Last Wednesday was Halloween... I tried to get excited and teach my classes a bit about the history of the holiday and also about our customs and traditions.  I was met with blank stares and yawns.  I don´t know what is wrong with these people but whenever my language teachers would rather have discussions or just talk I was completely supportive... anything but work on Grammar.  Different strokes for different folks... proving to be more and more true with every country I visit.

November 2, All Saints Day (Day of the Dead in Mexico... and Lucy´s birthday, happy love to you!), is a huge holiday here and everything shuts down... much like a typical Sunday.  Since it fell on a Thursday this year, everyone... and I mean until the government buildings and universities... cancelled all regularly scheduled programs for Friday so that Spain could abandon it´s post and travel about.  My friends Katie, Luis and his flatmates all decided to head to Portugal. I, blushingly admit, did not plan well for the trip except to look up places to stay on www.couchsurfing.com and I checked the map to see where Porto is in relation to Lisbon... not very up to date on my Portuguese- language or geography.

I met Katie in Madrid and we hopped an overnight bus (travelling Mexican style... minus the goody bag and la-z-boy seats) to Lisbon to save money... pay for a night in a bus and you get hotel and transportation in one! Trains could be an option for the same thing but they are more expensive, quicker and you don´t get the pleasure of the symphonic sleep noises of your fellow travellers.  There is just something comforting about a stranger sleep-murmuring in you ear while another snores in harmony with the bus´ squeaky breaks.

I didn´t realize there was a time difference between Spain and Portugal... and that was just one of the constant road blocks on our mini-adventure.  We arrived at 6:00am in Lisbon and wandered around the bus station and then the metro for a good forty-five minutes before figuring out how to get to the main part of the town... we play around on the automatic machines that are there for ¨easy buying¨ of metro passes but if you had seen us pushing the buttons and making faces, you might have assumed that we were deep in concentration on the most crucial level of a hard core video game.  It was that confusing... and there were English and Spanish translations!  Finally we get to the ¨purchase¨ screen of the unbeatable level when Katie says ¨my wallet is gone¨.  Of course.

Whenever we get together trouble either finds us, we invite it or we create it... neither of us can figure out which it is but it is not just a once-in-a-blue-moon thing... EVERY time we go somewhere or plan something together there is a little hiccup or a gigantic catastrophe that occurs.

So we go back to the bus station, search the waiting area, interrogate the bus driver, look in the bus, scour the metro station... then decide that it is gone and head for the American Embassy which is convieniently located nearby.  We walk up to the little guard house to be greeted by a girl who doesn´t speak English nor Spanish and we figure out by signlanguage and head shaking that the embassy is closed for the holiday that we don´t, as a country, recognize.  Without options and very hungry, I think it was about 8:30 by this time, we decided to search for a cafe and have breakfast by the river.  Already, after only one tiny meal, I like Portugal more than Spain for their food options and cafes:  delicious pastries, fresh fruit and a lot less cigarette smoke in the air to contaminate the flavors.  Germany still wins for the coffee (American sized).

We get in touch with Diego, this guy I found on CouchSurfing, [okay... side note/disclaimer... CouchSurfing is this thing where you look up people and their profiles and you can stay with them. Check out the website.  I didn't tell anyone -family- before I did it because I knew you would freak out but it really has been the best thing that I have found out about since being here.  Sebastian, the guy that I stayed with in Germany, was a couch surfing find, too.  Punishments, anger, fear, etc. can be sent via email.] and get a little oriented with the city.  He draws us a map and then heads to the library because he is studying for his masters and has a big test on Saturday... this kid is 21!  Turns out, in addition to being a boy genius, he is an amazing cook, a wine connoisseur and a critic of jazz music. Too ambitious for me, but very noble all the same.

Lisbon is a beautiful city with architecture that has been restored but they maintained the same look as the original buildings:  glass tiles of all colors and patterns cover many of the store and house fronts.  The city is relatively easy to navigate, at least around the main, touristy area... we climbed around Barrio Alto (high neighborhood... it is on one of the many hills in the city) and down into a little valley littered with shops of varying levels of chic-ness before climbing another hill to see the castle.  Diego told us about another castle and palace that are in nearby cities... the king built one of them for his brother who wanted to overthrow him.  The king locked his brother, the prince, in one room with nothing to do so after time, much time, the prince eventually wore down a circular path into the stone from pacing around and around so many times.  I thought that was pretty impressive and, honestly, I would return to Lisbon just to check it out.  I love anything that is old and shows an imprint or proof of the fact that life happened in these places. (I think that is why I liked Porto a bit more than Lisbon... more on that later.)

