Day 58, Life is Wonderful (At Home and in Portugal)

Although Lagos was beautiful and wonderful, we had to leave today. We wandered around town a little before having to check out of the hostel, but there wasn’t much to see since the town is highly based on water activities, restaurants, and souvenir shops. We waited around long enough to check out, buy some delicious gelato, buy our train tickets, and eat some good ol’ Pizza Hut pizza. Then, it was train time. And then waiting time, which was followed by more train time, but at least this one was air conditioned! We ended up having seats next to a pleasant, old Portuguese man, who ended up chatting it up with Ben. I was quite content to listen in, surprised at how much I could understand, despite not having studied Portuguese much. Honestly, I was going off what I knew of Spanish, Romance language patterns, and three weeks of sitting in on a Portuguese 101 class. But I could follow pretty well what he was saying! Hmm, maybe I will try harder to learn Portuguese.

Next, we took on the Lisbon metro, but it is many times smaller and less complex than the one in Paris, being comprised of only four metro lines, so I’ve already figured it out.  It helped, too, that Ben knows the place and could show us the ropes a bit. We soon arrived at our stop, and then we hunted down the hostel where Ashlee and I are staying. That done, we promptly went for dinner at a kebab shop and bought some pasteis de nata to eat on the Lisbon marina by the Praça do Comercio.

As a side note, I've found a benefit of  having Ben, a tall, strong guy around: He's helped carry my fatty bag up and down stairs in Lagos at the hostel and the train station and here in Lisbon in the metro and the hostel again.  Although I could've managed, it would've taken longer, not to mention that he probably is stronger and is definitely taller, so it's not such a struggle to keep the bag above each step!  Oh, and it's nice to have one more friend around, even though my height becomes a frequent object of joking.  I have a new nickname: Shortarms.  Or, as Ashlee said, Tinylegs.  Such is my life among tall friends.  :D

Ben's perspective

Ashlee's perspective

Lisbon is on a Peninsula, bounded by the ocean and a river. I looked out and saw the Cristo Rey, a bridge reminiscent of the Golden Gate Bridge, a giant crane, ferries, and lots of hills and towns on the other side of the water. And you know what it made me think of? Home. Why? Because I grew up on a peninsula. I could easily see a bridge and large industrial equipment just across the water, dotted with the occasional ferry. I drove frequently along the water’s edge to arrive at school on the hilly other side of the body of water. Really, it is uncannily like the view from my hometown. Yeah, my hometown is no big deal like Lisbon, but it’s home and I miss it.   Take a guess as to which place is in which picture.

Thankfully, I had Ben and Ashlee’s company and sunshine with a breeze to keep my spirits up.  And I feel very content to be here!  Like, the happy kind that is okay with being in a strange place without having everything planned and is still at peace  Every day that I’m here, I think, “Wow. I’m in ___. Crazy!” And yesterday, I pointed out to my friends that it truly is incredible how well the timing has worked out for us to be here. I mean, really, it’s not every summer that someone goes to Europe, and then for the three of us to come out here, at the same time, and to meet up half a world away—amazing! And today, Ben was telling me that when I’m older I’ll see more that life takes unexpected turns that lead you to think, “How did I end up here?!” Oh, Ben, I’ve already seen that in my life, especially when it comes to my education, my interests, and my present trip to Europe. I can only imagine where I’ll end up weeks, months, or years from now, but at least I have the comfort of knowing one thing: With God, it can only turn out even better than what I can ever imagine!

PS Happy Summer Solstice!