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.

Trip to Viana do Castelo and a surprise visit to Spain

So this past weekend, Sept 17-19 My program facilitator Ana Paula and I took the train from Coimbra to Porto. Once arriving in Porto her boyfriend picked us up, for he was joining us on this program trip(right??) and we drove to different parts of Viana do castelo. Viana do castelo is a very traditional city. We seen traditional shops that sold traditional outfits.

The Museum of traje-which is the traditional clothing worn by the woman of Viana do Castelo (inside the museum there are tons of different tradition costumes worn by the women during special festivals. For a wedding the bride and groom wear all black with white trimming. Also on the last floor there was hand made gold that was worth over 5 million euros=very expensive

During festivals woman wear colorful hand-embroidered costumes plus 20 pounds of gold jewelry around there neck!

Outside the Museum

The ocean was beautiful

Praça de Republic, common place where shops and restaurants are located

The view

Inside the church

A church that dates back to 16th and 17th century

The city is really up north and on the coast so often times we stopped to see the scene. The scene was the same: waves, the sound of the sea, and a sense of tranquility. After a day of traveling we headed to the hotel, got settled in, and we met back up to have dinner together.

For dinner we ate at a place called Ol Magel. I order facana which is a type of fish that came with salad and rice. The keep the head on the fish here, I wasn’t scared because I was so hungry..lol plus I grew up my fishing and eating fish because my mother loves to fish.

My dinner

The next day we went to visit another small town Fortaleza. We just walked around and took pictured of the view. It felt like we were visiting an old castle. I enjoyed the whole trip away from Coimbra surprisingly. I told myself to make the most of the trip even though it would be me and my program director and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was pretty cool, he cracked tons of jokes but everyone they had to break them down because I didn’t understand any of it.

Fortaleza reminded me of a castle

The streets and in the background you see the one way entrance

Smiling with the view

Another view

For lunch we drove like 15 more minutes and we were in Spain. It was my first time in Spain and I was really happy about visiting two countries in one day. We visited a city called Tui and another city name Baiona, both were also on the coast. We had lunch at a place call Xamon, it was really small in the side but had tons of tables outside the restaurant. There were tons of people there, it must have been really popular. I kept saying obrigada but I meant to say gracias, I almost forgot we were in a totally different country where they spoke Spanish. The power of languages and communication, it amazes me every time I travel. One minute I was hearing Portuguese from Ana Paula and her boyfriend and the next minute I was hearing Spanish. I ordered a tortilla com queso and jamon ( that’s ham and cheese something) I thought I was going to receive like an actually flour tortilla shell with cheese and ham, to my surprise I received basically an omelet with ham and cheese. It was so GOOD!

Welcome to Spain

'

The city of Baiona

The restaurant in Spain, hanging pig legs

Information about the city

After that we drove back to the hotel, I fell asleep in the car, two hours later I woke up and we were still driving. We were lost. We pulled over to the side of the road and then after a few minutes he got back in the car and said I see the bridge back to Portugal. I stayed awake from then on, I don’t like not knowing where I’m going, so I watch intently out the window. Once we arrived back to the hotel it was still very sunny out and so I decided to lay out in the back of the hotel because there was a pool. To bad the water was very cold otherwise I would have got in the pool. The hotel we stayed in was really nice. I never had a whole hotel room to myself ( now I know how you feel –mk) I laid around mostly at night, turned on the tv and tried to find something on the four channels to watch. The second night the movie PS I love you was on so I enjoyed watching that as I waited to meet back up for dinner. For dinner we walked across the street to a small little restaurant I forgot the name of it but it had a home feel to it. I order salmon and it came with potatoes and cabbage( but this cabbage taste very different from the US because usually I wouldn’t eat cabbage, but this was good). If it’s one thing I spend my money on its food, I always make sure I eat well. The next morning we ate the free breakfast ( bread, cheese, ham, fruit, tea, coffee, and water) and then we left the hotel to head back to Coimbra. It took like 40 minutes to get to the train station. We got on the train from Porto to Coimbra, took about 1hour or so. The rest of the day I did laundry and cleaned up. Talked to my friends about my weekend and cooked a big dinner so that I don’t have to cook the next day :)

Then Monday came and I went to this beach called Faivela. It was really nice because its like a hidden beach so there wasn’t a lot of people there. I enjoyed the sound of the water, there were these mini falls, to get to the beach we had to walk across a wooden bridge. At first I was scared because the bridge looked dangerous but to my surprise the water was clear I could look down and see the bottom. The water was so shallow, like to my knees if even that. With the sun and the sounds of the water it was destined I spent my whole day there. Something about me and traveling, its like a light switch from the busy Leslie that has to do list and scheduling meals and shows in Madison, to the chill Leslie that has no plans and leaves when I please. I enjoy both lives, for when I am in Madison I long for calmness and uncertainty and sometimes when I travel I miss having a schedule and business. I feel bless to have experience both. Realizing there necessary, and I’m fortunate to have to choose one over the other, I just live in both, and it creates a wholeness of self.

