Portublog: What do cow print, chandeliers and the solar system have in common?

Well, it seems that I fail at blogging because I am now officially three weeks behind. Yikes! So much has happened over the past few weeks and I so want to do it justice but I simply do not have time because finals are upon me and the next two weeks are going to be full of nothing but papers and tests. All of that on top of trying to get souvenirs, pack and say the sad goodbyes that are inevitably coming no matter how much I try to slow down time. B-L-A-H. I'm procrastinating as it is just to write this.

Here is the briefest of briefs to recap the past three weekends:

1. Surf trip to Peniche, Portugal. A beautiful and relatively secluded beach in a pretty, simple beach town with a big group of friends. We drove out there which was great because I got to see a different part of the countryside than I would've on a train, which to this point is the only way I've traveled around the country. I was half terrified, half excited about the surf lessons. Terrified, because who willingly runs into the Atlantic Ocean in November?! Excited for obvious reasons. The lesson was a great success. I got up on the first try (and then promptly fell over) and managed to actually ride a few waves before frostbite kicked in and I realized that the wetsuit I was wearing was wet. i.e., freezing. I want to say more, but time is ticking. A fantastic weekend. I took the bus back to Lisbon because I wanted to get back Saturday night and that, too, was actually pretty amazing. Again, seeing a different part of the country in a different way. In a truly Portuguese fashion, the bus station was closed, even though the bus was scheduled, so I had to get off at the next station and purchase a ticket. I wouldn't mind going back to that beach or taking more surf lessons. Both were great. The fact that they were in the same day is just beyond words.

2. The Holy Seat. ROMA! I went to Rome for Thanksgiving weekend, which was a long weekend for me because the Monday after was a Portuguese national holiday. It was great to travel, be with family (Hi Daniel, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Mark!!) see a beautiful city full of famous landmarks and eat gelato. I was bummed about not getting to see the Pope BUT I did get a different kind of holy experience. After a cold, rainy afternoon walking around Rome (seeing the Ecstasy of St. Theresa, among other things!) we stopped in a beautiful Gothic church. I needed to use the bathroom so I asked a monk (selling postcards, no less) and he said in Italian that I needed a key. So Aunt Nancy helped me ask for the key and he sort of sighed and then reached under the table for a huge key ring and then beckoned for me to follow. I trotted along behind him into a side hallway, where he unlocked an iron gate, beyond which was a darkened chapel leading off to other chapels. Turns out it was the sacristry. There was a long row of huge wooden confessional-looking booths along the side of the room, so you can imagine my surprise when he crosses the chapel and starts fiddling with the key at one of the booths.

No worries. This pit stop did not require confession. The door actually led to a stone hallway behind the sacristry where I finally found the bathroom. There were buckets of roses on the stairs and the monk turned around and left me in peace. I was a little surprised at the complete and total abandonment in this clearly off-limit area of the church and was even more surprised when I went back into the sacristry and all the lights were off and the gate was closed. Uh oh. Luckily, he had cracked the gate a tiny bit so I could get out and then I hurried back into the church where my aunt and uncle are bursting with laughter as I come out with what could've only been a seriously surprised and confused look on my face. I guess you have to See it to believe it.

3. ESPANHA! This past weekend, another long weekend, I went with my friends to Salamanca and Madrid, Spain. Another fantastic weekend that again deserves way more blog time than I can give it. I was really excited to realize that my Portuguese this semester really paid off because I could understand and actually speak a little Spanish. Sad that I had to go to Spain to realize I could speak Portuguese, but still, better late than never. We discovered a sandwich chain called "100 Montaditos" a sandwich shop that offers 100 different montaditos, small baguette style sandwiches. Sarah and I ate there three times because it was just THAT GOOD. I could probably rant about food all day because we ate so well but I will content myself with saying that while Rome was amazing from a historical point of view and I got to be with family, especially for Thanksgiving, traveling with friends was a completely different and wonderful experience. I laughed to the point of tears, danced in the country's biggest club, got lost, feasted on churros, laughed, laughed, and laughed some more, surrounded by the people who had really made this semester what it has been. It was a really amazing way to cap off the most incredible semester. My brazilian friends leave this weekend and I leave the next so it was really special to have a long weekend away together. Also, everybody had told me before the trip that I should go to Barcelona instead of Madrid so I didn't have super high expectations. But if you want my recommendation, Madrid is a fantastic city and the people are, for the most part, wonderful. And now for one story, very different from the holy toilet tale: In Lisbon if you're looking for nightlife you go to Bairro Alto and wander from bar to bar listening to music, meeting people, etc. It's a very street-oriented culture. In Madrid, you still wander around a lot on the street but since the streets are wider, it's less stand-around-outside and more wander from place to place; it's destination-oriented. So to get you to come inside, the bars station employees outside on the street to talk to people and engage them in conversation and eventually convince them to visit the bar and then lead them to said bar and get them in without paying a cover charge. Since I was with spanish-speakers, this was easily done and we were able to get into bars and clubs for free. One of the places we went had bright orange walls with cow print accent walls, glass chandeliers and plasma TV screens playing pictures of the solar system.

The solar system and cow print.

I don't know what else to say other than it's been an exhausting three weeks but I wouldn't trade any of it for more sleep or more free time because it's been exciting, fantastic and so much fun. Time to buckle down for finals and somehow find it in me to focus and go to class instead of enjoying the beautiful sunshine that we STILL have even though it's December and it's raining across the rest of Europe.

TCHAU!