Thursday, January 22, 2009

More Details and my first run

I went for my first run here in Portugal yesterday, because it was sunny for the first day i have been here. Which is exactly opposite of what the weather normally is, i guess. but the run was along the Perdao, which is a really nice boardwalk along the beach. It wasnt very long, because i had no idea if running then was ok or normal, so i began by walking. The perdao is only about 6k long, from one end to the other. only men were running, and mainly older men at that, but i decided that it didnt matter and tied my sweater at my waist and joined them. i did get a few weird looks, but none of the wolf whistles that were promised. which is very good. and my family has an old stairstepper and treadmill that i ran on today because portuguese do not go out when it rains, and it was raining once again, today.

DETAILS:
Weather- is supposed to be nice. However, since i have been here there have only been two sunny days. It is around 35 to 50ยบ every day. and rainy! though most days are supposed to be very sunny. and the weather is only supposed to be getting warmer.

Food- is pretty good. Portuguese usually like to eat full meals with the whole family, but for me dinner is the only meal we all sit down. dinner consists of soup first, always, then pasta, or rice, with meat or an omelette or something. My family loves to lanchar, or snack, so that fits nicely with my habits. there is always plenty of bananas and apples around, and toast and yogurt.

Portuguese- Is difficult. It is getting easier and easier each day to understand what is going on around me, but i still cannot speak very well. my family speaks english very well, but they encourage me to speak portuguese whenever i can. the pronounciation of the words is often crazy, but the words are mostly very similar to spanish.

School- well, i am going tomorrow!! finally, i have been waiting for 3 days now. so you may wonder what i have been doing with my time all day when the family is at school and work. well... i wake up at 9:30, eat breakfast with cristina, my host mom, and then she leaves for work. at this point i either go to workout, or i sit down and try to learn portuguese from portuguese tv or subtitles, or maybe talking with Vita, the maid, who teaches me words in portuguese in turn for words in english. she is trying to learn without a book or anything, and just because she wants to. Maria or Ines come for lunch from school, they get an hour and a half, and then i am alone again. so i have been pretty bored and i am really looking forward to going to school.

My Neighborhood- Estoril is like the rich suburb of Lisboa. Everybody has money, and dresses really nicely. i feel slightly out of place because i dont have a wool coat and boots, but otherwise everybody is very nice. the streets are clean, but always under construction, and the cars here are all bmws or volvos or smart cars, the tiny half cars. that is mainly because it would be impossible to have a pickup truck around here, the streets are very narrow and the driving is crazy, but my host mom drives nearly 30min to work each day, so i dont think gas is big issue.

Beijinhos- this is the typical greeting, in estoril it is one kiss on the cheek, in other places it is two. beijinhos means little kisses.

Im very excited to go to school tomorrow, it should be an experience, and this weekend i will go to a party in a bar with maria, my host sister. we will be there until 4 in the morning, because that is first train back to estoril from lisboa, but that is typical.

i love and miss everybody, i hope to get some pictures soon of something interesting, because so far i have been pretty boring!

6 comments:

  1. holey moley. Four AM? im impressed. lol

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  2. haha the wool coat and boots thing is pretty annoying, huh? you will get used to it. luckily you can fall back on "i am an american" so they have to love you sense of style because you are unique! right? :)

    i am glad you are having fun! how amazing that you are following language and conversation -- that is AWESOME! YOU are awesome. keep updating, i love your blog!!!!! much much love from alaska

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  3. Way to go Allison. I bet you can beat some of those old guys on your run. You might want to wait a little while befroe you start mowing them down. Four AM? Do your parents know what you're up to young lady?

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  4. Befroe? It is a good thing I don't teach English.

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  5. 4 am?? Probably won't hear from Alli for awhile-it'll take a few days of catch up sleep. Sure like you taking the metro back, instead of driving. How'd it go Alli? Kenzie took second at ski race on friday, and izzy had a great swim meet. strange around here without you..kind of lost our equilibrium, but we're doing well. Love, dad

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  6. Everyone seems to be commenting on the fact that you wrote at 4 am. But I don' think they are accounting for the time difference and the fact that the time posted is in our time...
    haha.
    I LOVE YOU! AND MISS YOU!! MUCHO MUCHO!

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