smile

Also big shout out to Jamillah: Happy birthday!!!

&

Congratulations to Ebani on her healthy baby girl Khamille.

I love and miss ALL my family

I'm smiling over here at their happiness

Praying

So I just found out that: In the United Kingdom they found explosive material package that had a destination in a place in the United States.

I picked the best time to come to Europe right? And this Christmas break I wanted to travel around Europe. The only thing worth doing is praying.

Praying for Haiti-There is a cholera break out going on that is killing many people and it has now spread to the capital city.

Sometimes I wish I had the heart for medical school so I can just be there for people. We all need help, especially medical help from a doctor. I wish I could be there, pack everything I have and just go. Just knowing that my extra pair of hands could help someone.

Contradictions

I’ve realize I haven’t posted any pictures of where I live. So below are pictures of my resident hall as well as the buildings and view around it. I live near the pharmacy school and biology classes. Also I live right next to an old antique church. I am beginning to become more aware of this contradiction of the city: old vs new. Traditional vs modern. I wonder how it will look 10 years from now, for some reason I believe it will still be torn like this. I mean not that the relationship is seen as bad, its just very obvious. Even in the people, on a daily bases the people I encounter are either students or an elder person (meaning like 70+). Sometimes on the bus I count them because I am so shocked how many there are, one time I counted 15(70+) people on the bus, on a regular bases I see like 7 or 8. The elder people here use the public transportation regularly, they still living their lives, which to me is motivational. When I reach that lovely age I’m trying to keep living and moving, not settle for my bed and a card game.

My resident hall


The old church right next to my resident hall (not in use)

Th new buildings, pharmacy school and other medical classrooms

To the right of the picture is another cantina=lunch room. also the hard cement benches they have..lol

The contradictions that exist here mirrors my feelings here: sometimes I like it here and sometimes I really don’t. It honestly varies I am loving the fact that I put this goal to study abroad and it is now my reality. Sometimes I feel scared when my goals and dreams come true. But the more my dreams/goals become a reality in my life and exist, the easier it is for me to think of new ones. I believe in them because God allows them to come true. And when one may not go my way or come true, it just wasn’t meant to be. I dislike that the student culture I have witness is something I really don’t want to be a part of. The student cultural I have witness is partying and drinking from 1am till 7am Tuesday and Thursdays. They party hard here, the first two weeks I experienced it but I honestly got burnt out and after self-reflection I realize it is something that “self” didn’t want to do it anymore. I had a desire to experience it and I also have a consciousness and a soul that deciphers that I really don’t want to participate. I guess I came here with an expectation that the student life would be different from Madison, the only difference are the drinks, times, music, and language.

I enjoy the people I have meet here. I really love the conversations I have been having. Understanding different cultural things about Europe, the similarities between countries as well as the differences besides the obvious: language. Learning about the different reasons for the other students to learn Portuguese as well as their first encounter with Portuguese. There are many Asian students in my class that express the job opportunities and how their families have moved to Portugal for work so they have followed as well to help or find a different job. The people from Timor here want to learn Portuguese because it is the official language in Timor but they speak another language(cant remember the name, sry). But I found that interesting, like does the government keep education away from the people? Is it hard to learn Portuguese in Timor? Like are their no teachers teaching it? I’m sure language represents power and the ones with power probably speak Portuguese and it’s a privilege to know it. I don’t know just guessing. I had no idea that Timor people spoke Portuguese, or that it is their official language.

I don’t enjoy the lack of art here. I feel like if I had more time here I could start like a dance club or an open mic or something, but I don’t have that much time here.(yeah!..lol) and I don’t want to start something I cant finish, I would feel bad about that. They have tons of partner dance classes like tango and salsa but im not really into partner dances. I like to watch and mess around with them here and there at like a party or something but I don’t want to devote time and money to it. Also there are ballet classes but there in academies so I have to enroll for a year and pay for a year and also I found some dance classes an hour away for meninos-little kids. Ya should have seen my face when I arrived there, the lady was like do you want to try out the class, I smiled at her and told her thank you but I will pass. I mean the kids were 6 and 7 years old skipping all around the room. But maybe when I go to Brazil I will be able to do more, who knows. I will try to come with no expectations, I see from experience here in Portugal that’s all wrong. You end up disappointed. I cant expect that Belo Horizonte will be my experience in Bahia, and I cant have those expectations. I have to go there with an open mind and willingness to try new things and new ways. I have a friend Caleb there now so I have been talking to him and he is just loving it there, he spent a whole year there, I kind of wish I spent one year there just because the first 3-4 months your finally feeling settle-made friends, u know were places are, you’ve traveled a little, school is going well, and then bam you pack up to leave. Lol. I mean I couldn’t do a year here in Portugal but maybe another part of Europe, like Holland(lol) that would be a great experience. There is soo much cultural there, man if it’s one place I recommend in Europe it is Amsterdam.

