Well, here we go, the arrival to Portugal. Did I already tell you about the arrival after the horrid flight, well if not here is a really quick overview. When we arrived it was pouring rain, my bags came off the plane wet because we did not pull up to a gate, but left the plane on stairs on the tarmac. At that point I was just happy to be home, or in Portugal.
The next few days were pretty mellow, lots of relaxing, and lots of errands to get done. Tia Nicha, my aunt, really has been helping me out a ton since I came...I have been trying to get this European health card so I have health coverage while living here and it has been an absolute pain in the neck. Tia Nicha and I have been all over, and talked to countless people about what needs to be done to finally get the darn thing. It seems like after a day and half of that we are on the right track, but who knows! Apart from the health card I also got a cell phone so I could speak easily with family, and mostly call for help if I was lost or ad any troubles in my grandma's car. Have you ever wandered around semi-aimlessly trying to find your way somewhere, that seems to be me about half the time when I am driving around Lisbon, there are so many places that I have never been too or driven around so I am usually half lost. Luckily, I have been able to do some loops and always end up home on my own...well almost always, that story to come. The lead up to Christmas was very strange for me this year, it was hard to get into that Christmas spirit. Typically you always have those same faces around you during the holidays, and when you don't have them it is really strange. Although I was with my family here in Portugal, Christmas is not the same without my family back home, well and my friends too of course, I can't believe I missed the Christmas play at Kyle's, and the gift exchange at Lizzy's for Nana's cookies(well, actually I think they took my life size cut out to the Christmas play so I guess I was there)!
Christmas eve was a slow morning, got up and didn't do too much. I hung around the house and helped my grandma make a fish dish to take over to my uncles house for dinner and watched some movies on my laptop. Dinner was good, we had the typical Bacalhau (dry salted cod fish that you rehydrate to eat) dish with potatoes, carrots and cabbage, some nice wine and of course great company. On Christmas eve it just was Tio Joao, Avo, Tio Ita, Tia Po, Domingos, Francisco and me.
Christmas day was more of the same, relaxing all morning (well, I think I woke up a bit after noon so not really the morning), helping Avo cook a Fish/clam chowder that she makes for Christmas dinner, and then it was off to Tia Nicha's house for Christmas dinner with ALL of the family, there must have been 25+ people there, or at least it felt like it. The chowder is a hit with all of the cousins, it is pretty good and all but I was more excited about the Turkey because I didn't get m yearly fix of Turkey on Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun to see how everyone spent Christmas here, and as always it was nice to have all of the family together.
Christmas night is a big night for going out to discos in Lisbon but by the time rolled around to go out partying, I was completely wiped out and decided to stay in and call it a night, weak, yes I know! The 26th was a new day and there was no way that I was gonna pass up another night out on the town. I met up with Domingos, Francisco, Miguel Bruschy, and White Castle (Castello-Branco) for dinner and a night out. We went to a restaurant called Bota Velha (The Old Boot) and had some tasty grinds for ridiculously cheap prices. After that, we went for a Caipirinha at a local bar and it was off to the club. We went to the club that we usually go called Urban Beach and danced the night away. Well, after getting home at some ridiculous hour and then talking to friends for another hour or so I think I ended up going to sleep around 8a.m. or something which meant that the next day was a waste cause I slept for most of it. Oh yea, now I remember what I did, in the mid afternoon I went with Tia Nicha, Tio Quim, Teresa and David to see Sherlock Holmes, totally dug that movie, would definitely recommend watching it if you haven't already. Nearly forgot another thing, man putting this off was not a good idea, my cousins Marta and Mariana were staying at my grandma's house this weekend and on that Sunday night before they went back to their mom's, we all had dinner together and hung out.
The 28th was a big day, my MOM arrived for a visit!!! Spent most of the day at Tia Nicha and Tio Quim's hanging with the cousins waiting for the evening to roll around to go pick mom up from the airport. Her coming to visit was going to be a surprise for everyone, but we ended up telling everyone but Teresa, my cousin, her god daughter because she wanted it to be extra special for her because on the 29th she turned 18 and she did not know mo was going to be at the party. Her flight came in a few minutes late but nothing to major...we waited and waited and she never came out...Thank you Iberia Airlines for loosing her luggage in transit. Well, it is hard to say if Iberia lost it but, it was lost and it was not the best way to receive mom, very worried that the bag was stolen because all of the presents for the family over here were in it. By the time we got home it was around 10:00 p.m. we had a late dinner/snack and called it a night.
Due to Jet Lag, mom was up at some absurd hour, I think it was 6:30, and heaven forbid she miss any time with her son...next thing I knew I was up and at them at WAY TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING! The first part of the day I was trying to track down the luggage, I hate dealing with the airlines cause no one will take responsibility and they all give you a different answer for the same question. In the afternoon, before the big party we went over to Tia Nicha's and surprised Teresa...I think she was pretty surprised, maybe she had a little idea but anyhow she was extremely excited. We all had lunch at the house and then it was off to buy mom clothes to wear at the party (tie and sports coat, and ladies in their fancy attire); while the girls went shopping I hung around the house with David and then headed back to Avo's with mom when she returned to get ready. After getting ready I headed over to Domingo's house and a bunch of the cousins went to a friend Miguel's for dinner. Met back up with mom and the rest of the family at the party. When I got there, there were tons of kids hanging around but no one really shaking tail so I immediately jumped out onto the dance floor and started dancing by myself, probably making a fool out of myself but hey, someone had t get this party off the ground. Before long the dance floor was grooving and everyone was having a great time. We rocked the house till about 4 a.m. mom and I stayed around to help clean up at the end and then it was off to get home. We had to drop a cousin of my cousin off at his house and by the time we were headed in our direction it was almost 4:30. You ever have one of those OH SHIT MOMENTS while driving (excuse the language)...we definitely had one of those on the way home; we were getting onto the freeway that we needed to go home and came to a fork in the road where we could either go left or right, right looked like it ducked onto a frontage road so I took the left side, before I could think at that hour I was seeing headlights coming at us...THE EXIT RAMP, yea you guessed it!!! Luckily at that hour there were only three or four cars visible in any direction, but man was that a scary instant, flipped a quick U ball and was home safe!
