May 31st – June 7th

Monday was a sad day, it was my absolute last day at 62 Andres Mellado 5D. I woke up and started packing things and getting the house back in order since we changed some things around to our liking. Around 1:30 or so Joaquin came over because he was in the area (his university is about 10 minutes from the house) and he knew I did not have anything going on. Around 3:00 Joaquin and I went and met up with Rita the neighbor for lunch, and to say good bye to her. After lunch, Joaquin and I ran some errands that he had to get done in Madrid, then he went to the gym and I went home to pack everything into my bags. It took me about an hour to throw all the garbage out of the house, clean the floors, and pack all of my stuff up. As hard as it is to believe, my whole life here in Madrid over the course of the last year fits into about 2 bags and a backpack. Thankfully Joaquin offered to come and help me take all of my bags to the bus station after he was done with working out, because Marc was not off work, and was not able to swing by the house to pick up all my stuff. Joaquin and I lugged the bags down to the bus station in 35C weather (around 90F I think). We ended up going to his house to hang for a while since he lives near Marc’s house. It was a blast hanging at Joaquin’s house because he has a little brother Julian that reminds me a lot of Andrew, way smarter than he should be and quick with his jokes! I treated Joaquin and Marc to dinner for helping me out, and we enjoyed ourselves on the back porch now that the weather is nicer and it stays light until around 10:15. We finally made it to Marc’s house (my second home in Madrid) around 10:45 and let me tell you it felt nice to be home!

Tuesday was a slow day. I was feeling a bit under the weather so I slept for most the day and was able to catch up with the family and friends on Skype. We had dinner at the house with the whole family (Javier, Gina, Ian and Marc…well and me, their adopted son!). Javier always cooks mean meals for us. We had some pasta casserole with red sauce that was really tasty. Later that night we met up with Alvaro, Isaac, Javier (our friend, not Marc’s dad), to go to Pitu’s graduation party. Apparently one of Pitu’s colleagues at the university’s father owns one of the discos that we go to quite often, so they threw a huge party for all the graduates and friends! We showed up for a little bit to tell Pitu congratulations, but called it an early night because I was still not feeling great and Marc had to be at work in the morning.

Wednesday was off to Lisbon! Finally, I have been looking forward to getting back to the family. Although I am mostly there to find some quite time to recharge the batteries and study, it is always a good time! Wednesday I arrived on time, for once, Tia Nicha and David were there to pick me up and we went straight to Avo’s house to say hi to her and Felicia. Felicia seems to be doing much better now that she is home. She is gaining some strength and seems to be doing well. After stopping by the house, Tia Nicha, David and I were off to pick up Maria. We picked her up from school and she was thrilled as usual. A bit later Tia Nicha and I went to Careca, the coffee shop down the street to have a coffee with Tia Po, and that evening we hung out around the house and had dinner with the family.

Thursday was Corpus Christi day, a holiday, in Lisbon so we had the whole day together as a family. Tia Nicha got together a bunch of friends and we rented a couple of zodiac boats to do a tour up the Tejo River. It was a ton of fun, we had about 11 kids in one of the boats and we sent the 8 adults to another one. The guide in our boat was doing donuts and making sure that everyone had a blast and got a little bit wet! We rode up the Tejo for about 45 minutes to Rat Island (this is the direct translation). We got off the boats there and cruised around the beach and went swimming. All of us kids were doing flips off of the bow of the zodiac and just taking in the sun and fun. After we made it back to the harbor, the whole group went up to a restaurant above the dock and enjoyed a nice grilled fish. There is not much better than a grilled piece of fish in Lisbon, now that is living! Later that evening we met up with Tia Po, Tio Ita, Domingos, Francisco, and Pedro for dinner at a pizzeria. It was good to see them all. This time of year is always rough to see the cousins because they are studying for exams, like I am, but they tend to lock themselves inside the house and play HERMIT!

