The Trip

I have arrived in Portugal, met and began my life with my host family and started school since the last time I wrote on my Blog.

The camps in New York and Portugal were a little dull at times. The leaders/teachers tended to repeat a lot of information we already knew. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to meet some really nice people who are also in Portugal with AFS and going through experiences similar to mine.
My host family is very nice. They speak little english, try their best to help me learn Portuguese and live about 10 miles outside of Viana do Castelo. My host sisters are easy to get along with and enjoy playing UNO (that was one of the gifts I gave them). My host mom works downtown in Viana do Castelo and my host father works in another town nearby.
My favorite part so far is the food! It is good, especially the pastries. There are countless cafes all around town with insanely good, and cheap (less than $1) pastries. Even the cafeteria (cantina) food is good. For lunch (about $2) you get bread, soup, a main course, a side and dessert. Its not nasty pre-fabricated, recently thawed out food like in the U.S. cafeterias.
On to the topic of starting school. I was really nervous about starting school on the first day. I was worried it would be difficult to communicate, make friends and find my way around. I sat with a group of people at lunch that invited me to tag along to get ice cream with the extra time during lunch.

Quick Explanation of How School Works (at least at my school) in Portugal:
You have a set schedule for every day of the week, and you get out of school at varying times of the day. On thursday and friday (quinta feira and sexta feira in Portuguese) I get out a little after one. On the other hand, I have classes until 6:15 on Tuesday. I start class at 8:30 every day. I get more than an hour for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Monday I get about 45 minutes. On Thursday and Friday I do not have a set lunch because I get out a little after one. I attend all my classes with people that are in the same track and term as me. I am doing Science and Technology. Therefore, the same 20 or 30 people are in all of my classes.

Back to the narrative- Those people were very helpful. After lunch I started my science classes and made friends with most of my term mates. They are all very easy to get along with, invite me along with them during snack breaks and help me find my way around school. During the 10-15 minute breaks you can get coffee or pastries at the in-School "Bar" or go to one of the cafes near the school for a snack. I love the pastries here!
So far there has been no homework, and I am very happy about that. It is difficult to understand what is going on in most of my classes. Spanish and math are the exceptions because in Spanish class only Spanish is spoken and math is pretty universal (plus I am way ahead of them as the teacher said).
One teacher is going to tutor me in Portuguese, which is going to start in about 10 minutes. I am afraid that is all for now, but more details and pictures are coming soon.
Tchau!