The 30th was a long morning, spent most of it battling with the airlines for the missing piece of luggage and of course nothing had shown up and it was lost in space somewhere. I am not exactly sure what we did that afternoon (I really need to keep on top of these entries otherwise they become scatter brained and are written and obscure hours like this one where I am not thinking straight, have you noticed yet? I think I am actually doing pretty well to tell you the truth, but ok back at it), but that night it was a night on the town with the guys. Martin, a cousin from Italy was in town for the new years and a bunch of the cousins all met up to have some fun. We ended up going to 80's and 90's music club that was totally packed. It was mostly the 30+ crowd, but the music was killer and we all jammed out and had a great time. At some point in the night when it was time to get going I was trying to round up the guys that I had driven in my car to go and couldn't find them or they were gonna walk because we were close to a couple of the guy's houses; by the time I got back to the other area where the other cousins were, they were gone. Of course, with my luck there was no signal in the club so I left. After, I left I got a message from Miguel who was the last one that I was missing saying he had gone home with a friend and that I was on my own. This is where we get back to that story about how I have never really gotten lost in Lisbon while driving...I couldn't have guessed where I was. To get there we took every back alley and one way street that I think there was in Lisbon and I knew I was not close to home. I ended up calling Miguel who gave me some directions and then I asked some taxi drivers until I found a main road that I recognized and was able to make it home.
The 31st was another relatively quiet day, in the afternoon again I battled with the airlines and was unsuccessful...what is that Airlines 3 - Philip 0, anyone that knows me knows how frustrated that makes me! Mom and I took Avo out to lunch up the avenue from the apartment for a great lunch, mom and Avo had grilled Swordfish, not the one we know back home but also excellent, and I had Pernil (which is like a pork shank). Darn was it a great meal, and it was nice to finally have some time just the three of us relaxing. In the afternoon mom and I went over to Tia Nicha's and hung out with the kids and Tia Nicha before a big family dinner at her house. We had about 8 or 10 of us over to Tia Nicha and Tio Quim's house for New Years Eve. I was supposed to go out with the cousins for dinner but it was hard to leave mom there and bail so I stayed and enjoyed a great meal of Duck rice. After dinner, I kid napped David, and took him out to celebrate the New Years with some of the older cousins. We went down the the Rio Tejo, and watched the fireworks...it was really funny because we were meeting the other cousins down there, and we ended up running into them as we were trying to get there...we all ended up making it to the big gathering point just as they were starting to count down from 10 and brought in the New Year by Spraying Champagne everywhere (not me this time!!!) and then each enjoying a few sips when we were done playing! After the party at the river it was off to find a Disco to party at for the rest of the night. No need to take David home, he might be 15 but passes for a 23 year old no problem! We got To Urban Beach, our typical place and were bared entry because it was guest list only that night. Luckily, Domingos had a friend or two that worked in there and we were able to get in after not too much hassle. Typical night out, dancing our tails off till some absurd hour, I probably would have stayed later but I had to be responsible and get David home at a decent hour...Ok so maybe that didn't work out to plan but I made an honest effort. At one point I told him hey, we are going to leave no later that 4:30 a.m. I am not going to get you home later than that...4:30 rolled around and there was some killer jam on an we couldn't stop dancing; next thing you know it was 4:45, again, I told him hey no later that 5:00. what do you know, 5:00 rolls around and we couldn't stop dancing...does the Dj throw down the best songs at the top of the hour??? At 6:00 in the morning I ended up pulling the plug and we got out of there. By the time had dropped him off at home and made it back to Avo's it was almost 7:00.
For some reason, I decided to check on the baggage and what do you know it was delivered the morning of the 1st, and was a huge relief for mom. Not a bad way to start off the new year huh! I think I ended up getting two hours of sleep and then it was on to the next thing. On the 1st mom and I did a mini road trip around Portugal to see family before they went back to other parts. First we drove about an hour and 45 to see my mom's nanny, Felicia. She was thrilled to see us, and her niece treated us to some lunch on arrival. We enjoyed some Portuguese Chorizo roasted on wood coals and fresh bread. It was nice to catch up with them, but before you knew it we were off to the next place. The next stop was to mom's first cousins Kikita's new house where all of here siblings were for the new year. As some of you may remember, I spent a fabulous weekend in Alicante sailing and enjoying time with family in early November; this was at Tia Nana and Tio Mana's house, and Tia Nana is Kikita's sister. Ok, so I am not going to give you the whole family tree and the name of everyone there, but it was great to see all of them and especially nice to see Tia Nana, Tio Mana, Bernardo, and Carolina before they headed back the next day to Spain. After chatting and having some tea, it was back on the road to Lisbon. we ended up getting home around 10:00 p.m. and it was straight to packing our bags...We are In Prague!!! I don't think I mentioned this yet on my blog but on the 2nd in the morning we left with Tia Nicha and Tio Quim for 4 days in Prague...Well I am not gonna add more to this monster of a post. I hope as always things are well back home, and that everyone will enjoy a great new year, 2010.
Much Love Always, and yes the Prague pictures are already up, and the post will come
Phil
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