Spring Break in Lisboa, Faro, & Lagos

For my spring break, during Semana Santa, my friend, Ashley and I went to Portugal. We decided to couchsurf for our very first time. We found a woman from the US that lived in Lisboa and a guy in Faro. Couchsurfing is basically sleeping in a stranger’s home- trust me, its way better than it sounds….well sometimes. ;)

We arrived on Friday evening, April 3rd, in Lisbon after a long ride on a superbus from Granada to Sevilla to Lisbon. The woman we were staying with was named Heather, and she picked us up. It was pretty comical (kind of how the entire trip was) because I ran out of money on my phone and couldn’t make or receive calls because I was in another country. So Ashley and I walked around looking for someone that might have been looking for us….Finally a woman powerwalking down the sidewalk calling out “Heather?” caught our eyes. We were greeted with a hug and she brought us to her home about 20 minutes outside of the city. She lived in an apartment with her Portuguese husband, Victor. They were so very nice to us, offering their home as if we were family! We had our own room and unpacked and went to sleep. The next day, Saturday, Heather drove us up the coast to “Casa da Guia” in Cascais and we had our Portuguese 2nd breakfast – pastel da Nata (my favorite!!) and walked around. When we drove in to park, we had to pay a guy on the street that “guided us in the parking spot” 1 EURO….If we didn’t he would have scraped the car with his key. From there, we drove up to Guincho where we might have been in the background of a movie! We watched kite surfers on the beach and then continued driving to the Windmill Restaurant, Don Quixote. We had a very funny waiter who offered to let us wash dishes or pay tomorrow because we thought we didn’t have enough cash.

Afterwards, we drove to Cabo da Roca – the most western point of Europe. We bought souvenirs and drove back stopping to admire the kite surfers again. We drove home to Carcavelas and went shopping for dinner and bought green wine, the only place in the world you can find green wine! We came home and Heather made us brie with fig jam. We took a walk to buy cheese, witnessed an accident, and gave a rubber chicken to a dog.  We walked back home and Heather cooked us bacalhaou, codfish. We also had magic salad….yummy! Heather was a cook on cruise ships for quite some years, so Ashley and I were delighted to have such a great meal cooked for us! Later that evening, after two days in Portugal, we found out that we were an hour behind! Hah

On Sunday morning, Ashley and I went to the beach early in the morning before church to watch the surfers. We joined Heather and Victor at Riverside International Church and went for lunch after mass at Capriciossa. We enjoyed eating pizza on the beach, tried anchovies for the FIRST time (!), and had white sangria. We also enjoyed observing how slow Portuguese people were. The restaurant was so busy and they slowly walked around without a care in the world. After lunch, we stopped by Victor’s daughter’s apartment and met the family. It was fun to see a “traditional” Portuguese family eating together. Afterwards, we drove to Lisboa and saw where Heather works at the American School of Languages. We walked to the downtown area to buy tickets for the hop-on, hop-off tour bus. The bus driver, rather unaccommodating, although a typical Portuguese Heather said, wouldn’t let us on the bus and made us chase him. Anyways, while on the bus, we got to see Belem, torre, a cool monastery, and a bridge that was built by the same architecture of the bridge in San Francisco. We saw the Plaza de Toros which had an interesting Arabic influence. After we got off the bus, we drove to Sintra and wow, it was a gorgeous drive. We shopped and went to Piriquita to eat travesseiros (good pastries) and somehow, Heather managed to confuse bug spray and lotion. When she reeked of bug spray, we couldn’t stop laughing….No wonder why the store owner was staring at us! Haha. We bought roasted chestnuts on the street and drove up to the palace, picked some calalilies on the way home before we managed to get lost.

On Monday morning, we woke up and went to the beach again to watch the surfers for the last time. We took the Metro with Victor and said our goodbyes. We took a train to beautiful Faro…NOT. Faro was a very small, unattractive town and when we got there, we took a bus to Jumbo to buy groceries. We missed the last bus to take us to the island of Faro because we didn’t know that you have to flag down the bus if you want it to stop….It drove right past us. After we realized we couldn’t take the bus, I attempted to hitchhike, however, that got us nowhere. Finally, we got a taxi to meet the famous, Bruno, the guy we were couchsurfing with. He picked us up wearing no shoes, cigarette in his mouth, in a hurry to get back to his flat. In the car Bruno said, "I hope you don't mind, I've got a couple of friends over. I don't know where you will sleep, but we can find something." We tried to be optimistic as we entered his house with over 30 wild people. Many of them had dredlocks (not to stereotype or generalize) and they all stared at us. We didn't quite fit it but tried talking to some of them. They were nice but we were exhausted from traveling and Bruno had left us and told us to mingle. His flat was rather small and filthy. We went to the bathroom and when we washed our hands, there was a tube from the sink to drain into the shower. There were no doors in the house, just draperies hanging to block off the “room”. We tried dancing with them, but were kind of freaked out when they were interrogating us about if we thought they were pirates. They insisted they were good people and we had nothing to worry about (which just made us worry more.) Finally, Bruno saw we were tired and offered for us to sleep in his friend’s house since he had no idea when his friends would leave. We agreed to sleep in his neighbors but we hadn’t brought sheets or blankets. We slept with our beach towels and were shivering! In the morning we woke up and knew we had to get out of Faro. With only 3 hours of sleep, our bodies aching from shivering, and feeling filthy from the flats, I rolled over to see Ashley, thinking the exact same thing. We quickly got up, packed our things, and ran out of the neighbor’s house to go get our groceries we had kept in Bruno’s flat. I agreed to run into Bruno’s room and get the bags while Ashley scribbled a quick note to let him know we were leaving. As Bruno was rolling over, we RAN out, only to find his friend’s had the munchies and helped themselves to our food…those dang pirates!

