Chegui em Portugal

Today is the first day of crap weather since I got here. So thats the main reason that today is also the first day Ive been on the net for anything longer than five minutes. Im not going to say much about leaving apart I think I went through every emotion in those last couple of days. But it was nice to see as many people as I did and I appreciate the efforts a lot of people made to say goodbye.

Im on lunch break from language school - and like school everywhere Ive sneaked off as far away as possible. Some things dont change - being late to school, being late back after lunch, doing your homework the next morning as the teachers walking into class etc. etc. A lot like Italian in high school. However because its a one-on-one course theres nowhere to hide! School goes from 9 til 4. Actually it goes from 9.10 (lessons start at ten past not on the hour - probably to solve the problem of people coming late!). My italian is really not helping at all - cinquanta and cinquante look the same, both mean 50 but one is chinquanta and the other is sinquanta, instead of perche you say porque and A che cosa facer is O que o que fazer. However like italian im sick having to learn each of the "i, you, he/she/it, we, you (plural)" forms of every verb.

My teachers are very patient and very nice, thankfully cos you guys can imagine what Im like as a student!!! Lessons usually end up massively off-track and sometimes in Portugese - this morning we talked about wine, whiskey music and soccer :) I loved my homework one night "Go down to the Praca da Comerciale where theres a permanent wine exhibition and taste Portugese wine". First bit of homework Ive done straight after class! And my last day at the school we had a shot of port at recess as a celebration/send off. That would be at 11am too!

Hmmm flashbacks to the past - on the trip over we flew over London just before dawn. And I remembered flying out of London 17 years ago - same feeling of how big it was, how many lights there were, yet I had no idea where I actually was. Same on Sunday - i think I was over the Docklands but I really had no idea. Strange that I feel so detached or unfamiliar with the place I was born in.

Im trying to spend as much time away from the hotel as I can cos Im convinced the staff at reception think Im an idiot. First I checked in very jetlagged (I couldnt even stand in the right place for the guy - I had to move 50cm to my right before hed speak to me?!) or trying to get messages (I tried Portugese and English and she didnt understand either?!). The other reason is that Joao kindly warned me that the girls waiting around the engineering university up the road are "not students waiting for a lift". Funny that - I dont remember the girls doing engineering at UWA having mini-skirts and knee high boots. So after my experiences on the Reeperbahn Ive been staying well clear.

So after school Ive been wandering round the city cos the weathers been sensational - sunny and 20degC - but like always when you wander the backstreets you never quite know what you'll see around the corner. I ended up in a Roman theatre the other day thinking I was going through just another construction site (like Berlin Lisbon is being rebuilt almost eternally!). You come across an old man basically sitting in the street to watch tv cos his apartments so small or a guy dancing in his jocks to salsa music (yes girls he was hot - not that id know) or random shops hidden on the ground floor of the old apartments - cafes yes but a fishmonger, a tailor, a bra shop, a huge electrical store (Tandy, Retravision, Harvey Norman). And sometimes it aint so good - I walked into the local shooting alley the other day without knowing which provided a bit of an adrenalin rush. Thank f*k I got out of there before they realised there was a tourist with a full backpack walking past. Although they might not actually have been interested anyway - here the addicts act as parking attendants (guiding you into parks, telling you where theres free spaces) as a way of getting money for hits. The authorities turn a blind eye because otherwise theyd steal for cash. I told my teacher about it and he told me about the heroin problem in Lisbon. With genuine sadness in his voice. Something I think you wouldnt hear in Australia.

Anyway Ive got to head back to class. I miss out on the school trip today cos I need more lessons :( Its just not fair.