Portugal, Kind of Like Spain, Only Different

I would like to apologize for my previous post´s misnomer, I got very lazy and did not explain the title. When I was in Portugal, we were in Lisboa for one day, two nights, and then in Lagos, a coastal town for one night and two days. When we swam in the waters off the coast of Lagos, we all discussed how surprised we were that the Medditerean was so cold. Later, we were informed that it was infact the Atlantic Ocean, not the Med, and feeling like stupid geographically disabled Americans, we laughed and laughed. So, there is the reason for the title. Also, I know, I won the geography bee in Junior High, I should know that, the shame! Oh the Shame!!

Continuing about Portugal, well, there is so much to be said. Alas, I overslept today and while running out of my house, I forgot to pick up a cord to connect my camera to the computer, so no pictures today. Tomorrow, if I remember, I will do it. I apologize but I am trying my best.

So, Lisbon was beautiful, hills and old buildings. I always imagined Portugal to be very dreary, shades of blues and grays, but yet charmingly dirty buildings, aged in a Romantic sense. Although one did see this, the grays of dried water dripping after years of rain, the cobblestones barely holding ont the ground inwhich they are buried, the majority of Lisbon was surprisingly bright and colorful. Yellow buildings, clean, starchy white walls, and a warm sun that reflected off the coast. A good way to describe Lisbon would be if San Francisco and Paris had a baby. There are sprawling plazas, much like the one in front of the Louvre, and there are colorful buildings built on hills, much like San Francisco. The streets are tiny and winding, like Paris, and the buildings are designed in a very neoclassical style. As soon as I can, I WILL post pictures! I promise!!


Let´s talk about Hostels and how strange they really are. The hostel we stayed in in Lisbon was first, inexpensive, about 17 euro a night, and also, nicely located, off of what appeared to be the Michigan Avenue of Lisbon, lined with Louis Vuitton and Ferragamo. Do not think that this was a shady or risqué area, because it was not. It was clean and new and the entire hostel was filled with Ikea furniture down to those mugs that we have in our kitchen, the green and black ones. The people in the hostel were friendly, a few people from America, a lot of Austrialians and some Spanish and Portuguese people. The average age I would guess was about 24 but one woman appeared to be about 40. I slept in a room with eight people, all sleeping in one place, and not knowing eachother, and listening to half the room snore. I realized, if you are a light sleeper, do NOT stay in a hostel. It is impossible to sleep. There were two showers in the entire place and about three toilets, there were about 25 people staying in the place per night. That made the morning schedule a bit tedious and frustrating, but all in all, it was not as strange as I expected. There was also a free breakfast of coffee and bread with jam. Some very delicious portuguse bread.. (side note: I did in fact have car sandwiches, my señora packed me some for my drive to Lisbon and I ate them happily! haha..the rest of the trip, I munched of bread but I was too cheap to buy cheese or meat!) Well, all in all the hostel was nice.



I saw a lot of surprising things in Portugal, primarily a transgender prostitute outside our hostel. Yes. You heard me right¡. I don´t know why, but I feel like I saw a lot of strange things in Lisbon. I saw two homeless men snort lines of coke while I was walking with my friends (everyone says the same thing upon hearing this: "that´s why they´re homeless!"). Well, I guess that is really about all, but it was odd nonetheless. Do not worry about my safety, by the way, although there were some shadier people, I was always walking in well lit, highly populous areas with large groups of people. Although it seemed like I stumbled upon some higly risky activity I did not get involved with it...obviously! (haha...this is clearly for the parents, I don´t think anyway else is worried about me, more laughing at the oddity of it)...


Yes. That was Lisbon...I need to post pictures.

Alright, A little SPAIN news. I have a job! For my Culture of Spain class, I am required to work outside of my class with Spanish people. And I got a job tutoring Spanish kids with English. I think I make 5 euors an hour, for two hours a week, so not much, but hey, money is money!!! I guess that is about all.

Uff...I´m sick of typing, but soon, I will return and tell more more more!!

Miss you all! Love you all!!!!

Swimming in the Atlantic While Thinking It Was The Mediterranean

So, here I am, back in Granada after a very long and exciting weekend in Portugal. I have a LOT of things to say about Portugal, about driving, about living in hostels, and about traveling to a country without any knowledge of its language or culture.