Well after the beach headed home to cook dinner and then I talked to my new roommate in our small room. Her name is Datianna she’s a first year student studying chemistry. I think I may try and find my own room though, I really value my privacy and if I can find something for the same price or cheaper than why not? I have some friends that are looking for apartments now so I could just get a room with them. J

Oh ya, today at the beach I wrote my first poem in Portuguese so as I close this post with a poem:

O som de agua faz me completo

Eu escucho por reposta

Porque eu tenho medo de preguntas

Porque eu tenho medo da reposta

Então eu aprendeindo eschuchar o som

The sound of the water makes me complete

I listen for the answer

Because I’m scared to ask my questions

Because I fear the answers

So I learn to listen to the sound

Chickens?

So I also went to the beach called Fugeria that was like an hour and half away. The weather has been great here and I have been trying to soak in as much as possible.

My friend Natalie and I took a train and on the way we meet some friends, Brazilians. the convo went something like this "Brasilera? Brasiliera. Brasileria!" and then we all hung out and talked. While on the beach I meet some chickens. Yes some chickens, that tried to dance, surf, fly, and also try to take a young lady to dinner.

My friends and I and our new friend the chicken.

The chicken trying to ask this young lady out for dinner, but once she told them she wanted chicken they left. lol

People on the beach

My friends and I again

I'm Back

I know I know, its been a while but I've been trying to learn my way in Portugal. I will try to update at least once a week. Every day I have no obligations or plans and for some strange reason everyday becomes FULL and I'm busy.

From last time I wrote(about two weeks ago) I experienced the night life in Coimbra. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the most popular days to go out. Every barr here is always packed full of people, majority if not all students. They also have places where a people dance, called discoteci. I went to an african night one with a few friends i met that are from cape verde, it was really fun. But guess what time it started? Like 1 am!! thats another big shocker here, people go out at 1 or 2am and don't come home till 6 or 7am. I don't know how they do it, they must take naps but every time i ask people if they take naps they tell me no. I get so tired waiting for 1am around 10 and 11pm. My brazilian friends I always telling me to stop acting like a baby..lol and come out. It's funny to think I'm in Portugal and majority of the friends that I have made are from Brazil. It's so much easier for me to understand Brazilians speak Portuguese than it is to understand the people of Portugal. But i will honestly say that the portuguese people here have a way of giving bad vibes to brazilians here. whether its in a joke to another friend, or a certain look. I may not understand every word but I definitely understand body language and the vibes people give off to one another. It's mostly Portuguese people "correcting" Brazilians on the way they talk as if they speak some other language. To me, I thought the people would be more kind but you see this competition, this attitude that says"I'm from Portugal and speak portuguese and you don't." I'm not Brazilian however spending time with my Brazilians friends its seems at least once a day some Portuguese person makes some joke about Brazilians.

The week after that I celebrated my friend Natalia birthday and that was a lot of fun. It amazes me how nice and happy all these people around us were about her birthday, people who have never even met her. The bartender Avo, has become a friend of ours and he made a whip cream and oranges cake for natalie. It was a really nice gestures and afterwards he danced on the bar..lol

Natalie and I

The bartender Avo dancing

The whip cream oranges cake

Finding/Making my way

Today was a pretty chill day compared to yesterday (monday sept 6, 2010).. let me give a mini recap so I can get back to today.

Monday I basically had tons of paper work to do and turn in at the University of Coimbra. I THOUGHT I was starting courses, to my knowledge courses start OCTOBER 11, 2010 I have a placement test oct 8. I'm like what??? What am I doing here so early? I couldn't been home chilling. I mean why does the program have documents stating that it starts sept 6?? and this is suppose to be a study abroad program right?...um.. this is AN EXCHANGE. except in my case I'm the only one for this semester. The program= set up courses and housing but other than that you have to learn how to jump, skip, sing, fall, whatever you have to do. Luckily for me I've been bless with not only traveling experience, but faith, a family on my back and a history of people holding their head up high. Besides my afro curly head weighs to much to be walking with it down. So when I go out by myself I'm always smiling at people and looking like I know where I'm going. shooot I usually never know where I'm going I just walk around and find what was never lost. One thing I've notice is that there are no streets signs, so all my memory of the neighborhood I live in is based on landmarks. for example: turn left at the supermercado (grocery store) keep straight till you see the pay phone, right at the barre, then walk all the way down the streets it curves down but don't worry and then cross the round-a-bout and then your there. lol

So that Monday after a busy morning and the news of me not starting courses till next month I just ate and slept.

Now on to today, Sept 7, 2010 I had lunch with my friend Sonia and her boyfriend at a cantina which is basically like the university food services but guest what?? ITS GOOD. They give you a full plate of food and its only 2,50euro compared to the nasty chicken fingers i had at the irish pub that was like 6,30euro ( I must have payed for the location). Anyways after eating lunch and talking we had coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker at all but here they drink it all the time. Its coffee and cigarettes. After I drank the strong coffee I just walked around in hope that I would find a dance organization in the student organization building. I seen some flyers but I didn't find an actual person to talk to. Headed back to my room to just chill.

