Transports Publicos

I thought I'd title this post "public transportation" because I've been taking a lot of them lately. Living in a city is so different!
Let's see... my weekend....
Saturday, Miguel (x2) and I went to a Pastelaria called Careca for breakfast. croissants with ham and butter--so good! Then for lunch, Xuxu's friend and her husband came over with their exchange student, Elizabeth from California, who I knew from orientation. She's very nice, and we talked about exchange so far....difficulties, good things....it's always good to talk to another exchange student.
After lunch we spent a little time in Lisbon (me, elizabeth, and our host moms). First we saw the Torre de Belem (didn't go inside), and then drove to Castelo São Jorge, stopping for some pictures along the way. The castle is really old and very beautiful--it made me remember how much I love castles! Old stones and cannons....
We also took a look at the circus place, called Chapitô, which is close to the castelo, though the studio was closed (the restaurant--yes, it's a circus club and bar/restaurant) was open.
Then Elizabeth and I went to Amoreiras, a big shopping mall here. Walked around and didn't buy anything. Though we did get dinner, and then went to her house to find that her host parents had dinner for us. So we ate dinner again. :-). My host family came to pick me up at midnight, and I didn't get to bed until 1 AM. hehe southern europe....
Sunday Xuxu, Joana and I drove around Lisbon looking for different ways for Joana to get to school. I saw some parks that looked very nice (I miss the country while I'm living here in the city!). We stopped to get some famous "Pasteis de Belem" (really rich egg sugar pasteries that are only called Pasteis de Belem in that one shop in Belem; everywhere else they're called "Pasteis de nata (cream)"). Xuxu showed me some really old houses, and I peeked into a garden there, which looked nice.
Then lunch, which was a little barbeque, and pasteis de belem for dessert (I ate 2, oh gosh).
In the afternoon I went to Anne-Lise's house and hung out with her and Mariana S, from our class. We couldn't go in her pool because it was raining, so we just hung out.
School again this week. Tomorrow is my tenth day! I'm understanding more and more (more outside classes, though), and everybody keeps telling me how well I speak portuguese already. hm...I don't know. Though it is getting easier. Monday afternoon Lisa, Anne-Lise and I had our "Português para Estrangeiros" class. The teacher is very nice, and I think it'll help me a lot. During lunch monday and tuesday I was a bad exchange student, and didn't try to be social, but took long walks around the area. There's one street full of ambaixadas (embassies); it was fun to see all the flags. On Tuesday I got a pastry in a little pastelaria/café, and realized how I need to spend a bit more time appreciating all the little things I was so excited about before I came here--like pastelarias and cobbled streets and really old things.
Tuesday in portuguese class I had to read something that I'd written in english, then used my dictionary and verb book to translate into portuguese (about perfume--that was the assignment). I'm sure it was hilarious. Oh gosh.
After school I went to chapitô again to get more information. it turns out classes are monday and wednesday (like gymnastics!) from 7h00-9, which is a bit late, thinking about how long it takes to get there (3 autocarros (buses!)). We'll see--I think there's an info session coming up soon that I'd like to go to. Otherwise, i think I'll look at dance or gymnastics.
I got home late (after dark, which is later than I'm supposed to), and had dinner with some family friends. They both spoke perfect english, but I tried to speak portuguese with them. dinner was at around 9 I think (so late), so i ended up just hurrying to bed afterwards.
Wednesdays (today) are my longest days of school--4 classes (7 hours). for lunch I went to Careca again with Mariana (not S.--different Mariana) from my class. She's very nice, and a newbie like me (but from Portugal). I had a ham/cheese pastry thing and a pastry for dessert. and passion fruit juice (?) very cool. We had a quick stop at her house, which was very nice, then back to school (bus again) for geografia. Agriculture and portugal and things. I have to color in a map for TPC (trabalhos para casa=homework). After geography, Anne-Lise and I met with Nadia and Sofia from our math class, who helped us with portuguese (verbs), which was so nice of them. I almost have present indicative down! yay! And I can say "what's up" in Norwegian, which is pretty cool (I learned on saturday).
Then transports públicos home. I ate way too much sugary cakes and cookies and snacks. ew. Estou a engourdar (I'm getting fat). problemo! At least the walk home from the bus stop is a very steep hill. Now it's time for TPC! yay! I only have books for Filosofia and English, which is kind of a problem, though. hopefully more will come soon. Hope everything's going well at home! If you are ever really annoyed at a class or homework, imagine it being in Portuguese, I hope that helps a bit. hehe.
Beijinhos!
Lydia (Lídia!)