The days are so long when you wake up at 7 am and do not get to lie back down until almost midnight. Thinking about having to work a 9-5 job Monday-Friday terrifies me. It's so miserable. I hope I end up being my own boss so I can chose my hours. Luckily, there's a big festival in Portugal this month and there are holiday days. So I have today off (Friday) and Monday!! Wednesday was a very, very long day. After work, I grabbed some beers with my colleague (I will call him Sam, I'm trying to respect the privacy of these people) then he dropped me off at the stadium for the soccer game. Turns out it was the wrong stadium lol so I took the metro to the right one and met the group there. The soccer game was really cool, Portugal is very good. They won 7-0. The game didn't end until about 9:30, then it was so crowded that it took forever to get to the metro and we were kind of far away from home, so I didn't get back until 11. Thursday went by pretty fast because I had nothing to do at work, I played around on paint and edited what I had typed yesterday. Luckily, I got internet so I was able to email a few people back. My boss didn't show up until after lunch, I was debating on leaving since she was not there and I had nothing to do. Eventually, the clock hit 5 and Sam was able to take me home today. He's very similar to me, we have great conversations. We talked about sex for pretty much the whole ride home haha. We're gonna go out tonight (Friday), grab some dinner and drinks. Last night I went out with two guys in my group and a bunch of girls from the hostel that I don't know, but they were really nice and welcoming. We went to Bica where a ton of people were, there was music, drinks, food and a crowd that you could barely walk through. Not really an enjoyable scene because you can barely move. After that, we went to this club called Urban Beach that is super duper nice. It's like the nicest club in Lisbon. It costs 8 euros just to get in and a cocktail is like 6 euros. I danced my little heart out and shuffled!! They played electronic music for the most part, I felt like I was at my own little EDC. I love shuffling and getting low and dancing to EDM, so I had a lot of fun, but it was extremely hot in there. I was tired and hungry after about an hour of that, so I walked home by myself and went to sleep. There was an earthquake in San Diego last night and I'm so mad because there's finally an earthquake and of course I'm not there to feel it!!! It was only a magnitude 5.1, so not strong enough to cause any real damage. I'm about to go out to get lunch, money, and cigarettes. I don't mind going alone because it will probably be faster that way, but it would be nice to hang out with some of the people from the group. I don't know where any of them are though so whatever. I promise I'm going to post pictures soon. My computer is just god awful and loads everything at the pace of a turtle. I'll probably start using flickr again because putting pictures on here confuses me.
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Well, Saturday night was a bit of a fail. I got all dressed up and looked very nice, went out and tried to meet up with some friends, but couldn't find them. I felt a little weird walking around alone in the city, so I decided to go home and my cute outfit went to waste :(. I JUST WROTE A WHOLE POST AND IT GOT DELETED :(((((((( FUCK. Well, I guess I'll try to fucking rewrite it. I went home and watched a few episodes of the new season of Grace & Frankie (if you've never seen it, I suggest watching it, it's really funny). I eventually drifted to sleep, but was awoken a few hours later by drunk people outside my door. I fell back asleep, but not even an hour later was awoken again by someone talking like right above me. I had to close my window and since there is no air conditioning, I woke up later dripping in sweat. I eventually got out of bed around 4pm, I don't know why I've been sleeping so much / so late, I'll blame jet lag again. I got dressed and took my camera out with me to take some pictures. I just walked around, grabbed a bite to eat, then went to H&M and bought a cute little shirt for 8 euros. Then, I met up with a guy I'd met online. He was very nice and has the cutest grin. We grabbed some beers by his apartment and sat in the park drinking, smoking, and talking for a few hours. I eventually made my way home. The next morning (Monday), I thought I was starting my internship that day, but apparently not. I got a knock on my door around 9 am and I was just chilling in my room without pants on (cause fuck pants) so I quickly grab some pants, open the door while I'm still zipping them up and it's my program coordinator haha. He's like we have orientation, be ready in 2 minutes. I'm like ok fuck, get dressed super fast and meet everyone downstairs. Apparently everyone had spent the weekend together and became friends already, so I was the odd one out. We left the dorm and went to the university where people will be taking classes. It was super boring and long and I was extremely hungry and sleepy. Eventually we left and walked around the city to go to the beautiful view points. I was really pissed because I didn't know we were going sight-seeing so I didn't bring