A bela cidade de Lisboa, Portugal com Miss Dani Miller

            After a very long weekend I was tired on Monday and did not feel like doing anything. Unfortunately that did not work out for me, I had so much to do that I needed to finish/get started on stuff.  After a few hours of procrastination and a trip to the post office and grocery store I started on my papers.  I only had the conclusion left for my Arch. Essay so that didn’t take long, however I hate writing conclusions so I was definitely dreading it.  I did however get a couple hundred words wrote for my RLM essay.  This essay may be the death of me, I hate writing on topics about Art!  I don’t know what it is buy I always dread it, BUT I do always love all the information that I accumulate on the subject, I feel enlightened.  Moving on, class was actually interesting for the subject that we were learning about: Architecture.  Normally I hate learning about Architecture because it is boring and complicated and BORING, but it was actually fun, (the handouts may have possibly helped me like it more, they had fun little cartoons on it).  After class I went back home and worked on my essay a little more. BLAH! 

            Tuesday was a great day!  In class we got our short essays back with comments on how we can improve for our final which is an essay worth 90% of our grade!  Talk about pressure!  But when I received my paper back I was heartbroken, I got a 40%, thinking it was a really really bad grade.  I had no idea what I did wrong because I thought it was a really good essay and the only bad things/critiques there were on it was I had one awkward sentence and about adding a few little details on the structure and type of house.  (I did my paper on Frank Lloyd Wright) Other than that they were all positive, but what really threw me was at the bottom of the paper he wrote something like from the work of this paper you should have no troubles with the final.  So I was like Question Mark, what the heck?   The girl next to me were talking about our papers and how we could have improved and she asked how I did and of course I said bad, and she was like what did he say and so I handed her my paper to read (well try to read, some words we just couldn’t make out) and she told me that I did really good!  Apparently 40% is an A!  WHAT!   Score!  So I actually did do as good as I originally thought when I turned the paper in!  WHOOOHOOO!   So I wanted to know exactly what the scoring process was, so after class I went up to my teacher (my fav teacher by far) and asked how the scoring system was.  He was like you did really good, you got an A.  After explaining the system, which I STILL don’t understand I left to run to Tesco to get stuff for our lunch at Svenja’s!  Crepes/Pancakes,  Nuff said.  J   After we ate and talked I left to go to the accommodation office to figure out the procedures for checking out since I shall be leaving much earlier than everyone else.  It will hopefully be a very easy process, someone will come to check out my room on Thursday then on Friday I will have to come back and get my deposit YES!  Then when I leave on Sunday I have to leave my keys with the Security office in Middleton Hall.  Hopefully they will be open early that day otherwise I have no Idea what I will do. :s When I got all the information I needed I went back to work on my essays a little more.  Nothing happened the rest of the day other than boredom and Homework. Ugh.

            Wednesday I work up with the intention of working on my essay all day to finish it up.  But you know how I can get a little sidetracked, and well that happened again.  Whoopse. So after the first round of procrastination of showering, grocery store run, and Glee I headed to the History Dept to get a password that I would need to submit my paper.  Since I am an International student and have a different course number than everyone else I was not registered on their system. Typical.  This seems to happen to me quite often, Im sure they know my name in that office by now.  J.  When I got all my information I needed I went back home to kill time until I received my password in an email.  So of course instead of doing homework I watched Covert Affairs…. LOVE! But the site that I was watching it would not download the second part of it, so I don’t know what happens, Major Downer I tell ya. Finally I received the email that I was needing so I went to the library to print off my paper and submit it within the system.  I also scanned all the papers I would need to send for my apartment next semester, Hello Campus Courts!  After I submitted my 2 paper copies to the office I headed back home to do some actual homework.  And homework I did, I finished another 500 words and only had about 500ish left to go!  Since I knew that I would have a decently long train ride and flight I decided that I would be able to finish it later.  So I took a bread and went over to Svenja’s house to watch Aladdin with Svenja, Petra, Adam and Istvan.  Gotta love Disney Movies! 

            The next morning was a little ‘blah’ one, I got up extra early to make sure my bag was packed and ready to go I was leaving right after class and had no time to spare making sure I had everything.  Thankfully class got out 10 minutes early so I rushed home to grab my suitcase and high-tailed it to the bus station.  I was lucky to get a bus right away, normally you have to wait 10-15 minutes for a bus to come.  If that were the case then I would have been cutting it close to get my tickets and get on the train. Especially since the bus normally stops at every bus stop for people to get on and off at.  But thankfully I got on a good bus and had very few stops.  Whew, so I got to the station with a little time to spare. Just the way I like it!  There was nothing special about the train ride other than I studied for my finals and am actually feeling better about taking them.  Well the one at least, I am not worried about my American art class, I have that all written up in my head and just have to put it down on paper.   When I got to London Kings Cross I had to take the Underground to Victoria where I would then have to walk 15ish minutes to the hostel that we were staying at.  I was going to meet Dani at Buckingham Palace, but once I got there I could not find her.  An hour later she texted me saying that her phone died and that she was back at the hostel.  So after walking around and seeing this beautiful site I went back to the hostel.  We just relaxed for a while downstairs until our stomachs said that it was time for supper. 