Later, in my search to dance I went back to this ballet shop i stumbled upon and the same lady was working there from before, her name is Isabel. I must have been there for over an hour we just talked and talked. She encouraged me to keep practicing my portuguese and reassured me that I would pick it up. Isabel is a master student working on her final dissertation, which she turned in today so she told me to wish her luck because she doesn't want to do another year of school. I told her how I have been looking for places to dance so she gave me some names and said she would take me if I liked, of course I said yes (with streets with no names and google maps not that helpful i could use all the help i could get). After talking to Isabel I walked to the mall to find cheap food, I found something better than that! As i entered the mall i walked in no particular direction and then I immediately thought about the mall of america and how the food court is on the top floor, so I took all the escalators to the top floor. BINGO, all the food places were there and a movie theatre. After looking at all my options I settled for KFC, man it was so delicious!! the spicy chicken taste like the spicy chicken back at home, but as far as them french fries oh they never made into my stomach they went straight to the trash, but the corn on the cob..man I know someone seen me cheesing when I was eating.

As I left the the mall which is shaped in a huge circle i seen a picture of a woman and a man dancing so i walked a little closer and realize that inside this mall up three floors was a dance place. I went up the stairs to read the schedule. The studio is called sabor latino it has mostly latin dance classes for couples and women. I found one hip hop dance class, african dance but i need to figure out what ritmo means the class is labeled ritmo africano but that class is friday. So i'm looking forward to Friday and before that I'm going to check out some other studios. If all fails and dancing is too expensive here ill just dance on the tennis courts in the backyard of my residence..lol or something. Or I can join the gymnastic club I seen information about it at the student organization center, they have aerial dancing and I've always wanted to try that. I got options, things are always looking up when your attitudes up. When you travel, well actually anything in life, your attitude can dictate everything if one allows it to.

Well I'm off to bed its 1 15 in the morning here. A quote to sleep on:

"To feel today what one felt yesterday isn't to feel - it's to remember today what was felt yesterday, to be today's living corpse of what yesterday was lived and lost. "- Fernando Pessoa (Portuguese writer)

Exploring my new surroundings

The very next day (Saturday Sept 4, 2010) I look forward to my honey cluster cereal. I pour my ligh fat milk in the cereal and it taste so weird. i tried to force a few more bites in my mouth. Why am i forcing myself to eat this? I pour it out and head to my room for my I miss america drawer which is filled with family photos, candy, english books, my cell phone, and oatmeal. I grab my never-let me-down oatmeal and eat it with a smile.

I meet a few Portuguese students here so I talk to them for a few hours. One of their names is Sonia.

My friend Sonia

She is a master student study biomedical engineering (I got a head ache type that). She is really nice and helped me set up the internet for my lab top. Just remembered I been in Portugal and haven't been able to contact anyone because the phone card I receive for free from STA with like 10 minutes on it..lol wasn't working on the pay phone(are they suppose to?) I finally contacted family and friends, I set up the magic jack and then my mac dies in the middle of a great skype convo. I can't find an adapter for my computer, I thought I brought one but I couldn't find it. I head to the mall to purchase one, I buy one all excited, I get back and realize that it only allows two prung american plugs and not 3 prung. I go back to the mall trying to search all over to find one, with my mac charger so they understand what im looking for. No luck. in my sadness (so dramatic..lol) I stop at this little cute shop and order a crepe. Again I'm not sure if I sit where ever or how it works i don't want to just assume I can sit anywhere, the garçom (waiter) understanding my confusion speaks in english and tells me I can sit where I like. I think uhh why does everyone speak english here. It's going to be hard for me to earn Portuguese if everyone speaks english, watches all the american television series, and blast american music on their stereos. Well the garçom askes me later why i looked so down and Iexplain how I really would like to charge my computer so I can have communication with my family and friends. He tells me about another mall that may have an adapter, he says ill be right back. He comes back a few minutes later with this map he drew, he further explains what bus I need to catch and where to get off. I thank him, pay him for my crepe, and with my spirit lifted set out to find the other shopping mall.

I find the shopping mall I look around, get lose, get help, and then they tell me that they don't have it. In my despair I decided to buy food for dinner, food always cheers me up..lol. I have my hands full of groceries and wait at the bus stop for what seems like a whole hour. Bus finally comes, I think I'm on the wrong one. I sit patiently to afraid to ask the bus driver, for some reason I just have confidence in my directions even though I never even been here before..lol well I see a familiar land mark, I push the stop button and get home safely.

The next day (sunday Sept 5, 2010)I met a few other girls who were staying downstairs one was from Australia, one was from Czech republic and three of them were from Brazil. A few of us took a mini tour of the campus with our awesome tour guide Sonia.

A statue of a hardworking woman

A restaurant called the Manga=The Mango

The streets are all weird like this kind of reminds me of Inception

In the Botanical Garden

Another beautiful water fountain

It's tradition to throw the freshmen in the pound

Steep stairway that leads to all the barres