portugal

dear goodness it has been a long time. i didnt realize and i apologize.

had finals from may 18th on... thursday the 21st we had our goodbye dinner, and of course i was nominated to give the goodbye and thank you speech in spanish. gave the teachers their gifts and went on my merry way to party with friends. salsa danced with one of the guys in our program and had a fabulous time.

friday night went to goodbye dinner with friends who were still in town and went to jennys roof to watch the fireworks at midnight because FERIA started. FERIA is a GIANT carnival that makes cordoba famous every year. me, mason, chris, and chris' girlfriend suzy went to FERIA in the pouring rain with our umbrellas, walked around the booths and the clubs and got a baked potato with all the fillings. this is wonderfully fabulous because it was me, ilana, jenny, mason, and chris who got those exact same potatos the first time we traveled together to malaga. it was the perfect way to say goodbye.

saturday jenny and i packed up (epic fail on my part, of course, no idea where ANYTHING is), met the gang in the park to say goodbye, and mason and chris walked us back to my casa to say goodbye before we left for the train. i dont think i have ever loved two boys as my best friends more than those two. you spend literally EVERY DAY for 4 months with the same 4 people, you grow to wonder how you think on your own without them. i keep reaching for my phone to text them things, and then realize i have 2 more weeks of not being able to do that.

jenny and i met up with ilana, caught the train to seville then the lovely 6 hour bus to lisbon. i woke up disoriented and actually continued a phone cnversation i was having in my dream OUT LOUD once i woke up. embarrassing. went to our AMAZINGLY FABULOUS hostel called BLACK AND WHITE and the guy was nice enough to let us in early at 6am. started up again around 10 and took the double decker bus tour around the city to see the sights. and THANK GOODNESS we did because itw ould have been SO much walking, exhausting, and we really only needed to drive by the statues, not touch them. we went inside the famous monastery and at night made a DELICIOUS meal of macaroni and cheese, spinach, and hotdogs with a bottle of white wine. we are CLASSY.

monday i put on my TOUR GUIDE hat and we took off to sintra, about 30 minutes and only 3.50 euro roundtrip on a train. we saw the pena palace, the moorish castle, and then ilana took off back to town to meet her boyfriend who was flying in. jenny and i stayed and went to the most AMAZING PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN IN MY LIFE. its called quinta de regaleria or something like that. it is magical. seriously. only true word to describe it. magical. its a giant mansion and the grounds and everything is being restored. theres fountains, a chapel, grottos, waterfalls, caves, stepping stones across lakes, waterless wells that are basically a crazy spiral staircase with REVOLVING STONE DOORS and dear goodness. i want to get married there. start saving up family, youre goin to portugal.

yesterday jenny and i went to the castle, dealt with her getting her wallet stolen on the trolley, and ate portuguese creme custard tarts, which are the specialty there. stuck her and ilana on the bus and went back to the hostel to sleep early for today!

i met 3 people from canada and new zealand who are teaching outside of london so i hopped in the car with them and drove down to lagos today to go to the beach. the first beach was small but amazingly pretty. its called dona ana and it had coves and caves, i found some beach glass and its currently in my purse. then we went to meia praia for more sun and i got sunburnt and shells. had dinner, found the bus schedule, and i ended up here, at a hostel called THE MONKEY HOUSE. ill be on a bus to faro tomorrow to catch another bus to seville and then a train or bus to cordoba to get to madrid to fly to istanbul. very excited.

love you all, home in 2 weeks.

jamee