fim de semana

wow, i can't believe it's been almost a week since i last wrote! where did the time go?
first of all, parabéns Lizzie and Vreni, and happy anniversary mama and dada!
let's see.......a lot to catch up on
saturday, i went out with catarina, miguel (jr--called miguelinho sometimes), and Graça to see Piratas das Caraíbes 2, which was fun. yay for pirates! where's the thump thump? yay.
sunday we went with the grandparents (avôs) and aunts and uncles and cousins to a beach house the family has near the farthest western point of the european continent (about half an hour from where i live). it was so beautiful there! we had a nice lunch; it was a very good day in general.
i had school all this week....i don't remember much from it, though. i try to figure out what the teachers are talking about--it's getting a bit easier, but not much. there are a lot of nice people in my class--everyone is very friendly, and helps me take notes or understand classes.
tuesday (at around nine---it's southern europe, we stay up late!) we went to IKEA to buy stuff for catarina's room. i bought some boxes and a trash can, which i didn't have. then wednesday we went to buy school supplies. i have funky huge binders that only have two hole things (what do you call them) the paper has four holes, though only notepaper--nothing the teachers pass out, and i can't find a hole puncher! hm...
yesterday i had school, then went to the baixa (touristy shopping place) with anne-lise and some girls from my class. we went to clothes stores, book stores, walked around. anne-lise got a hair wrap (do you remember those things that everyone did in third grade where you wrapped embroidery floss around your hair? it's quite popular here with teenage girls! hehe). then i took public transportation home, but went to far on the bus and had to call my host mom to come pick me up. we went to see a music school that looks very good, where i hope to go play clarinet.
also yesterday me and anne-lise and lisa (germany) met with a teacher whose going to teach us portuguese in a lesson every week. yay! i really need to work on my gramática....
today...school again. i get to wake up at 7, which is nice, but every day this week i woke up before 7....from 6-6:50. hm...maybe my body isn't used to this late wake up time! hehe.
hour and a half classes are taking some time getting used to, but it's nice to only have three classes some days.
i got home, had lunch, then was going to bake an apple pie, but we need to buy some more stuff, so i'll make it tomorrow. then i spend a bit too much time on my computer, then went out and took a walk, which i really enjoy doing. i want to take a longer one sometime soon, explore some more. and next time, i'll remember my camera....
so now i've spent a bit too much time in my room...i'll go downstairs to study portuguese and be a bit more social.
exchange is quite hard (lots of mood swings!), and I am homesick, but I'm learning so much and enjoying myself here; dealing with the challenges.
TTFN and chau!