Strike... again

How to catch a bus when the Lisbon metro is on strike:

(Because forget about taxis, they are all full or will cost a fortune in bumper to bumper traffic)

Step 1: Do not give up while waiting 45min-1hour in line, watching full buses pass by without stopping. Other people will give up and you will eventually get to the front. (see pic above)

Step 2: When a bus does stop to let people out and you are toward the front, run to the back doors and push your way in, no matter how many people complain or how many expletives you may hear. Those free passes in line for old people don't count here... it's push or be left behind. (!)

Step 3: Try to eventually move into a corner, where at least you are smooshed into walls and not into other people, and where you can hold on for dear life.

Step 4: Do not analyze your life too much while riding like canned sardines for a long period of time. You will not want to move countries or assassinate people so much once you're well rested and can breathe properly.

Step 5: Don't leave the house if you can help it or run any errands whatsoever on strike days in Portugal... so like every other day. But try not to stress it.

So L.A.

My head is about to explode from the minute organization a wedding involves and we have put off until now... plus all the drastic life changes it involves.

 

 

Meanwhile...breathe in, breathe out... I have been able to spend lots of time with my sister (well... I am living with her I guess) and drink some Starbucks. This day I barely had lunch, but then had Starbucks and a cookie. "I'm so L.A.", I told her.

 

Here is a foot picture my sister's fiancé enjoys taking...

Ribbons of fun

My sister got a bike for her birthday! Her cat, Koshka, got a ribbon. 

First meal

Moving into and furnishing a new house is a lot more work than I was expecting. Our first meal in our new house was très romantic. We ate sushi (from next door) on the floor. The next day we moved some chairs.

 

Carioca

There's this simple lemon tea you can get in Portugal if you don't feel like coffee or actual tea, called lemon "carioca". Did you know the less white you have on the lemon peel the less bitter it is? A really interesting friend told me this tidbit.

When I used to walk...

This weekend, back before my ankle was sprained :(, I went on a day-long hike with 30 other Lisbon youth group leaders. At least I used to have a youth group... I'm not really sure what happened there.

 

Portugal might have lots of bad things, but at least every inch of it seems to be beautiful and green and on the coast.

Roommate

I am temporarily living in my sister's house, while my new house is being prepared, and I have a new furry roommate. She is the real star of the show and I can't imagine life in this house before her. Inside cats or dogs are so much fun. Koshka ("cat" in Russian...she is a Russian Blue) has a wide range of hobbies: looking out the window and wishing she could catch some pigeons, intently watching people cook, hiding behind the curtain and attacking your feet when they pass by and rolling around and purring loudly for you to pet her when you get home.

Moving

I moved out of the house I've been living at for three years now. Even though I was tired of living there and am very excited about the near future, changes involve this sense of weirdness, discomfort and a lot of work.