Sunday March 9, 2008
Well, like every Sunday I went to church this morning, and to my surprise, I understood about 80% of everything today. After church we had the salsa de ternera with carrots, chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes. I remembered earlier today that I haven’t taken any photos of the food at home except at Brooke’s birthday party and so I’m going to start taking pictures at every meal because that’s one of the most important things of the culture. For postre we had pineapple rings which we don’t have very often so that was a treat. For dinner we had the veggie mix of artichokes, green beans, peas, ham, cheese, and tomatoes. It still surprises me that I eat the green beans with no problem; I still don’t like the artichokes, but I made myself eat like five of them just to be polite.
After I woke up from my siesta, we went to the Shumway’s and one of the things we did was get a little bit more organized for our trip to Portugal on Thursday. It turns out that there are a couple people that have connections with people who either are in Portugal right now or went to Portugal for some reason (i.e. mission). So because of that we have some ideas of things that we are going to do, and it will be better than just showing up and not having a clue what there is to do there. There are 17 people going in our group, and it will be a nice break after the test in History 202. We are going to be so tired after the month of March though since we are travelling so much.
Well, like every Sunday I went to church this morning, and to my surprise, I understood about 80% of everything today. After church we had the salsa de ternera with carrots, chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes. I remembered earlier today that I haven’t taken any photos of the food at home except at Brooke’s birthday party and so I’m going to start taking pictures at every meal because that’s one of the most important things of the culture. For postre we had pineapple rings which we don’t have very often so that was a treat. For dinner we had the veggie mix of artichokes, green beans, peas, ham, cheese, and tomatoes. It still surprises me that I eat the green beans with no problem; I still don’t like the artichokes, but I made myself eat like five of them just to be polite.
After I woke up from my siesta, we went to the Shumway’s and one of the things we did was get a little bit more organized for our trip to Portugal on Thursday. It turns out that there are a couple people that have connections with people who either are in Portugal right now or went to Portugal for some reason (i.e. mission). So because of that we have some ideas of things that we are going to do, and it will be better than just showing up and not having a clue what there is to do there. There are 17 people going in our group, and it will be a nice break after the test in History 202. We are going to be so tired after the month of March though since we are travelling so much.
Monday March 10, 2008
Today was just like most other days except for a couple things. I found out at breakfast this morning what the results were from the elections yesterday. They are always on Sunday, and then you find out the results at midnight, but I was in my room so I didn’t find out until this morning. Anyway, Zapatero won. I was putting my stuff in the dishwasher, and I asked Padre who was the new president, and with a face like stone he said “Zapatero”, so I could tell he wasn’t happy about it, and I don’t think a lot of people are happy about it, but at the same time there are a lot of people that do like him. Something else I found out about what Zapatero has done in the past is he has made it possible for Spanish students to go to school for free, and he has set up a program for widowed and less fortunate to receive stipends/compensation. Those two groups comprise a large portion of the population, so it makes sense that he would get their vote because of the benefits that his presidency has brought to their group. Still though, I know there is a lot of controversy going on right now. I don’t know, elections/politics make people weird.
Besides going to classes and studying for the test on Wednesday, we had a really fun FHE tonight. We ended up going to two of our friends’ house and their Madre (they actually call her Abuela) taught us how to make tortilla de patata and empanaditas. The tortilla is made with mostly only whipped eggs and cut up potato, or at least that’s how she made it. But you can put onion, garlic, or whatever else in it that you want. Then the empanaditas are these fried stuffed bread things that are so incredible, words just don’t do it justice. The filling can also be whatever you want, but this filling was made with tuna, fried tomatoes, onion, peppers, and some seasoning, and then the bread is just a regular bread recipe. You roll the dough into little balls and then flatten it out like a pizza only they are really small and then you put a dollop of the mixture and fold it over like a calzone and then you fry it in oil on the stove. They are really easy to make it seems like, and most of us were in Abuela’s little tiny kitchen wanting to help. I got to make a tortilla de patata, and apparently I flipped it “perfectamente”, but it was funny because I’m a lefty and she’s not, so she looked at me funny when I went to do it with the other hand, but I did it right and it turned out perfect. So that was exciting, and then for dessert she made arroz con leche, which is kind of like rice pudding only with more milk. Basically it’s rice, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, and then she put raisins in too. I ate SO much, and when I got home I had to explain to Madre what had happened and why I couldn’t eat dinner, but she didn’t care, she just laughed when I told her I ate more than everyone. So it was a pretty laid back day, but fun at the same time too. Also, today marks the one month until I leave, which is kind of sad. L
Today was just like most other days except for a couple things. I found out at breakfast this morning what the results were from the elections yesterday. They are always on Sunday, and then you find out the results at midnight, but I was in my room so I didn’t find out until this morning. Anyway, Zapatero won. I was putting my stuff in the dishwasher, and I asked Padre who was the new president, and with a face like stone he said “Zapatero”, so I could tell he wasn’t happy about it, and I don’t think a lot of people are happy about it, but at the same time there are a lot of people that do like him. Something else I found out about what Zapatero has done in the past is he has made it possible for Spanish students to go to school for free, and he has set up a program for widowed and less fortunate to receive stipends/compensation. Those two groups comprise a large portion of the population, so it makes sense that he would get their vote because of the benefits that his presidency has brought to their group. Still though, I know there is a lot of controversy going on right now. I don’t know, elections/politics make people weird.