I like were I stay, the resident hall is really nice and the people are very nice and helpful. I am enjoying the food I am eating although I wish cereal boxes came in bigger boxes, I feel like I always purchase two just so I can use all my milk in enough time. I really love the pastries here, yeah bread has taken over my diet. For better or worse…lol

This and That

I must say my cooking skills have heavily improved. I have adapted to cook like Portuguese people here, which a typical dish is chicken, rice, and salad. Also I learned that an omelets is cooked anytime of the day, so I have become really good at making omelets. (Eggs are really cheap here).

Also,

The weather is changing here, its getting colder and the heat is not getting any stronger. So when it first got cold here in Coimbra I literally had 4 shirts on and two pairs of pants like everyday, but that was inside my room. Since they don’t believe in turning on the heat, yet there’s no type of heat circulating in the building. During the day its usually nicer outside than inside (weird right?) but now the heat works but only works for certain amount of hours. As I’m typing this at 2am the heat is off and won’t be back on till like tomorrow night. So when do I really feel the heat? Well approximately from 8-12, at 12 o’clock on the dot it shuts off. ;(

And I must add,

I have been missing art and feeling lose here without it. When I reflect on my old life in Madison: the bust schedule, rehearsals, meetings, classes, work, social life, performances, and DANCE!!! Man if its one thing I miss the most its DANCE, not just the class but the drummers, the people, the sweat, the way I felt after the class, I just miss everything about it. I had a slight experience like that when I went to Amsterdam and took dance classes but I need MORE. So I’ve been trying to do just that, dance! Its hard to find motivation though, get out of bed and dance by myself. (lonely)sounds a little crazy but I need it, my body misses the feelings dancing can bring.

ps Yesterday I finally woke up stretched for an hour and danced! it felt so good. I tried to do that this morning my my dance space (really the common area) was being in use, I guess I have to wake up earlier next time..lol

Aulas

One half of my classroom

Classes=aulas are going, sometimes I feel like I’m not learning anything and other days I’m excited and energize and feel like I am learning so much. But hey, that’s class anywhere right? The class structure is different here, for one there is none. People talk whenever the class subject goes from one thing to the next. I must say I prefer the structure in a classroom. It would be hard to be a language teacher especially my class because every student has different needs and are at different levels of Portuguese. Many of the students in the class are graduate students and are taking the course because they have a Portuguese boyfriend of husband. I feel like most of the stuff is all about what you do on your own time. I spent like three hours by myself studying Portuguese grammar and I felt like “wow I taught my self more than what my week of 30 hour classes have done for me” but I don’t know. I’m going to stay positive about my classes though, I mean sometimes I feel like I learn a lot and I am getting a lot from them. I really appreciate the professors because i know they have to explain many things two or three times. They have to help individual needs as well as class needs. The role of a teacher, so important.

ps. big ups to the teachers in my life:God, Mother, Grandma, (family in general), Casey, Doria, CW, Shvonne, Prof Sweet, Sims, Pastor Gee, Alicia, and Life. Thank you.

The bus stop I go to everyday :)

Visit to an Igreja

Today I went to visit a Igreja=church with my friend Fellipe. Igreja de baptista- Baptist church. Felippe pastor in brazil told him about this church because the pastor is also Brazilian. Service started at 11:00am but we had arrived a little early and there was some sort of bible study going on. After that the culto=service began with a song and then welcomed the visitors. The people who were visiting for the first time were asked to stand up and share their name, where they are from, and what brought them to Coimbra? I was a little nervous about speaking but I said “ Ola bom dia, meu nome Leslie Thomas, sou Americana e estou estudante aqui em Coimbra.” Good morning my name is Leslie Thomas, I am American and a student studying here in Coimbra. There were other Americans there as well, from Texas that came to do missionary work, The pastor brought them up and they talked for a little bit just about why they came here and one of the guys expressed that he had been wanting to come here and share the word of God.