            

 Got our pictures with the amazing Red Phone Booths :)

            We decided to go to this Mexican place, and good thing we did, because it was Delicious!  I wish we could have went back there, but since we were only in town for one night it we would just have to get over it.  After that very satisfying meal we went back and relaxed and did a little homework before bed.  We were going to have to get up really early the next morning so we were going to need our rest!   Unfortunately the loud Drunk girls did not have the courtesy to be quiet when they came back at 4:00 in the Morning.  We had to get up at 4:30, so we were pissed that we didn’t get that last 30 min. of sleep.  When they came in they were talking then would do the shhh sound then talk again.  Now we were in a room with 21 beds and they occupied maybe 5 of them.  That is just rude to wake everyone up with their very loud talking. I really wanted to bitch them out, along with the rest of the occupants in the room, but we all held back and just let it slide.  They better be grateful.    

         A few minutes after all the noise quit it was our turn to get up, now we made sure that we were not loud and even packed our bags out in the hallway. Once we left for the train station we had to catch the underground to St. Pancras then get the train to Luton Airport.  After check-in we went to stand in line for the security checkpoint.  This was chaotic!  There were so many people there and we actually had to get out of line to take the express lane so that we could reach our flight on time.  It was CRAZY!  But we did make it in time for out flight and everything went smoothly after that.  When we arrived in Lisbon we took the airbus to our hostel.  Looking out the windows at the scenery, I fell in love right there with Portugal.  Since we were still tired and our rooms were not ready yet, we just left our bags at the hostel and walked around the city.  We did a little shopping and saw a lot of different places.  It was around 1:00 when we found a place to eat… Chinese (minus the Crab Rangoons!  When I get back that will be one of the first 5 items that I will want to eat!  Mom you should just go to Chung for me and pick some up and bring them to the airport that night. I will eat them cold!)  J But this Chinese place was a little sketch.  We didn’t know that until we started eating and some of the damn meat had bones and vertebra’s in it.  I really hope it wasn’t dog or cat, but we are going to pretend it was chicken, even though it obviously was not.  After that sketch meal we went and walked around a little more.  Later on Dani spotted a Kabob place so we stopped in to get one.  Uh-mazing!  We even tried to search for that place again on Sunday, but couldn’t find it… Sad face.

 The drawers were so big she could fit in them!   

Yes! Lisbon Hostel, Highly Recommended.... Just and FYI

I basically fell in love with this building.   It was so beautiful!

This sight was breath taking.  It was also really nice since there was live music playing in the background.

After a great day of touring we went back to the hostel to relax and do some much needed homework.  Well maybe not just the homework but more procrastination and youtube watching.... For me at least.  The next morning it was raining so we didn't do anything until about 2:00, I guess we did go outside around 11ish to purchase our bus tickets for where we were going to be visiting later.  Once the rain let up we headed out, and it was well worth the wait because it was beautiful. 

 A view from on top of the monument.

This was the castle that we originally came to visit but ended up seeing so much more.  By the time we finished seeing everything we went to this Italian restaurant to eat.  Pizza and Pasta with Gelato!  Yummy!!! 

       The next morning we had nothing to do, so we got up late (like normal) and checked out, then just went walking around to do some last minute sight seeing and shopping.  We came across some great little shops/tables where we got a whole bunch of cheap jewelry!  Then we decided that we were hungry and went in search of the kabob place, but were unable to find it.  Which was a very very sad moment. So instead we went to a little restaurant to have a different type of kabob.  However while we were waiting for our food people kept on coming up to us trying to sell us sunglasses, and even a phone.  What the hell, that thing is probably stolen, No I don't want to buy your crappy merchandise. And Stop Pestering me!  Gosh.  Hated that part.  After lunch we went back to get our suitcases and then sat out by the water waiting for it to be 3:00 so we could head to the airport. We decided to get there really early so that we would not have to rush like before.  Which was good, because we did a lot of relxing and homework while waiting.  Finally it was our time to get onto our flights, Dani left an hour before me so I headed to my terminal to wait for my plane.  2.5 hours on a plane and I was ready to be off of it. I am over planes, and trains! Haha.  But then again I have been over planes since I had to spend so much time on one getting my butt over here 3 months ago! But once I landed I had to catch a cab to my hotel room. Which had a tub, I was super stoked about that!  The next morning I had to get up early so that I could be at the train station by 8:30.  The ride back was nice and nothing went wrong.  YAY! 

    I have to finish my paper, so until next time, which I have no idea when that will be!  But I can't wait to see all of you in a week!  My plane shall be landing at around 11:00pm on the 19!    

