So today it was nearly 40 degrees (95 degrees Fahrenheit) so it was very hot and sticky. Just for reference. Apparently June 2019 was the coldest June that Lisbon has had in the past 20 years, so, ha! I wasn’t just cold for no reason.
But yes! this will be a brief blog because it’s late and I’ve been waking up early to do yoga–even if it’s just for 10 minutes–so, I need to sleep soon.
Today at work I finished up a larger task–though I’ve started a project that will likely take the remaining days I have at the embassy, but it’s a slow, slow process. But a fun and ultimately rewarding one! Anyway, today we had a farewell luncheon for one of our Foreign Service Political officers who will be leaving us within the next week, which is sad. It’s an emotional experience, because though everyone is working together now, a year from now the embassy will be filled with a different mixture of people altogether. In this world, you never know who will be your coworker again in the future or if you’ll never see someone again. It’s bizarre but it creates also a very interconnected world. Anyway, we had lunch at a restaurant and this was the fancy-looking appetizer of bread and sauces:
Then, after work, I went over to a fellow Intern’s apartment at the Upon residence, which has a pool, because it was just so freaking hot today, and there isn’t really AC in my apartment. I don’t know exactly what I’ll do these next 3 weeks if it stays this hot, but maybe I’ll get into the habit of bringing some reading to the embassy and staying late but in the AC’d common spaces there… I don’t know. There’s a fan in my room and I can also quit being such a wimp. Anyway, after swimming for like two and a half hours and chatting, we made a dinner of stirfried ramen noodles, with some veggies and eggs and chicken. It was a soy and ginger based stir fry, and pretty simple, but it was good. I had made Guacamole two days ago in my meal prepping spree, so that was a fun appetizer before swimming. The pool has a beautiful view of the Benfica stadium, but I didn’t take any photos…this time. I hope sincerely that there is a next time, because it was so nice to swim.
We shared a bottle of brazilian soda, which has Guarana flavoring (picture of the fruit below stolen from google images). it tastes a lot like carbonated apple juice, and I don’t want to think about how much liquid sugar I consumed just now. But it’s tasty and gives energy, so it’ll be okay.
Then after dinner, we planned a trip to Sintra and explored her television in her bedroom, which is locked in a funny reflective glass cabinet, so we didn’t know how to watch the TV at first. We’re both from New Mexico, so when we saw this sport, we thought, “oh it must be indoor hockey” because it looked like ice hockey but on roller skates and no ice. We watched it for a little while before Brianna said “but wait… ice hockey is indoors, too….” and I thought it was pretty funny.
Anyway, tomorrow I’m taking a friend from home out to eat dinner in a Portuguese restaurant (to take the pressure off of her in finding a good one for her next few days here!) She’s studying in Spain and visiting Lisbon for the weekend with some other friends, so I’m excited to meet them!
Much love!