I’ve set a goal for myself to visit at least 10 different countries by June. Thus far, I have England, Wales, and now… PORTUGAL!!!! under my belt with Italy and France coming in the next few weeks. I’ve deemed this journey mission impossible because a few months ago I would’ve never thought I’d be traveling Europe or studying abroad for the full academic year. But it’s happening and I’m lovin it, as the McDonald’s commercial would say (P.S. McDonald’s does not taste the same in Europe as it does in the United States).
I just got back from Portugal early this morning. It’s currently 2:23pm in London and I am EXHAUSTED, in a good way of course My 3 girlfriends and I decided to take a different fall break route than most of our friends and go to Estoril, Portugal, a little beach town in the southern part of the country with a ton of history and catholicism breathing out of every historic establishment. We were approximately 30 minutes away from the country capital, Lisboa, and learned that the Portuguese way of life is a tad bit different (or maybe a lot different) than the American or even British way of life. Talk about relaxation, these people do not stress and you cannot force them to do so. There is no rush in any daily activity and boy oh boy do these people LOVE breakfast food. Eggs are served with every meal of the day without a doubt! But without fail, you can always find your typical hamburger on the menu like any European country. I think that’s kind of gross, but whatever.
The people were very accommodating language wise. I was warned not to speak Spanish to them because they find that offensive. If anyone has studied Portuguese, you would know that the languages are almost identical, but I guess there is still some historical/cultural tension. For instance, we would be at a restaurant and the staff would claim to speak English, German, and French but not Spanish. Ummmm, please spare me who are you fooling! lol There is no way you don’t speak Spanish and your countries are that close to each other and languages that similar. But not all of the Portuguese found Spanish insulting. In fact, on election night, I got in this really deep conversation with a half Angolan and Portuguese man about the significance of the Obama election and the work ethic of black Americans. He spoke in all Portuguese and I replied in all Spanish. We communicated very well, but he swore I was Cuban since he couldn’t believe that an American actually took the time to learn another language other than English lol.
So the night of the election we stayed up until 7am Portugal time celebrating the Obama victory with tears, screams, and plans of excitement of how we were going to contribute to the change when we got back to the states. The following morning we were still in complete awe, but ran to the nearest beach store to pick up Portuguese newspaper coverage on the election results. We layed on the beach almost relieved that this entire thing was over (yet just beginning) with confidence in our new President and his ability to deliver. Afterwards, we celebrated with a delicious Portuguese dinner and proceeded to pack our bags for our next afternoon check out.
I honestly could not have asked for a better vacation and, as an avid Obama supporter, a better victory. Enjoy the pictures, there are more to come in the following weeks!
P.S.
I read Toni Morrison’s new book A Mercy about a Portuguese slave girl in Portugal. How cool is that!!!!!
As the weeks continue to progress, London seems to be getting more but less interesting at the same time. All the conventional sightseeing and tourist attractions seem less exciting, and I find myself more excited to discover a cute hidden cafe that perhaps Shakespeare used to write in or learning more about the unknown histories of the city. Nevertheless, my friends from Italy came to town, so I played tour guide and showed them a good time. I’ve been to some of these places before; however, Buckingham Palace and the adjacent Green Park was a first for me, a beautiful first at that. Here are some pictures for your scenic enjoyment. I’ll be in Portugal next week for my fall break, so I’m sure there will be a more entertaining post following suit
I went to Wales a few weeks ago to volunteer for the Scotland Maggie’s cancer charity. They hosted a Bike & Hike through the countryside of Wales and when I say country I mean no technology, no supermarket/more like a general store country. Just for a side note, Welsh food is the nastiest thing I’ve tasted in centuries even worse than English food. The people were really nice though. It seems the further you get away from “civilization” the more hospitable people become.
We were outside and awake for literally 24 hours since it was an all night event. It was intense, but the most peaceful thing I needed. Getting away from the hustle of London was splendid and it was a FREE trip, music to any college student’s ears! Everyone did a great job at the event and I was glad to participate in anything that raised money to go toward cancer research/patient care.
Check out my scenic pics!
P.S. I’ll be in Portugal next week for fall break, check back for those pics!
