Portugal

Oh my goodness! Portugal is incredible. A group of six of us got on a bus at 6:30 am Friday morning, fell asleep, and woke up in a new country. We got off the bus, not sure where to go becuase Brian, who was in charge of planning, hadn't written down the address of our condo because he couldn't find a pen. It was cold and completely overcast and we realized none of us knew a word of Portuguese and the whole trip suddenly seemed crazy. Fortunately, we quickly found a little internet cafe, got the address of the condo and set off in what we hoped was the right direction. After walking about a mile Kristen and Brian asked a woman for directions, not only did she tell us where to go, she drove the other three girls there and then returned to pick up me, Brian and Matt. She was so sweet, a little crazy, but so helpful. Needless to say, our first impression of the Portuguese was a great one. We found the condo and it was perfect, two bedrooms, a little kitchen a bathroom and living room. After sitting around for a bit we decided we might as well check out the beach, despite the bad weather. We walked down the road and down about a thousand stairs to this beautiful little cove. We'd been there for about 15 minutes when the sun came out and everything warmed up. It was perfect. When I have more time I'll post pictures. It looked just like an ad from a travel magazine. Amazing. We spent the afternoon there, swimming, tanning and reading the British women's magazines we'd found in the condo. We did the same the next day at a beach just a little down the way from that one. It was the perfect weekend getaway. I just now got back, the bus trip took 5 1/2 hours this time, a little absurd, but worth it for the weekend we had. Tomorrow we have orientation at the university. I'm ready to have some direction and purpose again. I hope you all are still doing well. I love reading the comments and finding out about what you're all up to. Miss everyone! XOXO