TexMex...sort of.

I am a full week behind in posting so it's back to bullet form:

• Sunday afternoon, in a celebration of my new freedom after 2 terribly busy weeks, I went to the Gulbenkian garden to read. I sat in the grass and eventually took off my shoes, digging my toes into the cool carpet beneath my feet. I took off my sweater, getting some sun on my bare arms, and I munched on a pear while I wished my sunglasses weren't broken. Did I mention it's November? I think it got up to somewhere in the 70s that afternoon, hotter in the sun. I was so grateful for not having to stay inside and work, no matter how short-lived that respite would be. It's a sin to pass up such beautiful fall weather.
  
• Sunday was my roommate's birthday so after convincing her not to buy her own birthday cake, we took her to dinner and threw her a surprise party. We went to a Mexican restaurant in Belem overlooking the river. It was dark, and I was amazed to see that even on the edge of the river, there aren't a whole lot of lights along the banks. It felt very peaceful; still in the city, yet removed from the hustle and bustle. My first fajitas in 3 months were not quite up to TexMex par, but they were still delicious. You could definitely tell that it was Mexican food being cooked in Portugal: the beef was decidedly unmarinated. The Portuguese don't really believe in sauces or flavoring when it comes to carne...Despite the obvious differences, the food was really good and it was a nice taste of home. Guacamole tastes that much better when you haven't had it in months. Our waiter was Brazilian and I got really excited when I could distinguish the different accent. Ana taught us how to make cat ears out of napkins so that's how we passed most of the night when we weren't eating or singing happy birthday. Upon return to the dorm we hurried to blow up the balloons and light the candles without Tati noticing and then we told her to come to the study room where we blew whistles and woke up most of the 2nd floor. Whoops.
  
• Monday evening we went to a reception at City Hall for International Students Day. The room in which the reception was being held was super fancy, a Baroque bubble in downtown. Red velvet curtains sweeping 30ft down from the ceiling, which was painted and gilded with portraits of famous lisboetas, marble columns, chandeliers...although the mayor spoke mostly Portuguese, he did address us briefly in English. After that, Sarah and I retreated through the crowd to get some air in the foyer, whose ceiling is painted to look like it's carved. That's when we found the food. Normally, when I think "reception," I think non-messy finger food like cheese and crackers, generic chocolate chip cookies and soft drinks, maybe fruit juice. Apparently when the Portuguese think student reception, they think port wine and savoury pastries. If I ate shrimp, I could've made a meal out of this reception. The fancy room opened up to a balcony overlooking the square in front of City Hall, where my friends spent much of the evening looking at the stars and enjoying ourselves. Then a DJ started playing in the big room so we hopped back inside to dance. It was pretty cool showing up to what I thought would be a generic reception and staying to dance. Apparently Lisbon really wants to show its international students a good time. I don't have the vocabulary to tell the mayor that he really doesn't have to put on a reception for us to enjoy this beautiful city.
  
• Wednesday we went to the Palacio de Ajuda for my art history class. It's a massive neoclassic palace built after the earthquake with one of the most complex and beautiful entryways. The entry is a set of 2 round statue galleries, full of statues personifying the qualities of the king. In my opinion, it was a bit vain and contradictory, decorating your palace with statues claiming your humility and generosity to the people, while you build yourself a massive palace. The interior has been completely modernized to house the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, but the library is intact. The two stories are stacked floor to ceiling with books in peeling covers. To access the higher shelves you have to climb a rickety 15ft ladder. One of the librarians was wearing a white lab coat and brushing the pages of an extremely large, old volume. The paper crinkled as she steadily turned page after page, looking for stray eyelashes and dust. It literally felt like walking into another century. My professor gave me the "I'm disappointed that you'd be so crass as to take pictures in such a sacred place" look, but I snuck in a few anyways. I had just gotten my camera back less than 24 hours before. After a month of not being able to take pictures, I wasn't about to pass up such a beautiful place. (When I get my computer back I will post said pictures so you can fully understand the fairy tale quality of this library)
• I used the Gulbenkian library for the first time this week. Talk about complicated. It's free to get a library card but the online registration is entirely in Portuguese so it took a few minutes. After filling out the form on the computer, you go into the library itself and into this tiny Reference office. There, you sit with one of the librarians, for lack of a better word, where they go over your registration form and print you off your library card. Once you have your library card, you go back to the computer room, where you scan in your barcode and type in a password. Then you can search. Once a list comes up with your hits, you click on each individual link to see if it's what you need. If it is, you click another link which takes you to another page that says "are you sure you want this item?" You click yes, and a little machine prints off a receipt with a number on it. Then you wait for that number to be called up on the screens around the room and only then can you finally retrieve your materials. I can understand the desire to not have students browsing through the collections making a mess of things, but it's a whole lot of procedure. The library has huge windows looking out onto the garden. On the one hand, it's nice that I can still enjoy the beautiful day from inside. On the other hand, it's torture to have to be inside researching while such a beautiful day beckons from the outside. I guess I can't complain too much. It's November and warm enough for short sleeves.

My computer is waiting to be picked up at the repair shop so once I pick it up tomorrow, I will have both my camera and my computer and I promise I will post some pictures of the weather I can't help but brag about. Until then, tchau!