Friday morning after getting the kids off to school Tia Nicha and I were off to the farm to fix some irrigation on the vineyard and pick oranges from the orange grove. It was not as hot as I was expecting it to be. We arrived in the morning and got most the work done before the heat really kicked in. Being as smart as I am, I went in trunks and a t-shirt; the whole time we were battling through brush at chest level to pick the oranges and take them back to the car. By the end of the time I was all scraped up, had a mess of thorny things in my shoes, and was ready to hose off. Just as I was finishing up my all natural hose bath in the sun, the lady that takes care of the farm (Angelina) turned the corner and almost caught a show that she would have been all sorts of excited about seeing! Luckily I had dressed myself a mere 30 seconds before. Friday night we laid low at home and called it an early night after a day of picking about 500 pounds of oranges. Needless to say we were tired.

Saturday morning we all went to the beach. As we were arriving I saw Miguel Bruschy and then I looked to his side and there was Tia Po, and Domingos. Without even planning it we all showed up to the same beach, within 20 feet of each other, about 5 minutes apart! We hung at the beach all afternoon and enjoyed a picnic of smoked fish sandwiches. Tio Quim had recently gone to Hamburg and brought back some delicious smoked fish from the fish market there. Later in the afternoon Tia Nicha and I went over to Avo’s to get her out of the house for a coffee or a juice. She has been stuck in the house now that Felicia has been stuck in bed, and it seems to be taking a bit of a tole on her. We took her down the Docas (docks) and had some juice at a little bar. Something funny happened while we were ordering, I asked for a Chamusa (Indian pastry) and the lady told us “sorry, we do not have any more of those”; so I looked for the next appetizing thing and ordered it, and without skipping a beat she says “we don’t have any of those things, we just put them on the menu because they look good and fill up space!”. Never in my life has that happened to me, we were so shocked that we asked the other waitress there and sure enough she gave us the same response. When we took Avo home we stopped up and said hi to Felicia. She still seems to be doing well, I think she is a bit sick of being stuck in bed, but until she regains enough strength and muscle mass that is how it is going to be unfortunately. The good thing is that she is relatively good spirits and is still her same old joking self. Saturday night I played babysitter, or Maria played babysitter. I am not sure which one is correct, but the 9 year old babysitting me is probably most realistic! Tio Quim and Tia Nicha went out to a concert with friends, and Maria and I made pizzas, popcorn and watched movies at home. Domingos even came over and hung out with us for a little bit. We watched Shrek 2 and tried to keep things from getting to wild, she was able to manage!

Sunday Morning we all hung out around the house for the first part of the morning, and then went down to go for a ride on Tio Luis’ boat. There were quite a few of us there: Tio Luis, Tia Ana, Joana, Tio Ita, Tia Po, Tia Nicha, Tio Quim, David and I. We headed out onto the Tejo and went towards Cascais. About half way there, there was a lot of wind and Tia Po in her usual manner got all sorts of nervous and excited so we turned around and headed back up the river. In all fairness, Tia Ana was not too thrilled about all the wind either, but I would have liked to go roaring around a bit! We could not have asked for a better day, the sun was out and the wind was keeping us cool. Everybody had a great time and then we headed home. Tired from a long day in the sun, I was going to shut my eyes for 10 minutes while David took a shower...3 hours later I woke up from my nap! It was not the most productive way to spend the afternoon, but man did it feel good.

This morning I woke up at 7:15 with David. He was off to school, and I was off to study; well that had been the plan all week, but as you can see there are much better options when I am here! I actually got all of the work I had to get done for one class, and have had a pretty productive day. After the morning study session I went with Tia Nicha to Avo’s house to see her and Felicia again. They both seem to be doing well. David came home for lunch, and Tia Nicha made one of my favorite dishes Carne de Porco Alentejana (pork with a dried red bell pepper sauce). Man is it nice to have someone spoiling you every once in a while. This afternoon it has been a little more studying and then off to pick up Maria from school. Well, now that this little rascal is here there probably won’t be much more studying but man is she fun!

Ok well that is all for today folks. This week should be pretty boring because I have exams on Friday afternoon and Saturday but I am sure I will find something fun to do! I hope this finds everyone doing well, and a VERY SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO JOHN FOR GRADUATING!!! I AM REAL PROUD OF YOU!

Much Love Always,

Phil