After that we sang a few more songs and prayed and then the pastor came up and before he preaches he showed a video. He explained that the video was in English which is good for the Americans who cant speak Portuguese because his sermon is about the same theme as the song, forgiveness=Perdão. The song was very beautiful and powerful. I was thinking in my head I should create a dance to this song and share. Maybe. After the song the pastor began to preach about forgiveness, he started with questions what is forgiveness? He quotes some scripture and began to elaborate on the meaning. He also asked and addresses these questions as well: Who needs forgiveness? And why do we forgive? It was a special moment for me being in the church and listening because I could understand parts of his sermon. To listen in another language someone talk about Jesus was beautiful. It reminded me the power of language and also how important it is to communicate. For example what if I met someone who didn’t speak English and wanted to know about the Lord, I would I be able to talk to them? What would I be able to tell them? Deus é amor=god is love. There was still many parts that I didn’t understand, especially when he prayed. He spoke very fast and soft which made it difficult to hear and understand. But just being there felt good. Sometimes its alright not to understand everything, but to feel.

I feel motivated to study more Portuguese today. I feel inspired to try harder at learning grammar. My biggest problem with the language is grammatical errors. I remember how to make the word in the past and present, the problems is within past and present there is indicative, subjunctive, present perfect, past perfect, pluperfect simple(I don’t know what is is in English) and future. And that’s not even all the tenses that exist. Furthermore when people talk they usually don’t speak grammatically correct so I am learning how to speak well but I cant write what I speak because ite incorrect. Learning two things at once, but of course I am able to speak better than I can write..lol eu preciso fechado meu baco a vezes e só ler=I need to shut my mouth sometimes and just read. Lol

Out of the biaxo

I know I haven’t wrote in a while I apologize. It seems I do so much thinking in my head that I forget to express it on paper (well blog form) There so much I want to share I just get overwhelmed even thinking about it. A brief synopsis of the event that happen last week when I thought I would be homeless:

So when I arrived in Portugal I was arranged to stay in a residence hall call Teodoro. The first week it was just me on the first floor with no roommate, it was great. I began to meet new people that lived in the baixo=basement and these people would stay in the baixo for a few days or weeks and then find an apartment and leave. Or they would return to their home country. I met people from Australia, Italia, Brazil, Angola, and Spain. Well the following week after recieveing a room mate and getting to know her I was told I had to move in the baixo. Well let me tell you about the baixo. It is very dirty and no one cleans up because people are constantly coming and going. The bathrooms have tons of hair everywhere, trash is overflowing and it smells(because here in Portugal the sewage isn’t great so you have to through the toilet paper in the trash). There are ants that rule the kitchen everyday. Once I found out I moved downstairs I double checked with my program director Ana Paula and she told me this is correct because I am a mobility student(mobility and ERMUS-students from Europe) have to live down there. I explained to her that it was very dirty and I didn’t want to move. She told me there was nothing she could do because she doesn’t work for the residence halls(I know that) and that I should look for an apartment. Yeah she is very helpful. I barely see this woman, I think there shouldn’t even be a program director if they are not helping you. I mean help besides the financial parts and helping me with class (which she didn’t cause she was out of town). I don’t know, but it makes me want to start my own program or be a program director for a university or school because I know first hand what the students needs are. It’s hard to move to a completely different country and just JUMP right into a new culture. A person has many concerns and questions, but it’s hard to express to a program director if they appear not to care. But hey not everyone in the world wants to be your friend, and we all learn that. Easy or hard way. Back to the story, I moved to basement and then I started looking for an apartments. SUPER HARD TO LOOK FOR APARTMENTS. I mean signs are everywhere but I get so nervous and I worry about how I am speaking Portuguese on the phone. I seen a few rooms but they were not right for me or to expensive. A friend from brazil who just moved to Portugal for school as well asked me did I want to move in with her? I told her I’m only her for 6 months and she expressed that’s alright. Well the two problems were her house was far and expensive. But on the flip side it was super clean, nice, big, and I would have my own room. The best part was the bathroom, it was brand new and ha not only a shower but also bath tub. So after thinking about it I decided I would rather spend more money to live with people I know kind of well then move into a place with complete strangers. So I moved in and gave my keys to the old residence person. After putting all my clothes away and making my bed I began to put up pictures and make it feel more like home. Well to my surprise the next day the lady who invited me to live with her and her other roommate came to my door and told me they wanted to talk to me. Well, it was early in the morning and I hadn’t woke up yet, so after getting myself together I listened to what they had to say. They told me that it would be better for them if I found another place to stay because they are staying in Coimbra for 2 years. I was shocked! I just moved in and you want me to leave?? What kind of stuff is that? I was confused and kept asking them why? Like what do you mean? You knew I was only going to be in Coimbra for 6 months, what’s the big deal? Then they said “It may be hard to find someone to move in after you leave.” Yeah ok. Well after that I packed all my stuff and bounced. Left my key on the table and say tchau=bye. I took a cab back to the residence that I just left. The lady was surprised and I tried to explain to her the situation. I was so upset that I couldn’t even think straight. I asked my friend Natalia to help me explain the situation in Portuguese. The lady told me that because I gave her my keys I lost my spot in the residence hall and I would have to find somewhere else. Well where was I going to go now? Ugg man I was super stress and worried. I think because of this situation and the fact that I was already overwhelmed about everything in Coimbra and I just broke down (a little bit, I’m alright now). I sat down in silence for like half an hour trying to figure out something. My friend suggested that I should see the head lady of the residence halls, so we walked to her office. We had to wait because they were on lunch break. So after want felt like forever she came to her office and opened her office with open arms. She was so warm and nice, I felt really calm talking to her. After explaining the situation she was concerned and wanted to help me. She said that she could find another room in the baixo for me or I could move into Polo III. My friend told me that I would love Polo III and that it was very clean and nice. Its father than Teodoro but its alright. So just like that I became happy, I gathered all my things and moved into Polo III after I left her office. She told me if ever I needed anything even to talk that I could come to her office, I felt sincerity in her voice and I told her thanks and I would visit her. Polo III is really nice residence hall. Its like 5-6 min by bus and 10-15 by foot, but its perfect to me because its super clean! Everything is white in the inside, I mean except the kitchen and the commons areas(like harry potter) have beautiful bright colors. The kitchen is a bright green which always puts a smile in my face. I currently don’t have a roommate (cross my fingers it stays that way) and I have meet nothing but nice people. Vanessa and Felippe have been really kind to me, we have lunch and dinner together often. They are both from brazil, Vanessa is here for 6 months and Felippe is here for 2 years( I told him good luck, but he likes it here so he shouldn’t have any problems). Vanessa is a great cook! She cooks the most flavorful foods I have ever had, we had this pasta with cheese and spinach and she made the tomato sauce from scratch, ummm.. man almost better than my mommas food..lol not.