We never met up with Luis and his flatmates while we were in Lisbon. Neither Katie nor I had credit on our phones and there were no Vodafone stores to be found so we could only receive calls... VIVA FOREIGN PHONE PLANS!  (Sarcasm... they are really quite annoying and expensive.)

The culinary experience in both Lisbon and Porto was amazing.  Diego, like I mentioned before, was an amazing cook so we had nothing more to do than follow his instructions blindly in order to sit down to a yummy meal accompanied by the perfectly matched wine.  I don't really know if the whole "undercurrent of oak and cherry" thing is really true or it just gives people a tool to make others feel uneducated... I don't get it but I do know that it tasted great with what he made. The second night he said that we got stuck with a bad bottle... hmmm. Maybe it is because we could not quite meet his prefered spendature of 30 euros... 3 was the limit we decided upon.

After two nights of Lisbon, two breakfasts of the most divine pastries that I have ever tasted, another trip to the American Embassy and some wired money through Western Union, we hopped a bus to Porto.  (November 3: Jennie and Chad's wedding... CONGRATS!!! Mom sent me the pics and they are wonderful... Jennie, I adore you and you looked lovely! So sad that I couldn't be there in person... my heart was with you... not to be too gushy.)

Here we stayed with João (yes, another CouchSurfer) who reminded me of my friend Woomer... smart as can be and a little bit hippie.  He is a photographer and juggler and lives in a wonderful apartment just minutes from the picturesque river that runs through the town and is lined with winerys.  Katie and I dropped our stuff off and tried some sweet white Port wine (made there in Porto) and I swear there was honey in it... it is more of a golden color than white, but I obviously am not the one to ask.  The look of Porto is similar to that of Lisbon but minus the face lift.  It has all of the plazas, the tiled houses and churches, winding streets and all cuddled up to the river.  It was very cold but lovely... we had dinner outside by the river with João, Luis and his flatmates.  We finally found each other after wandering around the two same cities... and then only saw them for dinner because they went out afterwards and we went to hang out in the apartment.

We got on the metro to catch a 11:55am flight to Madrid and I am going to spell out, step by step, what we did to buy our ticket:

Biensvhuwlbg açhl ajeihn! (<---Portuguese)

Welcome! Which route ticket would you like to buy?

{press "Airport" button}

How many titles would you like?

{press "2" button}

Please pay your left eye and your right pinkie toe.

Have a nice day. Thank you!

So we buy two titles and it only prints us off one ticket.  We don't know what to do, but the next train comes and we hop on.  At the next stop I see the metro patrolmen with their ticket zappers get on and I automatically have a flashback to Germany ~~~~{ on the metro, had bought a day pass... paid with three of my molars and one eyebrow... the zapper man tells me that I have to pay 40 euros because I didn't validate my ticket... wait, what!? yes, the date is on the ticket, yes I know you bought it this morning and that it is valid until 3am tomorrow but you didn't validate it and now you must pay... I played the dumb American card and got out of it, long story short}~~~~ I snap back to reality and Katie and I decide that we have probably done something wrong and, sure enough, we did.  Here we get told that the fine is 85 euros because we both have to have a ticket.  Yes, he says, that he understands what we did. Even when I suggest he just take the ticket with an extra ride on it, so that we can't use it if for some reason we come back to Porto within the next month.  No.  We get off at the next stop and do what we did all over again... he shows us the sign where it says that all people must have a ticket... yes, we wanted two tickets which is why we bought two titles.  No, titles means trips. Ok. So the translation now needs translations? Right that makes sense.  Another long story short: we didn't have to pay and we made our flight.

Once in Madrid I rewarded myself for making it home alive with a falafel... not anywhere near as good as those at Sultan's Table in Spring Hill, Tennessee but they will hold me over til July... and that place better still be open.

Now I am back to work and Ciudad Real... received a package from Michelle with a card, a scarf and candy pumpkins (my FAVORITE Halloween candy) and I haven't taken off the scarf and the pumpkins were gone within the hour.  Also, semi-good news, I received the document with my number on it that makes me legal but now I have to go and stand in more lines to get the card made and then return to pick it up. Maybe I will get it before I leave for the states.

Yesterday I went to the yarn store and had the lady show me how to knit the most simple of scarves and that is currently occupying my time, in addition to listening to Christmas music and painting.  Also, planning a Thanksgiving party so that is something to look forward to. I'm doing all right, just waiting for the next voyage to present itself.  Missing y'all very much and sending my love.

Updates from your side of the ocean are welcome, too!

xoxcr