my camera or GoPro and I looked like shit, but I still enjoyed it. I was able to take some alright pictures on my phone. We went to one of my favorite lookout spots, I've gotta go back with my actual camera and a notebook and a book. I could sit at the spot all day, it's so wonderful. Then we went to the castle which I had not been to yet so that was exciting! They had really amazing viewpoints there as well. I found Wine With a View and I was so happy because I met the owner last time I was here and never got a chance to go. It's a really awesome company, they let you keep the wine glass and it's unbreakable with their logo on it and they're made in Portugal! Only 4 euros for the glass and wine! I explored the castle a bit more and found these beautiful peacocks (I'll post pictures soon, I haven't uploaded them yet). Finally after like 8 hours of being with the group, we got to go home. I walked home with a new friend I made in the group. Then I wrote this post while sitting outside smoking cigarettes. And it got deleted, so I'm rewriting it now (24 hours later lol). I went to my first day of my internship today. It takes an hour to get there from my residence. 10 minute walk to the metro, 20 minute ride on the metro, 5 minute walk to the bus stop, 5 minutes on the bus, then another 10 minute to my building. I finally arrived and met my supervisor (Isabel), I could tell she was judging me for my tattoos and nose piercing. She gave me a few things to read about the company, then she left for lunch for like an hour and a half. I went to lunch with my colleagues, we get free lunch so that's cool. I got back to my desk and my supervisor still wasn't back and I was finished reading the things she gave me so I just sat there and waited. She finally came back, but didn't give me anything to do for like an hour. Eventually, she gave me an email to edit, that took like less than 10 minutes. Then I realized there was a few mistakes in a book she gave me, so I reread and wrote down the mistakes for her. It was a pretty boring day haha. My colleagues are nice though, they tried to include me in their conversations, but it's hard since I don't speak Portuguese. One of them offered me a ride home or close to home because he has class by where I live. I finally made it back home and now I've just been chilling on the rooftop patio with some friends from the group. I'm hungry though, so I'm going to attempt to find some dinner. Peace.
Ok well I'm in Lisbon, I arrived at 8 am Lisbon time on Thursday morning. Someone from the program picked me up from the airport and drove me to my new home. It's a little dorm type room with a desk, bed, lots of storage, and a mini fridge! I share a bathroom with one girl who introduced herself to me, she seems very nice, but I can't remember her name.. typical (I remembered, it's Georgina, she's Greek). It's very modern and chic. Yes I brought my teddy bear with me. Fuck everyone but Bojangles, he gets to travel the world with me. It is now Saturday and I am a failure at keeping you all up to date. But, in my defense, I've had a busy last couple of days. Let's start with Thursday. I unpacked my suitcases and got settled into my new room then went out to the only place I know. I needed euros to pay my security deposit here, so I figured out how to get to the one place I know. I am about a 25 minute walk away from the hostel I stayed in last time I was here. I live like a block away from the water and about a 5 minute walk away from this street called Pink Street which is just bars and clubs and yes, the street is actually pink. It's about a 10 minute walk to the center of the city where all the tourists go. Once I got there, I knew where I was and was so excited because I partially know my way around this city! So I continued to walk down the famous streets that were all so familiar to me, got my euros, then decided since I was only 10 minutes away from the hostel, I'd stop by. Let me tell you, this hostel is a few doors down from a minimercado (mini market, kind of like a gas station) and I know the owner. I stopped there and Som (the owner) was talking with a customer so I just stood there quietly and waited for him to notice me. He turned around, looked at me, realized it was really me, then came over and hug / picked me up. He was very surprised and happy to see me. He hugged me again. I bought my favorite cigarettes and an apple cider, then went next door to my old stomping grounds (Liv'in Lisbon - if you're ever in Lisbon, I recommend staying here). I was looking for my friend, Miguel, but instead I ran into the manager whose name I can't remember, I think it's Nuno or Bruno. He remembered me and called Miguel for me to see if he was around (he wasn't). So I walked back to my dorm and took a nap. I think I woke up about 3-4 hours and I was starving. I knew what I wanted to eat, so I walked back over to the hostel because my favorite pizza place is next door. I've been waiting to eat this pizza again since I left. It's not even like it's that good, it's just cheap and you get a whole damn pizza. I was also hoping I would run into the hostess who is this beautiful Portuguese woman named Katia, but unfortunately she no longer works there. So I sat down and had dinner