't stand out as much as I thought I would.

And one more thing about Elephant Walk: It has a long lunch counter where you can sit and eat your tosta and it has a tiny room in the back that can seat 12 people at 3 tables. The room is approximately the size of my dorm room (shoebox) but it's amazing what they've managed to do with the decoration and design of the place. It feels a lot bigger than it really is and the closeness creates a kind of intimacy that makes the place really cozy and fun. It's the kind of ambiance you could never recreate in Texas, simply because no business would attempt to use such a small space and most people would be too uptight to eat rubbing up against someone else and they'd demand their personal space. Either that, or they'd be too impatient to wait their turn to squeeze through the crowded lunch counter. Portugal is first and foremost a lesson in patience and I'm thrilled to say I've acquired a shocking amount of patience. And cleanliness. That's right. I clean my room. Every day.

(Moment to wallow in self pride. Thanks)

Back to reality. I said goodbye to Daniel after Elephant Walk and headed down the street to school to meet the rest of the Americans for our weekend trip to Evora. The mood, like our luggage, was light and we were all very excited about relaxing in a quiet town after a very busy week. The train to Evora took us across the bridge that spans the Rio Tejo, affording us a spectacular view of the city. Camera still broken, I contented myself with making mental pictures. Evora is a very sleepy town. Our walk from the train station to the hotel took us past horse stables. There were very few people out. We checked in and walked around, ending up in the main square of the town and settling at a pastelaria. Our CIEE trips are prepaid so all meals--including lanche--come out of CIEE and not our wallets. Thank you parents. So naturally, lanche turned into a chaotic mess as we ordered multiple pastries and coffees and gelatos and IceTea limaos. I'm pretty sure I've seen animals hoard food in a more civilized fashion. It took 4 trays to get everything to our table. The same concept applied to dinner--every appetizer, big entrees, drinks, lots of bread, dessert, refills on everything. In the 26 hours or so that we were in Evora, I'm pretty sure we spent about 10 of them eating. Our touring of Evora was low-key: we visited the cathedral, the university, a couple churches. In one of the churches, we had to cut our visit short because we had found wedding #3. And it was going on. At least, the groom and his whole side of the family was there. But they let us in anyways, as long as we promised to stay off the red carpet running along the length of the nave.

So typically Portuguese. Let's ignore the fact that two people are about to have the most special day of their lives and let the tourists in! Minutes after we walked out the bride arrived and we clapped for her and smiled and admired her dress (which was beautiful, by the way) Wedding aside, the touring was relaxing and simple. We stopped for pictures on a terrace overlooking the city in the shadow of the Temple of Diana, a 5000 year old temple that sits on top of the hill with a simple guardrail at the front to indicate "Don't climb on the 5,000 year-old monument." (This was a concept some people had trouble observing) It was mind-blowing, though, to be walking up a hill and oh, there's a temple. A 5,000 year old temple. Just hanging out on top of the hill. No sign, no ticket booth, no fences to keep you from getting too close. It was pretty cool to be physically connected to history.

In short, Evora was beautiful, peaceful and full of delicious food. The rest of the weekend passed without incident. Lazy Sunday was as lazy as ever and my African neighbors were right on time with the 8 hours of Bob Marley blasting from the 3rd floor.

The week flew and it was Thursday before I knew it. We discovered a Brazilian bar in Bairro Alto, which of course was extremely exciting for our Brazilian friends. It started raining, so much of the evening alternated between hovering under balconies to stay dry and squeezing our way through the crowded bar to dance and sing along to the music. Friday I slept in and Sarah accompanied me on a bus trip across town to find the Olympus store so I could go about getting my camera fixed. The trip in itself was cool because I got to see a different neighborhood that I probably wouldn't have otherwise seen. It was further north than I've been in Lisbon. Even better, the guy at the camera store signed off on my camera as still being under warranty even though it's not, so I am getting it repaired and rushed for FREE. Life is muito bom.

I chose not to celebrate Halloween, although some Lisboetas in Bairro Alto were dressed up, most in witch costumes and with painted faces. They were dressed in more traditional Halloween costumes instead of "sexy nurse" and all the other inappropriate costumes traditionally found on college campuses. Still...I don't really like Halloween much so I skipped the dressing up and enjoyed a nice (dry) night out on the town. It was kind of cool just being out for Halloween and noticing the differences between American celebrations and the rest of the world. Some bars had hung decorations but in most places it felt like any other night in Lisbon. In any event, I think i would rather trick-or-treat for pastries...

Last night Sarah and I made hamburgers before going out, complete with ketchup. Everyone who walked into the kitchen said, "That smells good!" and we just smiled and congratulated ourselves on such a delicious meal. They really were. Had it not been freezing in the kitchen, the evening would've almost resembled a Saturday night cookout. Almost. We had a fabulous night out dancing and someone stole my coat from the coatcheck, balancing the fabulous with the less-than-fabulous. After being lent a coat by a friend, we headed home where Sarah and I sat in the kitchen watching the sunrise. (!!) A truly Portuguese schedule and truly wonderful weekend.

And now I am officially caught up. Maybe the next post will be less of a ramble and more coherent. Maybe. This week the most exciting thing on the horizon is the election. The American Embassy is hosting an election night party at the Hard Rock Cafe and we got invited. We are officially VIPs, as we had to give them our passport information for security clearance. Pretty spiffy, huh?

Boa noite! Ate logo