No Starbucks

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Amazing! Lots of coffee shops, but narry a single Starbucks anywhere! Cell phones are ubitiquous--lots of thumbs flashing, doing texting rather than long conversations in public places.
I took the train to Porto today and now have the rest of today and all of tomorrow before I start school on Monday. The class is only for two hours, so I should get to know Porto pretty well. My host family is a wonderful woman, Consuela--grandparents were Spanish so she got a Spanish name. Very jolly lady, very helpful in spite of the fact she speaks no English--her hands work very hard to make up for what she knows isn´t understood by me. AND, thank God, only one short flight of stairs instead of 4 incredibly long ones. I met her brother. Not sure if he lives there, too.
This internet place is much more user friendly (and cheaper) than the one in Lisbon. Already, in just a few hours here, I feel Porto is a much more laid back and friendly place. Anyway, I´ll bring myu USB cable and add pictures tomorrow.
Very nice weather, in the high 60s, I think. Lots of sun.
Off to eat something and try out the subway to get home.

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