by myself. I really enjoy being alone, everyone is so surprised that I came here by myself, but I prefer it that way. After dinner, I went next door to the hostel and Miguel answered the door. He introduced me to the new people working at the hostel and told me they were planning on going out, so I decided to go with them. Oh yeah, so the way things work here is that dinner is at like 9pm and then you don't leave to go out until 11. It was me, three girls from Toronto, and 2 guys that were staying in the hostel. We were just going down the street to this cool bar I'd been to before. When you walk in there's this hallway full of graffiti, then theres a huge basketball court, and then a little bar on the side with 3 different rooms. So we just hung out and drank there for a couple hours. I met a guy that sold me some hash for only 5 euros and it's actually good shit. Around 1:30 am, they were all going to go back to the hostel, but I obviously was going to go home which was 20 minutes away. I walked through the streets at 2 am and surprisingly, no one creepy tried to sell me drugs or kidnap me. I like to think that I look pretty intimidating too so people don't fuck with me. I got home safely and fell asleep in my bed that is way too big for just me. I slept almost all of the day away on Friday, I blame jet lag. I finally got out of bed around 8 pm and once again was starving. I took a shower and got ready for the night. I was going to try to find a place to eat on the way to the hostel but nothing seemed appealing, so I went for pizza again lol. I almost ate the whole pizza this time, I was so hungry. After I ate, I ran into Miguel drinking beer with a few friends next door to the market. He bought me a beer and I sat with them for a while. He told me there were people at the hostel planning to do the pub crawl, so I went over there once Miguel left. It was only me, this sweet girl named Sara, and two American guys (one from LA and one from NY). We walked over to the G spot (a hostel/bar) to meet with the other pub crawlers, but they had already left. We walked over to Bairro Alto (the neighborhood where all the bars are) and found them at our favorite bar called Oito Nove where we get discount drinks if we're with someone that works at the hostel. I took a shot then ordered the most amazing drink in the world. It's black vodka blended with strawberries and it tastes just like a strawberry smoothie. Don't ask me what black vodka is because I have no idea. We stayed there for about an hour, I think, then followed the pub crawlers to another bar down the street. It was very, very crowded so I tried to stick to the side of a wall and smoke a cigarette. While I was standing there smoking my little heart out, a guy approached me and asked to borrow a lighter. Luckily, he didn't just borrow my lighter and then bounce (I hate when people do that or you give them a cigarette and they just leave), he actually stroke up a conversation with me. I talked with him for a while because Sara and I had lost the two guys that came with us, then I lost her, so I just continued to hang out with this guy. Then, I found Sara, she was actually hanging out with his friends he was with. We all wandered down the road to the next bar. I had finally finished my delicious strawberry drink, so this guy bought me a drink. I think I had my first Jaeger-bomb last night. It was really sweet and made my tummy feel all weird afterwards. He also bought me a huge ass beer that he then had to help me drink. All of his friends are super funny and nice. Eventually, we moved onto another bar and we're all pretty drunk at this point and it was getting kind of late so I made my way back home. I went to sleep and I eventually woke up around 2:30 and of course, I was starving, so I went out to get some food. As I'm walking downtown, I look over and see the guy I met the night before and all of his friends drinking beers at a table! I'm like what the fuck are the odds??? I thought I'd never see them again haha. So I sit down with them, order a ham and cheese toast sandwich and a coca-cola. They paid for it which was very nice, because I even gave them my money. Then, I needed to go to this store in the mall to put money on my Portuguese sim card so I could text. I took the metro to the mall, got my phone working, then came back to my neighborhood, stopped at the market to get a few things. Now I'm back in my room relaxing until it's time to go out again. My body is sore already from walking up the hills here. I can feel it in my butt lol. I am so happy walking around this city. I can't even explain how wonderful it feels to just be here on my own. OH MY I can't believe I forgot to mention this, as I was walking downtown earlier this afternoon, I'm just walking right and this guy whispers "sex" in my ear. I was like WHAT THE FUCK. I've been offered hash, cocaine, weed, but never sex!!! I should have turned around and kicked him in the dick. Anyway, I should start getting ready for tonight.
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Maddie Lang
Dreamer. Adventurer. Wallflower. Lover. Fighter. Kentuckian / Californian. Finding my purpose in the world. Archives
February 2020
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