I just had to use my google maps timeline to help me remember what we did in September because it seems like it was soo long ago already! But it was a super busy month without any time to breathe and catch up!
At the house, the kitchen was being renovated! The white and blue flowery wall tiles were being taken down, the floor tiles, and a new hole in the wall was created and the water heater moved into the pantry. Originally the idea was to put a door in the hole to make it open or closed depending on the occasion, but we haven't quite gotten to that point yet. For now, the hole remains a beautiful arch. After the new wall tiles, and on one wall a new finish and some paint, and floor tiles were done, Joel moved the assembled Ikea furniture from the dining room to the kitchen. While putting the furniture in place, we had a little mishap and drilled through a water pipe which put us back another week. The pipe was replaced along with ten or so tiles that we had to take back off the wall and replace. After it was all said and done it turned out absolutely beautiful and I am so happy with it. I was not thrilled with the coating of dust that coated the entire house, even in upstairs rooms where the doors were shut! I never thought the dust would go away no matter how much I cleaned, but I think a few months later we have finally tackled it.. for now... Only to have our next remodeling project require another hole in the wall. :P I think we will wait a while to begin that project.
I took a three week intensive Portuguese course at the University of Aveiro. Intensive, in that I was always doing something for class. From 830-1230 we studied in the classroom, and in the afternoon 4 days per week we had surf classes! The surf classes were great fun and the instructors were a lot of fun. Even though we had we suits on, towards the end of the class my hands and feet were starting to be really chilly at the end of 2 hours in the water! Some days the wave conditions were not very pleasant which made beginner surfing a bit difficult. I definitely missed the smooth waves of Byron Bay to learn on. I wanted to take the course level A2, which is the second level, as I had some knowledge and had been doing some studying myself. However they didn't offer that level, so I ended up in the next level which is B1 and really put my skills to the test. The teacher spoke only in Portuguese and a lot of the grammar concepts were very advanced, even for native Portuguese speakers. We had lots of homework and I had a lot of work to catch up to be on the grammar level where the rest of the class was. Some other students also struggled with me, but were also really kind and always offered a helping hand when I got confused. It was also a learning experience for Joel, because like in English many times we can't easily explain a grammar rule to someone learning English. He couldn't explain a lot of things in the course, why they were a certain way, until I showed him a rule. Then he could help explain it better. All the things that just roll out of our mouth because it is our mother tongue and we never think about the grammar. In the end I just barely passed the class. But I found it funny that in Europe, passing a class only requires that you earn a grade of 10/20! So in the US I wouldn't have made the cut. I hope to take the course again during another semester to really absorb the information a bit more over 4 months instead of three weeks. I had only 10 other classmates, everyone in completely different walks of life, ages, reasons for taking the course, and where hey were from. Two girls from Belarus, who were 18 and sent with a scholarship and had to miss the last day of class to start their first day of University.. A couple in their mid thirties from Venezuela who were trying to immigrate to Portugal to get out of their country! Anyways, it was great fun to get to know all of them.
We also traveled to Soito, Joel's parents village for a wedding of one of his elementary school friends. They had a big, beautiful wedding. The Bride walked in a parade through the center of Soito ad her guests followed behind.. It was pretty neat. Joel's friends from school are so much fun and were extremely welcoming to me. Like the last Portuguese wedding we went to, the food and drinks flowed and flowed. We left around 3am and the party was still popping.. but I was exhausted. I don't know how they can do it!
Another weekend we played in an ultimate frisbee beach league near Leiria which is a little over an hour south from here. It was a chilly and windy day. But we played well and I was really happy with my personal performance despite being savage. In ultimate, when you play without subs, we call it playing savage.
After I finished Portuguese class my classes online with VIPkid really picked up which was great. It has been keeping me super busy ever since. I am still really enjoying it. Sometimes while I review my classes after, I can't believe I get paid to sing with 4 year old kids in China! I seem to get a lot of bookings from Level 1 which is usually 4-5 year olds who usually sit with mom or dad during the class. If a parent is not around, sometimes craziness ensues. Other students, usually girls are perfectly well behaved and listening. It is so impressive since I have really no control to grab them if they hide under the table or stop paying attention and just start dancing in the middle of class. But overall the students, parents and the company has been a really positive experience so far and I am looking forward to advancing, and more opportunities in the future with them!
