Lisboa (Lisbon), Portugal

November 12th-16th 2010

A 15 hour overnight bus ride and some sleeping pills and we were in Lisboa, Portugal. On this great adventure the "she-wolf pack", Emily L, Quinn, Kelsey, Ann, Kristina, Nikole and I met with our guy friends from the USAC program, Zach, Matt and Todd. With all the us, the trip was definitely a formula for a great time and I have to say, this has been one on my favorite places.

Our hostel, The Lisbon Lounge definitely spoiled us. It was cheap, very clean, free breakfast that was good and filling and the staff was very helpful. Also, it was close to the metro and the Plaza of Commerce.

The people and culture are welcoming and very hospitable. I found Lisboa to be full of life and with a lot of culture. I got the impression that latin music is popular here and I even met some Portuguese guys that knew how to dance salsa, merengue and cumbia... FINALLY! I was out dancing until my feet hurt and Zach and Matt had to drag me back to the hostel since the girls had left earlier.

                    I stole this photo from either Anna or Quinn... 

May I add, great picture to steal!

As you can see Lisboa has a San Francisco look to it, the old architecture, narrow streets that are steep and there is even a little, mini golden gate bridge. A great thing about Lisbao is that everything is very close, walking was our main transportation, but also the Tram and the Metro where helpful.

 Praça do Cemercio (Square of Commerce): This area is in front of the ocean and was where the palace was situated decades ago, before it was destroyed my an earthquake. Also, in this square there are a few FREE museum the explain Lisboa's History. (Stole this pic from Anna or Quinn... Again.)

Monastery of Jeronímos: Which is the symbol of power and wealth for Portugal during the age of discovery.

Belem Tower: Built in 1514 to protect Lisboa's entrance of the port. For many sailors, this tower was the last memory of their land before they went of into the sea to find more (land).

It is typical to see houses covered in tile on the outside. And I love it because it makes this place even more colorful than it already is. 

With all this variety of tile, Emily and Kristina were in candy land, choosing which tile they wanted for their bathroom in their future house. Gotta love 'em! 

 

Here we are at the local market, where this man, his cute dog and his bike sang to us. Not sure what language he was singing in but it wasn't in Portuguese or the other two language I know. Either way it sounded pretty, yet he seemed to be singing about something sad. 

Some authentic tile sold at the market. (yes, Kristina and Emily were all over this.)

"La vida no es para ser vista, es para ser vivida"

"Life is not to be seen, it is to be lived."

Writing in Portuguese, very similar to Spanish. 

However, I learned the hard way that some Portuguese people 

don't like when you say that Portuguese and Spanish are alike. 

Me asking for directions for the 100th time. 

Note: All the people we asked just sent us in circles. Better off following the map. 

I loved the night life in Portugal, very "poppin'". The second night we went out it POURED on us. Here is the aftermath:

Emily and Todd dancing in the rain...

Emily: An unexpected firecracker on the 4th of July that you can't help but love.

Todd: The hot pepper in the meal, you never know how it's going to hit you, but you always ask for more.

AWESOME AMIGOS... Miss you guys.

...And Kristina and Emily freezing in the rain.

hehe

We also went  to Rossio Square and up to the Castle of Saint Jorge and took a walk down the medieval maze of streets called Alfama. 

Moral of the story: GREAT TRAVELING CREW.

London, England

My first big trip was London, England in the beginning of October. Kelsey, Emily Lorenz and I headed there for 4 days and stayed with my cousins' who are currently studying there. They treated us like royalty and showed us around. Not too mention, staying with them helped us save a lot of money on accommodations... But that money was later wasted on fees, thanks to ryanair. Although, I found London to be extremely expensive it was a beautiful city. We met a fun group of guys one night who took us to the bar that looked like a cave. We ended having such a good time that we didn't come home until 9 am. I wish I had looked up more historical information of London so I could have enjoyed it a bit more.

Our start

Each one with backpack or suitcase, some snacks and our passports

Our attempt 1st to find Abbey Road where the beatles had their recording studio = Fail

Wrong Abbey Road

We finally found the famous Abbey Road. Little did we know it was complicated to take a picture like the Beatles did, because the cars don't stop to wait for you to cross the street to take the picture. THEY WILL RUN YOU OVER.

Piccadilly Square with our amazing tour guide, my cousin Naty

Nothing like Big Ben and an English hotdog 

The River

Beautiful day for us to take a stroll

London Bridge

Our English friends of the night, that took us out that night

Getting back home at 9 AM from an all nighter

(London's underground)

Getxo, my new home

Beginning of September


First impression of Getxo... PARADISE. From my apartment it's a 5 minute walk to the beach. Young and old people are always on the street. Little kids run in and out of the bars, playing while their parents socialize. Elderly women meet up with their other elderly friends to have a glass of wine with a pinxto. This place is full of life and it is great.  


