I'm in Portugal!

(The photo is the view outside my bedroom window!)

Hey!

I know it feels like forever since I wrote last, and I've actually been in Portugal for 5 days now; however, I still do not have access to the internet (apparently it can take up to 2 or 3 weeks to have someone come install it). Right now I'm borrowing wireless from the neighbors! :)

So Portugal is pretty much amazing. It's so beautiful--everyone kept telling me it's hot--but all I've experienced so far is perfect weather. It gets about 80F in the day and around 60F at night. Zero humidity! It actually feels a lot like Southern California.

When we first got here, we were staying with the Bests--a family from the church here. Our apartment was having some updates done, so we just moved in yesterday. We're living in Cascais (pronounced "kash-kaish"). It's actually a beautiful apartment--very clean and quite large for what we're paying. Downstairs and a little down the street is Pingo Doce, a grocery store with fresh produce and meat (and fish, which apparently I'm going to have start eating). Then about an 8 minute walk from here is the school where I'll be teaching. I'm heading over there in an hour or so, to start setting up my classroom.

My roommate, Gina, is great! We're really enjoying each other, and it's so nice to have someone be as confused as I am :) We're trying out our Portuguese skills, which right now, are not so great. But I've got "thank you," "excuse me," and "sorry" down!

We've done just a little sightseeing in Lisbon (about a 30 minute drive or train ride from here). We went to Belem--an old area in Lisbon with a 15th century cathedral and Vasca de Gama's grave. We also went to a bakery there that is famous for the "pastel da belem" also called a pastel da nata. It's kind of like a creme brulee in a pastry--super yummy.

I promise I'll write more soon--I've got to get running to the school soon! I'll have pictures up asap!

Love you and miss you all!

Ariel

p.s. I can't get take-out coffee here. What am I going to do????????!!!