New Day, New Continent

Back in the States - I'm currently at my cousin's house in New Jersey, trying to plan the next few weeks until I leave for Brazil! I'm in the NYC area until Sunday, when I get back to Indianapolis for a few days.

I had my final Teach for America interview yesterday, and it was long and very involved, which only makes sense given how competitive it is. But I think it went well, and I think they understand just how much and why I want to do it, so. I find out on November 17th whether I got in. Please send positive energy TFA's way on my behalf!

And now, a few pictures:


Plaza Mayor, Madrid


Columbus monument, Plaza Colon, Madrid


pre-storm park in Madrid


dancing flamenco in Seville


Plaza Espana in Seville


Castelo do Sao Jorge, Lisbon


view from the castle in Lisbon


Lisbon cable car


Lisbon @ night


some friends on the beach at Cascais

That's all for now... pictures from Berlin and Liverpool later.

Adeus, Lisboa. Hallo, Berlin.

I'm in Berlin, having left Lisbon this morning at about 11:00. I was obviously really, really sad to go - of all the places on my trip, Lisbon was one that I had relatively low expectations for. But I had an absolutely incredible time, made some friends I fully plan on seeing again, and learned quite a bit in the process. Now I'm back somewhere where I don't speak more than about four words of the language. Awkward!

But Berlin actually seems, from the little bit I've seen of it, to be pretty cool. It's a lot more like the States than Lisbon is - flying in, it actually looked a bit like Indiana - and it feels familiar in a way that the places I went to in Spain, at least, did not. (Lisbon felt familiar for the simple fact that it felt a lot like Brazil. Probably because everyone was speaking Portuguese. Surprise!)

In any case - it's 5:00 but it feels later, and I'm pretty wiped and my contact lenses are bothering me, and I really desperately need a shower. But the hostel is really quite nice - a little less welcoming than the Traveller's House in Lisbon, but it had an elevator and I'm sleeping on a real bed (rather than a bunk bed) for the first time in recent memory, so I guess it'll do. I see Clara (exchanger last year to Muncie, currently on a week off of school) tomorrow, which should be cool. And as soon as I get my shit together I'm gonna go attempt to figure out where I am and where food is and how I can arrange to have the two be the same place.

For the record: all of you should go to Lisbon. Seriously. I will most certainly be back.

OH! And for those of you wondering about Teach for America - I'm through to the last round of interviews. Mine is on October 30th in New York City, and I'm currently working on some stuff I have to do for that. A little shameless begging and I now have transcripts waiting for me at the Registry in St. Andrews. Of course this means I'm gonna have to do a detour through Scotland after I leave Liverpool but before I go down to London to catch my flight. But that's fine, I can manage that. Plus I get to see people again before I leave, which will be lovely.

But yes, I'm really nervous/excited about the interview. And I have a huge long to do list while I'm in NYC, including my Brazil visa. A month from now I will be landing in Sao Paulo. And considering how much better my Portuguese has gotten over the week I've been in Lisbon, I cannot wait to see what four months in Brazil does to it.

Did I mention I'm going to miss Lisbon?

Sunburns: Ow.

I haven't had a sunburn in so long that I'm pretty sure I forgot just how incredibly annoying and painful they are. I'm usually really good about wearing sunscreen, and when I went to the beach at Cascais yesterday with some of the people I've met in the hostel, I remembered to wear sunscreen. Except I forgot to put it on one particular place, and now that place really really hurts every time I move and I'm just like - wtf, self. WTF. I will not be forgetting again.

In any case - Lisbon is completely awesome, with some really cool people both Portuguese and otherwise, and I've had a ridiculously good time so far. So much, in fact, that I've decided to stay a few extra days, because there's still more in and around the city I haven't had a chance to see yet. I was going to go somewhere else for a few days before my flight leaves on Monday, but I just - it's awesome here, and I'm not ready to go! The city itself is really lovely, and the people are friendly but not pushy, and the people in the hostel are really enthusiastic about sharing what they know about the city with us. It's really just a lovely place, and I'm so glad I came here!

Berlin on Monday. It's gonna be weird going back somewhere I don't speak the language. But I haven't been to Germany since I was 12, so I'm interested to see how my opinion of the place changes now I'm older.

In Which I DO Speak Portuguese

I'm in Lisbon! Okay, well, I haven't actually been out of the hostel in Lisbon yet, for two reasons - first, I got in at like 9 PM and was completely shattered, given that I'd been on the bus from Seville for seven hours. See, there are no direct trains from Seville to Lisbon. I was told there were - I was assured of this. I was told incorrectly. The only options were going back to Madrid and doing an overnight train to Lisbon, which would have left me with one night less in Lisbon. I also probably would have been very cranky. So I took the bus, which was surprisingly comfortable, if a little bit of a long ride. I slept a lot of the way, watched the gorgeous scenery go by, and did some translation for the Australian couple on the bus who had no idea where they were going. It's good to be useful.

The second reason I haven't left the hostel yet is because the hostel is fantastic. Like, not only are the showers so good - giant showerheads overhead like warm rain showers, and I am only slightly exaggerating given how tired and gross I was for having dragged my suitcase up the metro stairs. But seriously - fantastic. But beyond that, they actually have hot cooked breakfast for you. And there was a Portuguese wine tasting last night. Lovely.

Before this I was in Seville, where I met a ton of cool people, had obnoxious philosophical discussions on the rooftop terrace, wandered around the world's largest cathedral with an openly gawking expression, watched flamenco every night at a place in the Barrio Santa Cruz called La Carboneria, and ate tapas at a hole in the wall while watching Spain play Estonia at football. It was every mental image I had of Spain from the time I was little. If you go to Spain, go to Seville. Seriously.

Before that it was Madrid for a week, which was too long and too fantastic for one summary paragraph, so I'll just leave it at this: I will be going back to Madrid. Oh yes.

But now, Lisbon. I am so excited to practice my Portuguese, y'all have no idea. It's already coming back, even if people all think I'm Brazilian because of my accent. And this city looked pretty cool during the five minute walk from the Metro...

In Which I Speak No Catalan

Tonight is my last night in Barcelona, which has so far been incredibly good to me. It's a lot different than I imagined it would be from Mom's pictures and the way she described it, but in a good way. As much as she loved this place, it didn't particularly appeal to me. But now I have been converted! It's a lovely, vibrant place, fantastic for peoplewatching... I'll definitely be sad to leave, and I've still got stuff I want to do when I come back. Pictures forthcoming.

Tomorrow I leave for Madrid - I'm taking the train, and it'll take about 3 hours, which seems like not very long to get halfway across the country. I guess the train just must be really high speed? In any case, I'm seriously excited. It'll be a nice trip through some lovely countryside, I think, and at the end of it I'll be in Madrid, where I've wanted to go for a long time.

A big reason of why I'm excited for Madrid is that I speak, like, three words of Catalan, the language here in Barcelona. Yeah, everyone also speaks Spanish, but. I feel bad not trying in Catalan. At least I speak enough Spanish to make an attempt once I'm back where it's the main language. Even if my Spanish skills are hilariously bad. I'm just hoping they'll find it charming.

Monday I find out how my TFA interview went. I'll keep you all posted...