BYE! 

Un fin de semana en Madrid, España

Hello World!
 
       I am super busy with school!  So forgive me if this post is very slow and late.  I shall slowly update what all happened on my trip to Madrid, but for now I have a major paper to write so it will take me a while to get this post done.  Thanks!

        Last week was a very productive one for me, after my class on Tuesday I went to the American Art Office to pick up my final essay questions.  Looking over them I am quite confident that I will be able to create an A worthy essay!  Hopefully, that is if I remember everything that I would need to write.  It is a huge part of my grade, it counts for 90%, 2 essay questions, 45% & 45%.  Pressure!  Thankfully I actually like this class and remember quite a lot of what is said, and therefore should be able to come up with something that is Spectacular!  After I red over the questions I had to go to the library to find some more books for my Archaeology class as well as my Raphael class. I have 2 essays due soon, well one actually tomorrow (7th) and the other next Tuesday (13?) that I need to keep my butt moving on.  I did however find a few books that I could use for my archaeology essay on Women in Roman Britain.  Lets just say that there is not much information on that subject, but even less on the topic of Treatment of Portraiture in the High Renaissance.  Good thing that I can twist things and pull things out of my ass to make it work.  Whew!  That part is over, no more book research.  Now it is all online, which could be worse, much more information to sift through to find the pot of gold.  But you don't want to hear much more on that subject so I shall move on. :)

        Since it was Tuesday we were doing lunch at Steffi's house this time. She was going to make bread rolls with carrots and sunflower seeds etc. inside them. Quite good.  :)  I don't believe that I have ever had bread that had those ingredients inside it, but I would eat it again!  Lunch was a nice time to talk and catch up on each others lives.  I only get to see them maybe twice a week if I am lucky, otherwise our Tuesday lunch meetings are the only time we get to talk.   I love traveling and seeing new places with friends, but I do miss just staying home and hanging out with all my friends here, it has been a while since I have seen some of them, and I miss them :(  After our lunch and girl talk I headed back home to work on my first essay.  Since this was an interesting subject I flew threw the 2000 words in 3 days!  Go me!  Well I guess 3 days was really like a week, but I hate writing conclusions so I put that off until today. Whatever.
   
       Wednesday was filled with homework, well finishing my paper that is. I had a meeting with my Archaeology group to go over our presentation that was due the next day.  We kind of got the short end of the stick with that one.  Unfortunately there were not enough topics so he had to make one up and it basically the only ruins that were there was one building and everything was in ruins.  Some of the only interesting things that remained inside the villa was mosaic tiles. But,  later that night we had our traditional family dinner, Florian was cooking and we had something called Toast Hawaii.  It was toast with a slice of ham, pineapple, cheese then put in the oven until the cheese melted.  Quite nice, minus the pineapple part.  Don't really like pineapple with meat, or it being warm.  So I guess it was a delicious hot ham and cheese sandwich! 

      Thursday's presentation went just fine, but I guess even if it didn't, it didn't matter because it wasn't graded. Thank the good lord for that!  After our presentation I headed back home to do what?  Well you guessed it, HOMEWORK!  Blah blah blah blah blah.

        Friday was a glorious day, class was wonderful, I got to finally get an idea of when I would take my final.  I am most likely going to take it next Wednesday! I should probably get studying for that, but I don't really feel like it right now, so I will do that this weekend.  Hopefully.  :(  When class was over I went back home to make sure that I had everything packed for my trip to Madrid.  We were meeting at 1:00 at the bus station to go to the train station.  However we got there a little too early so we went to the mall and had ourselves a lovely cup of starbucks deliciousness.  Mummm :p  Cups drained of the yummy goodness we went back to the station to catch our train to Manchester Piccadilly, where we would then catch another train to the airport where we would then get on our plane!  At the airport we had to wait in line for quite a while, the plane was about an hour late :(  But that is A-OK, because it was cheap and we still got there at a decent time.  Arriving in Madrid I had no idea on what to expect. Thankfully I knew how to read the metro maps, and we figured out where we had to go.  Stepping out of the Metro, this was one of the first things we saw.

 Me, Alysia, Emily

 McDonalds at 1ish.  Tastes so good!!

So Warm...

Their version of French Toast... As a dessert. 

SUGAR OVERLOAD!

       Walking around all day really wears a girl out!  So after all of our touring was done, we went back to the hostel to drop our purchases off and figure out where we wanted to go for supper.  We ended up going to this pizza place that was closed the night before.  Quick and Delicious.  I think once we were done we went and did some trinket shopping, then went to the hostel and just hung out.  We were going to get up decently early the next morning to go to a museum and then head back home.

        The museum that we went to was quite nice, we went to see an exhibition on Baroque art, as well as any other exhibits that they had there. Well that is all the time I have to write, so until next time, Adios!