Again..right? I just returned from visiting Europe in July for an amazing experience in Manchester, England as a performer in an international theatre Festival called Contact the world. But this time I'm really off. I'm off to study abroad for a YEAR. I will spend one semester at the University of Coimbra in Portugal and second semester I will spend at the University of Belo Horizonte in Brazil. Both programs work with my Portuguese and Latin American studies major as well as my personal interest in different cultures, the african diaspora, and dance so it works out well.
A year. A year? People asked me that all the time before I left. Yes, a year. Ambitious right? In the words of Wale who created a song for an ambitious girl like myself he raps :
I'm in love with your business
and your productivity is the reason I intrest, ambitious girl
see, I like the person that you are,
but I'm in love with the person that you have potential to be
and all your dreams sharing with me
and your secrets baring with me
and the flaws, you aint even got to mention to me,
ambitious girl, you just wanna win, and you'd rather chase your dreams,
then to try to chase these men
Man, I have to thank Wale in person or send him a fan letter because this song is definitely always on repeat. ok...now to my ambitious future...
...I left Minnesota Thursday 1 pm on Sept 3, 2010 with a full day of travel including a stop in Philly for about 4 hours. I made it Friday morning at 8:30am to Portugal ( which is really 3:30am MN time:(). I landed safely in the airport in Lisbon with many things needed to be done: had to exchange money and then figure out what train to catch that takes me to Coimbra. Well with all that information on my cell phone email that doesn't work had to put on my thinking cap. I pulled out the emergency called with all the numbers called the director for my program Ana Paula and asked her what train station I should go to to take the train. Well she must have misunderstood me because she replies I'm meeting you at the trainstation in coimbra, im not in Lisbon. I sigh for we had this conversation in english, and say i understand that i just would like to know which traint station i should catch the train at. Ana Paula tells me I have 10 minutes to catch the train that leaves. I hang up the phone with an quick tchau and hurry to find a taxi.
Well to get a taxi you have to wait in a long line, like when everyone received their tax returns and wait in the un-bank. lol it was just like that, but quicker. I got in my taxi and arrives at the train station, the taxi driver spoke english so he explained where i would purchase my ticket. With my jet lagged self i carried my 68 pound suitcase, my addidas duffle bag around my neck and my heavy back pack and scurry to the elevator. I caught the train that said to Porto, lucky for me I knew that Coimbra was in the middle between Lisbon and Porto. Put my luggage away and sat down, well this lady comes to me to let me know I'm in her seat. I'm thinking, dang they have assign seating on a public train how silly. After an hour and half I finally arrive to Lisbon, I look around the station, I notice a stylish woman with these big Hollywood sunglasses, high wedge heels, and a cigaret. She looks familiar from the picture I receive a day age: I realize it is indeed Ana Paula. We meet, we greet, she talk and talk the whole car ride about tons of things. Fortunately she typed them up because I don't even remember half of what she said. She dropped me off at the dorm and said "See you Monday."
I got kind of settled in, I was way to tired to put things in drawers so I just showered and slept. Once I woke up I looked over the papers Ana Paula gave me, and they included a map. Took a small purse with my map, mase, notebook, and pen. I set off to explore some of the city I couldn't sleep the whole day away.
Coimbra, Portugal
On the campus by the clock students call it cabra which means bitch
Equivalent to state st. in Madison, WI
My first impressions of Coimbra:
-it's an old city
-seems like the elderly live here more than another age group
-nice weather
-cobbles stones streets make me miss Brazil
- the portuguese spoken here is different from Brazil, sometimes it's hard for me to understand basic words
Well I ended up wondering to a park and to Rio de Mondego- the Mondego River. It was a peaceful site. I always feel better when I'm near some sort of body of water, reminds me of home. I just walked around there and found some cute little barres that have tables sitting on the river. My stomach was calling so i stopped at this Irish Pub, I seen chicken fingers with batta fritas(french fries). I was confused about the sitting arrangement:was i suppose to sit anywhere or does she sit me somewhere? I went inside to ask her, well kind of cause I didn't know how to say it exactly in portuguese, but she understood it and ask me in or outside so I just sat outside to soak up the sun and other peoples conversations. I attempted to understand, most people spoke way to fast, there were some men just on their lab tops. I was thinking this reminds me of people at coffee shops on state street with their lab tops not some Irish Pub in Portugal.
I inhaled my food with a bitter beer taste in my mouth because if I'm not mistaken I think the chicken fingers were cooked in beer batter. That was NOT great, but when your hungry it doesn't matter. at least the french fries were decent.
I walked around some more, found more little pastry, coffee, and beer stores. I even found a mall no to far away: not sure if thats a good or bad thing. For now we will say a good thing..lol I found a nearby grocery store called Pinga Doce. I went in with the intentions to buy items for breakfast, i bought a box of cereal and some milk. Now the milk here is different, I didn't know what the heck kind to get. Its not refrigerated it just sits in the aisle. I mean I understand that there was fat, light fat, and no fat in the milk but what would it taste like? Do I wait for it to be cold?
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