Besides going to classes and studying for the test on Wednesday, we had a really fun FHE tonight. We ended up going to two of our friends’ house and their Madre (they actually call her Abuela) taught us how to make tortilla de patata and empanaditas. The tortilla is made with mostly only whipped eggs and cut up potato, or at least that’s how she made it. But you can put onion, garlic, or whatever else in it that you want. Then the empanaditas are these fried stuffed bread things that are so incredible, words just don’t do it justice. The filling can also be whatever you want, but this filling was made with tuna, fried tomatoes, onion, peppers, and some seasoning, and then the bread is just a regular bread recipe. You roll the dough into little balls and then flatten it out like a pizza only they are really small and then you put a dollop of the mixture and fold it over like a calzone and then you fry it in oil on the stove. They are really easy to make it seems like, and most of us were in Abuela’s little tiny kitchen wanting to help. I got to make a tortilla de patata, and apparently I flipped it “perfectamente”, but it was funny because I’m a lefty and she’s not, so she looked at me funny when I went to do it with the other hand, but I did it right and it turned out perfect. So that was exciting, and then for dessert she made arroz con leche, which is kind of like rice pudding only with more milk. Basically it’s rice, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, and then she put raisins in too. I ate SO much, and when I got home I had to explain to Madre what had happened and why I couldn’t eat dinner, but she didn’t care, she just laughed when I told her I ate more than everyone. So it was a pretty laid back day, but fun at the same time too. Also, today marks the one month until I leave, which is kind of sad. L
Thursday March 13th
This morning we left for Portugal at about 7:30a.m. and our flight left a little before ten, but because of the time change when we got to Lisbon it was almost ten o'clock. When we were on the plane, we were all kind of seated really randomly, and I ended up sitting next to this guy named José Marquéz and he had been living in Spain for six months for a marketing conference, and was on his way back home to Lisbon. We had kind of an awkward meeting though. I was working on my homework for conversation class, and I didn't know one of the words so I leaned over and asked him, but he didn't know. So I leaned over and asked the guy on the other side of me to see if he knew what a “sujetador” was. I thought maybe suspenders, and he said yes, but for women. That totally threw me off, but then he started making awkward gestures at his chest, and I came to find out it's actually a bra. So when I got done talking to that guy, I turned to José, and he was like, “ya that's why I didn't know what it was”. It was super funny, but not awkward really, and we ended up talking quite a bit on the plane, but all in Spanish. He's the one I learned about how the people in Portugal talk better Spanish than English. I thought I would be able to understand the Portuguese pretty okay, but mostly everyone knows English here, and so if there's ever an exchange with a native they just talk to us in English instead and that's really weird since we're used to talking in Spanish. Once we got to the hostel, we left right away to go look around the city, and I ended up going with Dani and Emily for the whole day which was lots of fun. I've never really gone with them before so it was fun to go with someone new, and we had so much fun talking to each other. Our hostel is right off the ocean and so we walked along the water and went and saw this monument, monastery, and we also saw the huge soccer stadium.