We couldn’t have been happier to get out of there but then realized we needed to find somewhere to stay for the next two nights. We ended up checking into our hostel 2 days early in Lagos and thank goodness they made room for us, because they were actually full. The first night, Ashley and I shared a twin size bed. Lagos was really great, the weather was beautiful, and we were excited to meet our Spanish girlfriends who came on Thursday. Once they arrived, we also decided to stay 2 days longer with them, so we didn't leave Lagos until Sunday afternoon. We went to the beach almost every day and made a day trip to Cabo de San Vicente. It was a lookout point with beautiful cliffs, overlooking the ocean. Ashley and I also enjoyed kayaking through the caves. We mingled with people from all over the world in our hostel and while we were out at night. We met many people from Australia, and lots of Americans on holiday that are studying in various parts of Spain. Ashley and I had so many laughs and learning experiences on this trip to Portugal and really had a great time, despite our not-so-best friend, Bruno. On the way home, we were finally able to laugh about our encounter in Faro with Bruno…A spring break I will never forget…

What I Will Miss Most....

So I was talking to my sister yesterday, and she asked me, "So what are you going to miss most about Spain?"

She raised a great question and I pondered my last 4 months in Spain....Had it really already been 4 months? Am I leaving Spain in just 5 weeks?

But at the same time, it seems like years ago since I've been in Chicago, back at school...so here are some of the things I thought about as I really analyzed my sister's question:

My life here.

I have a different way of life now, I’ve changed a lot. I am so independent and able to do whatever I want without consulting anyone or thinking about it too much. Life is simple here. I hardly look at the clock, I’m much more laid back, and I don’t even always wear makeup like I used to….

My family here.

I love my Senora and Roberto because they are so kind and open to have me in their house. Of course, I miss my real family at home, but here is different. I have a brother I’ve never had….We go out together and he lets me hang out with him and his friends. My Senora smothers me with kisses on the check telling me “Que guapaaaaa” nearly every day.

My classes here.

I love my classes because every class is relaxed and taughy by Spaniards who have a lot of passion for what they teach. They aren’t just teaching for the money, but to educate us. I find the teaching to be much different than the U.S.

My travels here.

I am literally able to pack up and leave any moment, Thursday thru Sunday. I can hop on a bus to the beach and either find a hostel or take a late bus back. I am so lucky to say that I’ve been to Italy and Portugal (and Spain)….and going to France. I’ve done my share of traveling within Spain as well. I have learned so much about global perspectives on life and can understand and have a more intelligent conversation with someone from another country.

My new friends here.

I have made friends from Barcelona, Granada, Canada, Australia, other parts of the U.S., Denmark, Norway, France, Portugal, etc…We all come from different walks of life but somehow manage to blend well. We all exchange info in hopes that maybe we can meet again. I hope this isn’t the end of my travels in life. It’s hard to make such strong ties with people and know that I may never see them again. Although my Spanish friend, Pilar, is coming to Chicago in June! :)

My eating habits here.

Okay, so picky Heather is no longer picky. I know that seems odd, but its true. On my holiday in Portugal, I tried bacalhaou, a type of fish, anchovies, salmon, and hummus. I usually eat everything my Senora gives me with the exception of a couple things. If something has onions on it, I no longer cringe and push it away immediately. In addition, I LOVE tapas, when you get food with a drink, the Spanish tortilla, jamon York, postre de nata, sangria, café con leche….

My nightlife here.

In Spain, they have a saying about how they don’t wait until the weekend to go out and have fun. Now, Spaniards, they really know how to enjoy themselves while still acting classy. Going out for tapas on a weekday is the norm. One night, I was out with friends and going to come home because I had class the next morning at 8:30AM. My friend, Victor, said, “Heather, you’re in Spain,yes? Maybe you are here for the only time in your life so enjoy it and make the most of it. It’s only class on the morning.” Victor has literally the mentality of any Spaniard I have encountered.

My Spanish of course.

I will miss learning about the language and culture of Spain. I find it so intriguing and feel like I have really bettered my Spanish. I came here and was a Spanish speaker of very few words. I have learned to communicate better and hope to use Spanish in my life once I return to the States. Spanish is something that is important to me now, and I like knowing that I can communicate with people in two languages. When my parents came to visit, I enjoyed playing translator when they didn’t understand something.

I don’t say this to offend anyone, but I think my thoughts and perspectives have changed a lot. I’m like a hippie, I love life and making the best of it. I feel like people in the US are so much more close-minded now that I’ve seen the US from outside-in. This is absolutely an experience I will never forget.

Miss and love you all.