My last post missed the end of August which was a lot of fun. We had a long weekend over a public holiday in Portimao with Joel's sister and Ricardo. They always pack our visits with tons of fun activities. We went to the largest water park in Portugal, mini golfing, stand up paddle boarding, beach days, an beach party and of course beach days. The beach party had one of Portugal's most famous DJs, Peta Zook performing. It was a great time. However it was interesting to see people of all ages enjoying the concert, including a little 3 year old sleeping on the sand surrounded by her family. I always love our time in Portimao! It is so beautiful no matter how hot it is, or how many people were there in the peak of summer time.
The following weekend was the Silver Coast Hat Tournament in Sao Jacinto, which is close to us as the bird flies, but a little ways to drive! Ultimate Frisbee players are arranged into random teams and face off for the weekend. The beach was absolutely beautiful, my team was a lot of fun though we didn't have a lot of wins. It was also fun to be on a team with some old friends that I hadn't seen in a while, including Bats, whom I played with in the Philippines in 2013 and again last year in Melbourne while she was in town for work!
At the house, the kitchen was being renovated! The white and blue flowery wall tiles were being taken down, the floor tiles, and a new hole in the wall was created and the water heater moved into the pantry. Originally the idea was to put a door in the hole to make it open or closed depending on the occasion, but we haven't quite gotten to that point yet. For now, the hole remains a beautiful arch. After the new wall tiles, and on one wall a new finish and some paint, and floor tiles were done, Joel moved the assembled Ikea furniture from the dining room to the kitchen. While putting the furniture in place, we had a little mishap and drilled through a water pipe which put us back another week. The pipe was replaced along with ten or so tiles that we had to take back off the wall and replace. After it was all said and done it turned out absolutely beautiful and I am so happy with it. I was not thrilled with the coating of dust that coated the entire house, even in upstairs rooms where the doors were shut! I never thought the dust would go away no matter how much I cleaned, but I think a few months later we have finally tackled it.. for now... Only to have our next remodeling project require another hole in the wall. :P I think we will wait a while to begin that project.
We also traveled to Soito, Joel's parents village for a wedding of one of his elementary school friends. They had a big, beautiful wedding. The Bride walked in a parade through the center of Soito ad her guests followed behind.. It was pretty neat. Joel's friends from school are so much fun and were extremely welcoming to me. Like the last Portuguese wedding we went to, the food and drinks flowed and flowed. We left around 3am and the party was still popping.. but I was exhausted. I don't know how they can do it!
Another weekend we played in an ultimate frisbee beach league near Leiria which is a little over an hour south from here. It was a chilly and windy day. But we played well and I was really happy with my personal performance despite being savage. In ultimate, when you play without subs, we call it playing savage.
After I finished Portuguese class my classes online with VIPkid really picked up which was great. It has been keeping me super busy ever since. I am still really enjoying it. Sometimes while I review my classes after, I can't believe I get paid to sing with 4 year old kids in China! I seem to get a lot of bookings from Level 1 which is usually 4-5 year olds who usually sit with mom or dad during the class. If a parent is not around, sometimes craziness ensues. Other students, usually girls are perfectly well behaved and listening. It is so impressive since I have really no control to grab them if they hide under the table or stop paying attention and just start dancing in the middle of class. But overall the students, parents and the company has been a really positive experience so far and I am looking forward to advancing, and more opportunities in the future with them!
My last post missed the end of August which was a lot of fun. We had a long weekend over a public holiday in Portimao with Joel's sister and Ricardo. They always pack our visits with tons of fun activities. We went to the largest water park in Portugal, mini golfing, stand up paddle boarding, beach days, an beach party and of course beach days. The beach party had one of Portugal's most famous DJs, Peta Zook performing. It was a great time. However it was interesting to see people of all ages enjoying the concert, including a little 3 year old sleeping on the sand surrounded by her family. I always love our time in Portimao! It is so beautiful no matter how hot it is, or how many people were there in the peak of summer time.
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