Nuevas Clases y Portugal!

This past week we had our first week of real classes... ehh. Luckily, we never have classes on Fridays, however we have grammar class every Monday-Thursday at 10:30 am (earlier than any of my PSU classes in the past 3 years?!). Its a struggle catching the bus every morning, but Kayla and I have managed to do it without being (too) late to our classes. In total, I have five classes: grammar, Contemporary Spanish Novel, 20th Century Spanish Painters (all about Miró, Picasso, and Dalí), a film class on all of Almodóvar's movies, and Contemporary Spanish Film. I switched out of an economics class because I had no idea why I would ever be put in such a class considering I've never taken economics in my life and I don't plan on starting that here. All the professors are nice, though, and the classes don't seem too bad. Also this past week, Kayla and I FINALLY went to Plaza Mayor and sat in the sunset drinking a glass of wine, not quite believing that it was real life. We also walked around the Palacio Real and La Catedral de Maria Sofia. The cathedral was closed, but we were able to walk around inside the crypt which was littered with graves and altars and other creepy Catholic things. 


This past weekend we went to LISBON!!! It was SO BEAUTIFUL. We left right from class Thursday afternoon and went straight to the airport to catch our flight. When we got there we figured we'd fine because Portuguese is so similar to Spanish, right? WRONG. It is nothing like Spanish and it is horrible. The only way we could communicate was with people who spoke English. The city was extremely beautiful..very quaint and antique-looking..not as metropolitan as Madrid. Its right on the coast, and further south than Madrid, making it much warmer. It was in the 60s all weekend!

Thursday night we got our bearings and met an English guy who was starting a 'pub crawl' business and took us around Barrio Alto (the main pub district of Lisbon). He took us to a great place for dinner but everyone ended up paying more than they should have for dinner so some people, naturally, freaked out because they are cheap skates (I'm sorry, but you shouldn't order a 28€ paella if you can't pay more than 29€). We then walked up and down the tiny cobblestone streets from bar to bar, then returned to our hostel. The hostel was clean and safe, but the beds were outrageously uncomfortable; I have about 5 bruises on my ribs/arms/hips. 

National Palace of Pena

Friday morning, Kayla, Margaret, Kaitlin, and I decided to get up at 9 to be out and about by 10 to see the city. What we didn't realize was that none of our founds had automatically switched to the different time zone (-1 hour) and we ended up out by 9am. They didn't tell me we were already at breakfast because they thought I would be mad! We walked down to the coast and enjoyed the sunny morning, then attempted to navigate our way (by map) to the city center to catch a tour bus. It didn't work out so well and we were about to head back to the hostel until suddenly a double-decker open top bus appeared in front of our eyes and we hopped on. We ended up seeing pretty much the entire city, getting off at certain spots to see the sites. After the tour we went to a cafe to try Pastel de Nata, the dessert that Portugal is known for. it was probably the best thing I've ever eaten. The night life was, conveniently, right outside our door. In Barrio Alto, where our hostel was, people stand in the streets and drink, talk, and listen to music till the wee hours of the morning. It was so much fun walking up the streets stopping in every bar to get 1€ cups of beer and taking them to go. The next day we all took a trip to Sintra by train (~45 mins) and saw the most beautiful castle I have ever seen in my life, the National Palace of Pena. We also walked around the Castle of the Moors which looked a lot like the Great Wall. After walking that my feet literally felt like they were going to fall off. Unfortunately, when we got back to the hotel I had a stomach bug and had to stay in for the rest of the night :( . The next morning we checked out and had a small lunch in the warm, sunny Rossio Square. We managed to complete our first European trip unscathed! 
Now we are about to go to a bar to watch the superbowl! I don't really care who wins, but it will be fun to hang out with all the other Americans and speak English for a while :)

Next weekend --> Bilbao!