the sleepless week...and also, PORTUGAL!

hola again!
its been awhile, but life here seems to have increased its pace ALOT!
the 3rd week, the one right after malaga and gibraltar was quite busy. it seems that i just decided to take full advantage of my vacation time here and that meant giving up some things...since i couldnt give up class or sight seeing or shopping OR hanging out with friends and going out..it seems sleeping was the first amenity to go! needless to say i got an average of 2.5 hours of sleep a night and did NOT use the siesta time wisely! eek. by the time thursday came around, i was READY for the beach. thursday night we went to Buddha..again...its sort of our thursday night hang out..along with the rest of the people in sevilla!
almost the entire group of girls came out so it turned out to be an amazing night..quite eventful!
we left when it closed around 530am...and sort of funny story.. i called my mom on the way home since the night was young in wisconsin yet and it had been awhile since we had talked. she probably thought i was nuts! eh...you are only young once..ill give my body 5 years and i probably wont be able to do this anymore so...ill take advantage. but in all seriousness, when we are out at like midnight there are still people out to dinner with their kids!! so im not all that crazy.
friday morning we left for lagos, portugal!! the drive was long...about 4.5 hours. this excursion was with my program so the entire group was there. we were thinking we would have one of those BIG buses that we usually take places, but no. we took the short bus to portugal...2 people to a seat, no spreading out for us. it wasnt so bad, but i definitely passed out on my friend kristin who was sitting next to me..no worries though cause she was sound asleep and didnt even know. when we arrived in lagos we went to our hotel to get situated...not a hostel but a HOTEL!!! it was beautiful...so unique...and it was a 4-star hotel..which meant i slept in a nice bed! oh, my back loved that. then we were off to see the punta de piedad and the cliffs!! gorgeous...you could see straight down to the bottom really far out!! amazing. then, my favorite part, we layed on the beach the rest of the day! after awhile we were all getting a little overheated..since its ungodly hot here--in sevilla it was worse but still in portugal it was bad--- and decided to go into the water. my impression was that the water would be warm...oh no no no...wrong impression. never judge a book by its cover...lesson learned..cause the second after i decided to just jump in and go under, i lost all sensation in my limbs. the water was FREEZING. it still felt good, i just couldnt stay there very long cause then i would go numb. back at the hotel, we swam for a bit in the pool and eventually got out and got ready for dinner. CEA paid for us to go out to a nice dinner...the food was pretty decent but the better part...there were larger portions!!! at the end of this dinner, they gave us straight up shots of expresso. now, some started to drink theirs right away and i left mine for a bit deciding the bestway to go about this. apparently this is common to have after a big dinner..and considering i slept 2 hours the night before, i wanted the shot. my problem was that i dont really enjoy the taste of straight expresso. so my final decision...after watching everyone else drink their shot...i put 2 packets of sugar in mine, sipped it, decided it wasnt THAT bad and downed the rest. within a half hour, i was OFF THE WALLS. note to self...straight expresso+ 2 packets of sugar..BAD IDEA! needless to say, we were all up late that night. we walked around the city and didnt find much to do for night life, but did see a girl riding a horse casually on the sidewalk around 1am. i have no clue the background, but it was quite entertaining to see. saturday we went to a beach club near our hotel...only 5 of us decided to go and it was a great decision! we were able to rent a tube..called the banana...and get pulled behind a speed boat...the catch to this tube--that they hadnt previously told us---it tips, alot. haha..it made for a great afternoon. after we were done, we enjoyed some drinks together and laid out and took a siesta on the beach. to be honest, i wish this could be my job. then it was time to go back to sevilla...another 4 hour bus ride.sheesh!
also, portugese...NOTHING LIKE SPANISH...when its written it sounds pretty similar, but try listening to it..not as easy as everyone cracks it up to be. basically, it was interesting to attempt to converse at all.

so, that pretty much sums up last week and my time in portugal, there are some details left out that i have probably forgotten by now, but like i said its been so busy i havent really had time or computer access to post!
..tomorrow morning at 6am..ouch...i leave for BARCELONA...which i am really excited about. but on the other hand, i have to leave sevilla...right when it was beginning to feel like home.
and after Barcelona.. i will be en route back to the states..ALREADY!!!!

*** I will have more computer access in Barcelona, therefore I will post many pictures when I am there on this blog. I will also post about my last week.

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