Karaoke and Pasta

It's been an interesting last few days for the blogging crew. Brittany's been sick, so the last couple of days have been the Adventures of Team Testoterone. But before these adventures, while Captain Cook was still with us, we met some skaters at Rossio. They set up a grind rail and were doing crazy tricks on and off of it. We found out that some of them were sponsored...we could tell who they were from their skill level. We asked if they skated there often, and the answer was no...they go where ever they want.

Yesterday was a really good day. It's too bad Brittany missed it. After hanging out with our friend Pedro for a couple of hours, Team Testoterone, along with fellow OBU students Owen, Tana, and Leah, headed to an apartment full of Italians, Brazilians, Germans, and such for a wonderful home-cooked Italian meal. There was a pot full o' some awesome shrimp pasta stuff and one full of some pea and sauce pasta (they've got cool Italian names that I can't recall). One of the guys dropped a metal ball-type thing from the top of a pepper shaker into the pea pot, and I was the lucky chap who found it. It was the same size as the peas, and I was a bite away from loosing a tooth. Our new Brazilian friends made some sort of half-melted fudge for dessert, and it was quite scrumpous. We met up with our friends a little later for some karaoke action at a local bar. It was quite the night.

What is it--take 2

Café life...it´s in our blog title...but what is it?

It´s not Starbucks. Some people use Starbucks in America to go and chat for a while over coffee, but it´s also highly individual. You see many people come in, get their coffee, and leave. In Portugal cafés are about chilling out and conversing. It is where people discuss school, politics, life, and other things. The people of Portugal are open to conversation. If you ask them a question, they´ll answer it (provided they know English), and are more than willing to talk to a stranger. But don´t ask them about how they feel about politics, nightlife, or anything else unless you really want to know. They´ll tell you everything.

Cafés are friendly atmospheres. They can get really crowded, but if you ask to sit at the same table as someone, you won´t get a "well I guess if you must" sort of face that is seen in the States. It´s really laid-back, and no one´s in a hurry....but neither are the waiters, so don´t think you can just hop into a café and be out in 10 minutes, unless it´s a place where you pre-pay. Another precaution is that if you have asthma or allergies, drug up before you go: there is usually a lot of smoke.

Going to Lisbon is incomplete without café life. We´re gonna miss it when he head back.

-benJamin

What is it?

It is awesome for me to be able to watch as people discover what café life is about in Lisbon. Is it trying the Pasteis de Belém for the first time? Is it seeing if you are tough enough to drink a bica without sugar? Is it the jolt of caffine that you have after departure?

Could it be that there is so much more to it? Could the café life be about 83 new friendships that have been developed in the past week and a half? Could it be about sitting for hours without the worry of what your schedule says is coming up? Could it be that café life is so stinkin' awesome because we are allowed to yield long enough to be able to intersect with those around us?

--Billy

Hey-0!
Tonight we went to a wonderful resturant with our friends from the Luisada University. We ate traditional Portuguese food down in Bairro Alto, but we didn't end up going out to the club. We hope to go salsa dancing with all of the girls on Saturday. The girls we went with were so fun. We had a great time wrapped up over a cup of coffee and walking through the beautiful streets lined with shops. We plan to get together next Tuesday and hang out in their university cafeteria. Good luck with your tests girls!! ciao beijinhos... Brittany (Tim, Konner, Ben, Kristi, and Brad)

Also I was great destressed that we all missed out on Ben's advanced dancing skills :(

Pasteis de Belem

Friday our group experienced the famous pasteis de Belem. The pastries were amazing. It was huge; four times bigger than any cafe we've been in, truly one of a kind. The atmosphere was much like the relaxed feel of all coffee shops here (we've been to), but a bit louder with some live music. While we were there we also met 3 law students who discussed the political situation of Portugal with us. They like ORANGE. Anyway, we might just have to go back!

Luisada University Cafeteria

Its time for finals at Luisada University, so many of the students have been hanging out in the cafeteria to take part in some "social studying." Among the many differences between America and Portugal, social studying is one similarity. We study with our friends, books open, binders out, but not much studying happens...its all about the people. Its a great time to talk have fun and really not get much done. My experience with Ben in the cafeteria did not include any social studying, but we met 3 Portuguese business students.

Three guys in their 5th year at the university were enjoying a break before their test. We had a nice chat over some coffee just relaxing. We found it very interesting when talking about social life among different European countries when these students agreed with us in saying Portuguese people are much more open and friendly than most of Europe in general. In our similar travelling experiences we found a different social life in Portugal with more time spent simply talking in a cafe or bar. We talked sports, travelling, school, and whatever else came up. Lots of fun, looking foward to meeting up again at a cool cafe of their choice.

K-dawg

College Lunch Hot Spot

Yesterday Tim and I went looking for a popular place to eat with students from Lusiada University. We ended up at a lunch diner right around the eastern corner. They have a variety of foods ranging from pizza to pastries. The best part was learning all about college life in Lisbon. We sat down with a fun group of girls that told us all about the places students hang out and the differences between the US and Portuguese colleges. They told us the best resturants and clubs to go to are around the 24th of July and on Bairro Alto. We look forward to going out to eat with them tonight and afterward getting coffee. Then maybe we'll dance the night away.. Until tomorrow *Ciao

B*2daCook

Pool and such

Konnor and myself wanted to hang out with some local university students in Belem, so we went to a pool hall to meet some poolers…or whatever they’re called. We went to the back room where two-thirds of the tables (both of them) were located. We found out that we had to rent the sticks and balls, so we went and got some, not knowing exactly how much we’d have to pay, and we went to work.

We discovered that the holes aren’t quite as big as those on American tables…and that makes a big difference. Konnor and I both had a couple of stubborn balls that absolutely would not go in no matter what we did….we each let out a couple of primal yells of frustration. We also learned that you can’t just nail the ball as hard as you can and still make a shot; we started “playing soft” and did a little better. After an oh-so-tragic 8-ball scratch on my part, we shared our frustrations with one of the locals, and he said he’d meet us and teach us how to play their style. We need it.


benJamin'

Bem-Vindo was the sound welcoming our team to Lishboa. Upon arriving, the first thing we noticed was the "Cafe Culture". In the states, a quick drive through Seattle Drip gets you a Cafe Latte...here in Lisboa, it's a time to stop, relax, and enjoy the day.

"The Great Race"...In preparing for our trip to Lisboa, we were searching for our Person of Peace, instead we met our People of Peace. First of all, let me explain who we are...Archie, Beth and Jennifer from Brandon Mississippi in the United States. You might be wondering what this has to do with the great race, well, for our 7 days in Lisboa, Billy wanted to make sure we could navigate around the city with relative ease, so, he plans this game, of sort...The Great Race...We had a 30 minute orientation of major landmarks and were handed a map, yea...

Needless to say, our team was having somewhat of a challenge with the whole language thing. The amazing part of all this is that at the train station we met our People of Peace...Rafeal, Karini, and Israel. They took it upon themselves to help us get to Parque das Nacones...Oh, by the way, our team scored 4210 points...


All this to say, we really have enjoyed the friendship that we have made with our new friends.