Gexto is the town I live in, Algorta is the neighborhood, and it is on the outskirts of the city of Bilbao, Spain. The following is from my friend Brendan Eggen also known as Eggz, he explained it better, so here I copy and paste his words:


"Bilbao is where the majority of people are bilingual. The native language of the Basque Country is Euskera, otherwise known as Basque. The Autonomous Community of País Vasco is made up of 3 parts, Álava, Gipuzkoa and Vizcaya where I live."

The famous museum of Bilbao, the Guggenheim

Bilbao is a complete different place in the winter, it is no longer warm and sunny. Instead it is cold, rainy and somedays very windy, but the ugly weather doesn't stop the people from going out and enjoying the day. 

Puerto Viejo (old part of Getxo)

The old fishermen port 

One of the beaches of Getxo

The 1st semester I lived with Jackie and Emily. Jackie is from Chicago, and is in Getxo for the second time. She had been here 5 years ago with the program USAC for a semester, and she loved it so much that she came back on her own for a year. Emily is from Iowa, the same age as me and came for the fall semester only. As for the 2nd semester, when Emily decided to abandon us and go back to the states, Caitlin moved in. She is from Nevada and the same age as me as well. This year I have been blessed with good roommates, we are all different but have a lot to share with one another and we get along really well. 

Jackie and I on Halloween

Emily and I in September

Our apartment is a little on the old side, but has a lot of personality and is spacious. We have 4 rooms but only use 3 because the other one is a pretty small. We have a moldy bathroom with a shower and a half bathroom on the other end of the apartment. We have a washing machine that is in the kitchen and a patio to hang our clothes to dry (dryers are considered a luxuries instead of a must). We have an awesome balcony that looks into our gated apartment complex. We have a living room and a dinning room where people are always in, either having dinner or haaving movie nights. Also, we have made a deal that we only speak Spanish while we are at home, since it is hard to keep up the Spanish when you are around too many USAC students at one time.

Outside my apartment complex

My room

Madrid Tour

On the 1st of September I had to say goodbye to my mom and goes of on the Madrid tour that the USAC program offers us. Before saying our goodbyes I spent a few hours in Madrid with my grandma, my mom's cousin (Paola), her husband and my mom. My prima/tia Paola and her husband live in Madrid... I have family everywhere, it's a great advantage. Madrid is where my grandma was born and grew up until she was in her 20's and had to flee because of Franco and went to live in Colombia. She told me that Madrid today is nothing like the old Madrid. After having lunch and saying goodbye, I was officially by myself in a whole new country to explore. That's when I felt a little scared.
                                                                   With Paola and G-ma

Then, I started my Madrid tour and the getting-to-know of 100ish American students (September 1st-5th). I met some really outgoing and motivational people on this tour. Most of the people that I got closed to in these 5 days were going to study in either Alicante or San Sebastian, but I saw a few of them later on in the semester in our travels.
Our regular schedule during this tour: wake up at 7:30 AM, be out of the hotel my 9:00 AM and off to our tours. Then we would come back from our tour around 4, shower, nap, get ready and go out until 4 AM then wake up at 7:30 AM again and do it all over... for 4 days straight. HARD WORK. =)

The 1st day of our tour we went t the Royal Palace and the Museum of El Prado. I had been there before a few year ago, but it is still incredible.

2nd day of the tour we went to Segovia, where the most memorable Roman work is in Spain... The Segovia Aqueduct. I honestly have to say this is one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. We also went to Spain's National Museum of 20th Century Art (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte de Arte Reina Sofia), where Picasso's Guerinca is at and Dali's work.

Aqueduct 

Segovia's Cathedral

3rd day of the tour: Toledo, one of Spain's ancient city, also known as the "city of three cultures", Jews, Muslims and Christians.

One of Toledo's view

Synagogue   

Night outings: Plaza del Sol y Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor = Sangria & Amigos

Tapas & Beer = Dangerous

Last day: Off to Gexto to officially move it!

Arrival to España

When I first arrived in Spain (in August), I stayed 3 weeks with my grandma in A Rua, Galicia. I was very pleased to find her well and very active like always. That woman has so much energy! I hope I am at her level when I get to that age. My mom came with me too because she wanted to check out where her daughter was going to be living for the next 10 months and of course she wanted to spend time with her mother.

There, she spoiled me and I had the opportunity to see my aunt, Nubia and her kids. We went out one of the nights to the village's festival and tía Nubia and I enjoyed ourselves a little too much. Although, it was great to see my grandma, her little town has no action and the anxiety of finally moving into my apartment and seeing where I would be living was killing me.
                                                              
                                                                   Grandma's House  

Abuela Mercedes y Yo

Mi Mamá con la tía Nubia

It has been such an amazing experience to be around my mom's side of the family, especially since I don't see them very often. I definitely can't deny that fact that a lot of my traits come from this side of my family. =)