Weeks 6 and 7 :)

Week 6

Another not so eventful week! Had a really good night with the Breiners and then they all went home and I was caught by my Portuguese crew and had an amazing night dancing to Mambo #5 and other such classics. The highlight of the week was a day trip to Aveiro with Ania and Charlotte. We agreed to leave at 12pm and so when Charlotte didn't surface by around half past we decided to leave without her and ended up meeting her at the station. When we arrived in Aveiro we walked and walked trying to find out why it was called the Venice of Portugal... then we found a canal so we settled for this. A brilliant bus tour and a boat trip along the canals took up a good few hours before we decided to come back and go out for a meal.

Week 7

Day 43 - Waking up at half 7 in the morning is hard enough without turning up for the lecture only to be told the teacher is ill. Which would have been lovely had I not had another 2 hour lecture afterwards and so ended up sitting in the university like a lemon for 2 hours. The second lecture was pretty decent although I was asked to comment on a poem and gave a rather vacant look before the teacher moved on. I would have done the same in England though. In the evening I had been given a mission to round the troops for a weekend of outdoor activities.

Eventually we all managed to get on the bus down to Campidouro where we would be staying for the weekend. That evening we were treated to Bolognaise, snacks and alcohol in front of a fire with a few renditions on the guitar. Francesca got drunk and ended up crying on me... and we all slept in bunk beds in a small building by the river.

Day 44 - Getting up relatively early, we had a walk down to the little beach by the river. The camp is in the middle of a forest kind of place with the river running through it. We sat and had breakfast outside and sunbathed for a while until it was time for paintball action! The outfits were quiet large for the women but gave away a little too much for the men. With our guns and helmets ready we were split into teams and tried to come up with tactics. These tactics didn't go too well. The paintball area was like a valley with steep hills which u could slide down and crawl along the floor like in films. Well.. that's what I did anyway! I managed to kill a few people in the first game. The second game I had no real idea of what I was supposed to be doing and so when Ali finally shot me 3 times in the same place I was pretty glad to be walking away. After paintballing a few of us headed down to the beach to canoe and swim. I got in fully clothed and then realised I had a white t-shirt on. Big mistake. The day ended with a fire, a BBQ, lots of alcohol, me getting drunk and crying on Francesca, more music and more laughs.

Day 45 - We all got up quite late and had a bite to eat before heading out on a walk along the river and then up some sort of mountain (big hill). Me and Ali did the old naming sticks game and took it all rather seriously. I will miss Dave. We were fed and sent on our way back to Breiner, all pretty sad because we'd had such a good weekend.

Day 46 - I decided not to go to the lecture. Ali came home and said that he thought the guy must still be ill because he wasnt there... but actually he just went to the wrong room!

Day 47 - I went to a lecture!!!! Wow I know. And it was quite good. Anyway. After recovering from getting up I socialised in the kitchen before going for a walk through the park to a wine bar. I had a Rose Port cocktail thing and we sat outside and looked over the river. I love Porto too much!! In the evening we had a dinner party to thank the people that helped out over the weekend and have a look at the photos. We headed out to bar 77 for some drinks and some table football and then to a little club at the end of my road which I had never seen before. It was so small and so close and so cool! A little reggae evening, lots of dancing A LOT of drinking. My god. I was so drunk that I was having a really deep conversation about men with my beer bottle. He's called Cristal Pilsener. Yeah. I know. But he's a good listener.

Day 48- I got up at around 4pm. I gathered the girls. I took them to Primark. I spent up. I came home. This, although quite simple, was a very successful day.

Day 49 - I ended this week by going to a Graffiti party :) We all got a free white shirt and a free pen and went mad, writing endless rude comments and confessing our undying love for each other all over each other's shirts. Great :)

Weeks 4 and 5

Week 4 - I really can't remember what I've done this week. Pretty much just getting into the swing of lectures. Friday was a killer with 4 hours in a row! I must have done nothing else!  Monday was Ribeira night again, however, Tuesday was a kind of bank holiday which meant everyone could go out Monday night. The whole of Porto turned up at Ribeira and it ended up taking an hour to get a drink. On tuesday night I went to a Portuguese Culture evening with the most famous Fado singer around. Everyone was talking over her and so at the end  she was behind me and I turned and said sorry that everyone was talking. She said ohh no don't worry. It was only when I was telling this story to a Portuguese person when they told me how famous she was!! For the rest of the week I walked around Porto, posted letters, walked along the bridge. Oh, and it rained a lot.

Week 5
Day 29 - Friday, yes my weeks start on Friday and end on Thursday if you hadn't yet realised, was a very busy day! I started the day at 7.30am when I got up for my lecture and I went to bed shortly after. Then me and the girls ventured to Primark. I spent the least at €47 with everyone else almost doubling that. When I got home it was straight out to the football match. Portugal vs. Denmark and a great match it was too! I have never been to an international football match and I got really into it. We saw 4 goals so we got our money's worth. The metro was like rush hour in London.

Day 30 - We decided when we got up that there was going to be a small Breiner House party in the evening.
By small I mean that in the end the police came and gave us a written warning. It was a good night, filled with bottles of black vodka. In the end I went out with a load of Portuguese people and stood there desperately trying to understand any of the conversation. Fail. I spoke a little bit but understanding is really impossible.

Day 31 - A month since I arrived in Porto. What did I do to celebrate? Slept half the day and did a bit of
shopping...

Day 32 - Another missed lecture due to bad headache. When I eventually got up I went out for lunch with
Charlotte and we walked around trying to find something to do but everywhere was shut... we had lunch
at 6pm..  In the end we came home and found the internet was yet again cut off. So I had a lonely walk
down to Sao Bento, a train and metro station where I got the metro over the brigde in the dark. It is the most
amazing view. It's so romantic. There was an old guy with his phone playing ...'You are not aloneeeeeeee I am here with you....' Which was weird. Very weird. And he was alone.

Day 33 - Today I had a dose of 3 biscuits before the lecture and ended up giggling uncontrollably at everything that was said and at the fact that my legs were sweating? In the evening I went to watch a free film with some housemates. The film was called Jaime. A Portuguese film about a poor boy living in Porto. It was a really good film, one to laugh and cry at!

Day 34 - Made it to my lecture on 2 hours sleep. I just can't sleep anymore. Not at night anyway. No matter how tired I am. Tomorrow should be a fun day. Charlotte and I have planned a tourist day which should be cool.We plan to definitely leave by 12pm so we can have a long day around Porto.

Day 35 - After leaving at 1.15pm we went straight for a an old tram which took us to the tram museum. I was in my element of course. We then got the tram back up to the centre of town and climbed the Torre dos Clérigos. I couldn't breathe. We then moved on to the Palácio da Bolsa which was stunning inside. The tour was in French and English which was great. There was a really annoying guy though who kept going ahead of everyone else and listening to the English and talking over the French... I think he was German. They also put on a little wine tasting after the tour. ;) The next stop was Sé Cathedral which was equally nice and then had a walk across the bridge, again. In the evening we went to a small tapas restaurant and ordered far too much food.