Anyway, the other thing that we did to day was try this special pastry that is typical of this region. They are called Pasteis de Belem, and they are apparently kind of like crème brulé, but I've never tried it so I don't know for sure. They are like theses fried bread cups with this pudding filling, and they put cinnamon and powdered sugar on the top, and they serve it warm. Some of the girls really liked them, I wasn't crazy about them, but they were definitely yummy. Well, that was about it for today, and I am so pooped. Tomorrow I think we are going to Sintra which is this little city a little bit outside of Lisbon.
This morning we left for Portugal at about 7:30a.m. and our flight left a little before ten, but because of the time change when we got to Lisbon it was almost ten o'clock. When we were on the plane, we were all kind of seated really randomly, and I ended up sitting next to this guy named José Marquéz and he had been living in Spain for six months for a marketing conference, and was on his way back home to Lisbon. We had kind of an awkward meeting though. I was working on my homework for conversation class, and I didn't know one of the words so I leaned over and asked him, but he didn't know. So I leaned over and asked the guy on the other side of me to see if he knew what a “sujetador” was. I thought maybe suspenders, and he said yes, but for women. That totally threw me off, but then he started making awkward gestures at his chest, and I came to find out it's actually a bra. So when I got done talking to that guy, I turned to José, and he was like, “ya that's why I didn't know what it was”. It was super funny, but not awkward really, and we ended up talking quite a bit on the plane, but all in Spanish. He's the one I learned about how the people in Portugal talk better Spanish than English. I thought I would be able to understand the Portuguese pretty okay, but mostly everyone knows English here, and so if there's ever an exchange with a native they just talk to us in English instead and that's really weird since we're used to talking in Spanish. Once we got to the hostel, we left right away to go look around the city, and I ended up going with Dani and Emily for the whole day which was lots of fun. I've never really gone with them before so it was fun to go with someone new, and we had so much fun talking to each other. Our hostel is right off the ocean and so we walked along the water and went and saw this monument, monastery, and we also saw the huge soccer stadium.
Anyway, the other thing that we did to day was try this special pastry that is typical of this region. They are called Pasteis de Belem, and they are apparently kind of like crème brulé, but I've never tried it so I don't know for sure. They are like theses fried bread cups with this pudding filling, and they put cinnamon and powdered sugar on the top, and they serve it warm. Some of the girls really liked them, I wasn't crazy about them, but they were definitely yummy. Well, that was about it for today, and I am so pooped. Tomorrow I think we are going to Sintra which is this little city a little bit outside of Lisbon.
Friday March 14th
We went to this little town called Sintra today, and honestly, it was probably one of my favorite places that I've been to so far. The whole city smelled like lilacs and tropical goodness, and it was amazing. It was pretty humid most of the day, and so hot outside! I hiked the mountain up to the Moorish Castle with Emily, Dani, and Callie. On the way up we found some vines to swing from on the trees, and that was so much fun. But the thing I loved the most was that the whole city smelled so good. Later Missy and I broke off from the group and she wasn't feeling good, but then she decided to go back to the hostel in Lisbon, and so I wandered around for a couple hours by myself just exploring, and I went to the complete other side of the city where I could see the castle and palace way far off in the distance. I ended up having to buy another pair of shoes because the ones I had I could feel every rock and crevice and my feet have been so sore for the past three weeks. There was no way they were going to last until the end of the trip, so I broke down and bought another pair. For lunch Missy and I found this little mom and pop restaurant and I bought a full meal of pork, fries, rice, and salad for 4.50€. Talk about a steal, and it was so good too, the lady was really nice. Later when I was exploring, I was talking to the owner of a frutería, and he asked me if I was from Spain. I was flattered to say the least. I told him I was from Madrid, and then a minute later I told him I was from the states, and that kind of surprised him. It was exciting though.
Once we got back to Lisbon, we walked down to the plaza by the ocean and then they wanted to get kebabs so we caught a trolley (so cool) and then we got lost and we didn't know where we were, but then we figured out we were pretty close to the monastery, so we walked down there got food, and then headed back to the hotel. It's been such a fun day, and I'm so pooped, but so completely content. There’s also this guy sitting here that was talking to me who’s from Egypt. I don’t know how we got to talking, but it turns out that he is Muslim, and so we got to talking. He said in Egypt the people are expected to learn Arabic, English, French, and then Spanish. His English is better than his Spanish, but because he has such a heavy accent, it was really hard to understand him. He kept wanting to tell me more about his religion and Muhammed, but I was so tired, so I think he could tell that I wasn’t really all that interested. But he gave me his email, and he keeps saying that he really wants me to email him, but I won’t of course, too risky. Anyway, I'm going to go shower I think, and then tomorrow morning we are going to this market thing and then go home in the afternoon. I'm so glad that I came to Portugal, it's awesome!!!