Let´s begin with Portuguese language and people, thats a good starting point. Well, the language can be imitated pretty easily, just say ¨¨ShlishShalishShloosh¨ Needless to say there is a lot of SH in Portuguese. One could describe it as is French and Russian had a baby, or if someone who speaks English tried speaking Polish. The language is pretty throaty but somehow is spoken almost like English in its harsher vowels. Needless to say, it is pretty funny. And also, pretty impossible to understand even with a base of Spanish. There were plenty of times where we just asked ¨Habla Español?¨and spoke in Spanish with people. I was impressed with myself when that happend.

Now, Portuguese people are very tan and very brunette. I would also venture to say very good looking. They are kind of what I expected Spanish people to look like. They are all incredibly tan with dark, romantic features. As always, my "porcelein" skin stood out in the crowd and being with people who were blond, you would get a lot of weird looks. It was pretty strange. Photos were taken of us foreigners just because we stuck out so much!

Alright, the food? Well, to be honest, because we were living cheaply so there was a lot of grocery shopping. WE went out to eat at two restaurants, one I mentioned earlier, the other a Chinese reatuarant which served American Style Chinese food but WORSE. Anyways, that I really can´t discuss in great detail. I can, however, tell you, that the bread is Portugal is better than the bread in Spain.

What else, what else? Well, I heard Nelly Furtado (who is of Portuguese decent) three times in POrtugal, which I deemed a lot considering she has no new music out. Also, I heard a surprisingly large amount of what America would deem Indie Rock. The Kooks were playing in the McDonalds, MGMT was blasting out the window of a house party, and I heard techno remixes of Santogold and José Gonzalez. I liked it.

Oh The Things I Have Seen

So, What did I do in Lisbon, Portugal?

Explored. I am set to leave in the next few minutes, but alas, I will try to explain what I have done. We began our one day out walking to the coast, we leave more inland. Although there is plenty of coast in Lisboa, there is no beack, just fyi for those wondering. After wandering through some adorable streets, we stumbled upon an old elevator, pretty muching standing alone in the middle of a street. We rode it, it cost 2.80 euro, but gave us the best views of Lisboa one could dream of. Later, we continued our walk and made it to the captial buidling and then an old church, where there was a WEDDING!! So, we went in and politely crashed a Portuguese wedding. After that we went out for food, I got potatoes, a huge piece of fish and BROCCOLI for 5.50 euro. It was great. After that? We took the tram down the coast to Belem, the old neighborhood, where we stumbled upon the tomb of Vasco De Gama (even though, I cannot for the life of me tell you what EXACTLY he explored...) and we sat on the coast and watched as GIANT swarms of fishs swarm eagerly near the rock. It was actually kind of scary.

In Belem, I was able to call my sister and wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (HAPPY BIRTHDAY I-I-IEhkA!!!) and walk down the tiny twisty street. We returned to our area of town only to stumble upon people from my program who were also visiting Lisbon (we had been planning on meeting later, but instead met up earlier) amd so, we talked for a while and went out. The streets of Lisbon are PACKED at night and most bars are essentially outdoor bars because ALL the patrons spill onto the streets. Its was amazing seeing so many people, all out drink from little cups and talking in Portuguese.

So, descriptional information will come later! I have to get going, we're driving down to Lagos, a little beach town on the south. Talk later! Miss you all! Happy sandwich day, l-l-lEH!!!

In Lisboa

Well, we were supposed to leave at 8am. We got out car at 11. We had to go back to Granada, and only really got on the road at 12:30. We arrive in Portugal at 10:30 pm. The drive is supposed to take 7 hours. From begining to end, it takes almost 12. Why? Well, our drive through Granada (one of my friends forgot her passport) added some time, AND we got lost in Lisboa for two SOLID hours.

Lisboa is built on four hills. I drive stick. Its a large city and we were driving around on a Friday night. It is also an old city with tiny, swirling streets. Needless to say, I think I deserve a reward for my driving skills.

I have plenty to say, but I am so tired!! Im okay though!!!

Love you all, miss you all!!!