Well, things are good now! Classes started October 11 and already got my head spinning. I have a packet of homework and a test next week! I think I’m going to bring my cell phone and use the voice recorded for my terra Portuguese course which is Portuguese geography. I really enjoyed the class, its an intermediate class and my other classes are elementary, but within elementary there are 3 levels and I’m in 3 ;) I have Portuguese language, conversation, composition, laboratory, and Portuguese geography. However the laboratory class I don’t received credit for at UW Madison so that’s why I am taking the Portuguese Geography course. So the laboratory class is optional although my program person told me is a great class that I should take. It’s a class were you learn the sounding of each of the letters and how to speak “proper Portuguese.” I put it in quotes because what I am learning here is kind of opposite of what I learned in school and in Brazil. The Portuguese speak with there mouth fechado=closed and the Brazilian aberto=open. Its easy for me to have a conversation with a Brazilian and understand then Portuguese people. I don’t have to many Portuguese friends here to even practice understanding, and my professor’s speak slowly and clearly so I have no problem hearing them. I must admit I am counting the days I am in Brazil, but of course I am taking FULL advantage of my education here in Coimbra because it’s a great university with lots of HISTORY. Like the harry potters that walk around every day..lol ps. cant wait till November a new harry potter movie comes out!

I'm serious, there just missing wands. lol

Excuses me have you seen harry around?

Holland

So I am currently in Amsterdam, Holland(Netherlands). I have been here since last Monday to participate in the Afrovibes festival, which are dance and theatre performances from South Africa. Also I came to take dance classes and hang out with my friends from Poetry Circle Nowhere. I met them in England in July during Contacting the World-international theatre festival from groups all over the world.

At the MC theatre

Amsterdam is so amazing, since I landed in this city it has touched me. In the airport my mind was blown by all the beautiful people! Amsterdam is one of the most diverse cities in the world, it may be number one. There are so many things to see and visit and experience here. Even just walking around you find yourself finding something. Many times while I traveled here I would get lost on the tram, but it wasn't scary or anything, I ended up discovering something new. I love how everyone rides bike here, as if the whole city decided they were going to GO GREEN. I love how in the grocery stores everything is HALF the size as in the US. I love the fact that they don't give to-go boxes at restaurants. I love the fact that the bathroom is broken into two completely different rooms: the toilet room and the washing room. I could go on and on about what I love, but I want I'm going to head into the city and enjoy my last full day because i leave tomorrow afternoon.

ps..There is soo soo soo soo much more to Amsterdam than marijuana and red light district. It saddens me to know that this is the only thing that is spread in the US about Amsterdam.

There are tons of canals here gives the city a constant flow of calmness even when there are tons of people here speeding here and there. The water is so tranquil.