We went to this little town called Sintra today, and honestly, it was probably one of my favorite places that I've been to so far. The whole city smelled like lilacs and tropical goodness, and it was amazing. It was pretty humid most of the day, and so hot outside! I hiked the mountain up to the Moorish Castle with Emily, Dani, and Callie. On the way up we found some vines to swing from on the trees, and that was so much fun. But the thing I loved the most was that the whole city smelled so good. Later Missy and I broke off from the group and she wasn't feeling good, but then she decided to go back to the hostel in Lisbon, and so I wandered around for a couple hours by myself just exploring, and I went to the complete other side of the city where I could see the castle and palace way far off in the distance. I ended up having to buy another pair of shoes because the ones I had I could feel every rock and crevice and my feet have been so sore for the past three weeks. There was no way they were going to last until the end of the trip, so I broke down and bought another pair. For lunch Missy and I found this little mom and pop restaurant and I bought a full meal of pork, fries, rice, and salad for 4.50€. Talk about a steal, and it was so good too, the lady was really nice. Later when I was exploring, I was talking to the owner of a frutería, and he asked me if I was from Spain. I was flattered to say the least. I told him I was from Madrid, and then a minute later I told him I was from the states, and that kind of surprised him. It was exciting though.
Once we got back to Lisbon, we walked down to the plaza by the ocean and then they wanted to get kebabs so we caught a trolley (so cool) and then we got lost and we didn't know where we were, but then we figured out we were pretty close to the monastery, so we walked down there got food, and then headed back to the hotel. It's been such a fun day, and I'm so pooped, but so completely content. There’s also this guy sitting here that was talking to me who’s from Egypt. I don’t know how we got to talking, but it turns out that he is Muslim, and so we got to talking. He said in Egypt the people are expected to learn Arabic, English, French, and then Spanish. His English is better than his Spanish, but because he has such a heavy accent, it was really hard to understand him. He kept wanting to tell me more about his religion and Muhammed, but I was so tired, so I think he could tell that I wasn’t really all that interested. But he gave me his email, and he keeps saying that he really wants me to email him, but I won’t of course, too risky. Anyway, I'm going to go shower I think, and then tomorrow morning we are going to this market thing and then go home in the afternoon. I'm so glad that I came to Portugal, it's awesome!!!
Sunday March 15, 2008
Yesterday in the morning we went to the flea market in Lisbon, and it was huge!!! It took up probably about six blocks is what the equivalent would be, and there was so much stuff all over the place and people everywhere. There was lots of stuff I saw that I would have bought if I had the money, but I didn’t. Emily got some really cool leather sandals for 18€, and she loves them…I don’t remember what everyone else got though. After that some people wanted to go into this castle, but Emily, John-Charles, Callie, Missy, and I didn’t want to go in so we found this little patio thing and we sat in the sun looking out over the ocean and just basking in the beauty of it all for about an hour. Then the other three wanted to go back to the Belem area to buy some more pastries, and Emily and I didn’t so we went to go explore the city some more. After we got done exploring, we went back to the hostel and waiting for the rest of the group and then went to the airport which was kind of crazy because the buses don’t run the same as weekdays, but we got there okay and our plane ended up being delayed 20 minutes anyway. We got home really late and then we slept the full eight hours before leaving again for church today. Church was good, and I realized today that we only have three Sundays left now! One of those is General Conference too, so really only two in our ward. After church we helped Kathy get the kids home and we had to walk a little more than usual because of the bike race which was blocking the road, and then we had this baked crème of chicken kind of thing for lunch which was really good. Brooke and I both slept for quite a while, but I kept coughing and so I couldn’t sleep as long. Then we went to the Shumway’s and pigged out on peanut butter cookie dough and chatted forever.
Well, that’s about it I think, the next couple days are going to be really busy/boring to write about with me doing homework and running errands and such. Wednesday we are leaving for Valencia at seven in the morning, and coming back from Valencia at about four in the morning because all the hostels are booked, so it’s going to be a very long day. Then when we get back we’ll get to see all the processions/parades here in Alcalá and in Madrid.
No comments:
Post a Comment