It sucks losing friends so young. This is definitely not the first time that one of my friends has transitioned to the other side, but I was praying for God to have mercy on your life. I guess He did, just in a different way than I expected. I’ll never forget our J&J times or random Six Flags rendezvous. Not to mention the TON of times I ran into you at Hair World and we talked for hours updating each other on our lives. You always had a story to tell and never ceased to keep me bent over laughing. The smiles you passed on were endless and, even as a fresh memory, you still make me smile. I’m praying for your father. I’m confident that he will get through this and I’m asking God to bless you and your mother’s souls. May I see you in heaven one day, be sure to grow your wings! Love you
RIP Timia Hyman *~September 1, 1987 to October 29, 2008~*
So it’s currently nearing the end of October and…it’s SNOWING! You would’ve thought the world came to an end. A few of my friends and I had just gotten out of a panel discussion/spoken word event at our university when we walked through the doors to find snowflakes falling from the sky. One being from California, who has never seen snow before, and the other being from North Carolina, wanted to walk in the snow and enjoy the atmosphere. I on the other had, the avid New Jersey girl who grew up with this craziness, was determined for all of us to catch a cab so we wouldn’t freeze our bottoms off! Then we got splashed by a taxi! That pretty much sealed up the deal after our dramatic girly screams and then belch of laughter that pursued. We dashed to catch the first taxi possible and made our way back to our flats to turn up the heat as high as possible. In retrospect, the experience of my first London snow was quite memorable. However, it is much more peaceful to watch from inside my tower than outside with the dirty slush! hahaha
My family never ceases to keep it real. As soon as I posted the news of my major change, the questions proceeded to flock in. I am a melodramatic blogger/writer. I’ve always been that way. But yes, I truly thought my major change out because it depends on more than my “soul searching” mood of the moment lol.
1. I haven’t particularly decided what I am going to concentrate my doctorate in, so my major changed was not reflective of a graduate program choice. Studying literature sets you up for any program. Business, Law, Journalism, whatever. Every academic program requires analytical reading, so this is a solid foundation for any graduate school program.
2. I am most likely going to have to work my way through graduate school. Therefore, when I apply for jobs in my chosen field of magazine writing, marketing, public relations, etc., my employer needs to feel confidant that I can perform in that industry. Having an Anthropology major forced me to have to explain myself and rely on my past internship work experience to get me the job. Questions such as well aren’t you interested in archeology and digging up bones ALWAYS seemed to surface in my interviews. It got annoying and I realized that was not the brand I needed on my resume. Again, literature is writing, reading, and analyzing based, three skills that are the foundation of any executive position. For an undergraduate degree, I think that having those skills reflective in your major give your employer confidence in your ability in addition to any professional masters or doctorate you may bring to the table.
3. The Comparative Literature program REQUIRES all of its undergraduates to be bilingual before they receive their diplomas. Being bilingual, or even trilingual by the time I’m finished, will prove to be an asset not just in the corporate world but also for applying to any graduate school. We live in a global time, nothing is nation based anymore. Language requirements are a plus in every company and publication’s book, ESPECIALLY, with digital marketing and the internet forcing its presence on the world.
Those are just my three main reasons. RELAX everyone, the blogging is for your entertainment. I didn’t get into NYU for nothing people! lol
Yes, I am finally getting it together and preparing to close out my college years. Can you believe I am already in the fall semester of my junior year? Yikes!
After my Spain freak out (I forgot I had even applied in April and couldn’t believe I got accepted on an incomplete application), I decided to do some soul searching and really see where I wanted to see my college career to end. I decided to go back to NYU’s website and truly think about which majors reflected my intellectual interests and what I wanted to have branded on my diploma. Currently, I am in an AMAZING Contemporary African Literature class here in London and at first I thought my enjoyment was solely based on my love for African studies and my people (not to mention an EXTREMELY animated professor lol), but I realized that I have always liked reading, writing, and analyzing the meaning of authors’ works. The Comparative Literature department at NYU basically issues undergraduate degrees for just that: to analyze different literary texts across cultures and languages while taking into account the social context and political context in which they were written. The funny thing is just about all of my courses in African studies transfer to fulfill my new Comparative Literature major AND I will fulfill the 2 foreign language literature course requirements next semester in Spain! I simply have four courses to take next year before I graduate and then I’m DONE! (not to mention that I just got out of taking BORING required archeology and human evolution courses for my Anthropology major) BYE, BYE Anthropology, HELLO Comparative Literature!
Plus, Mom always said that I was the reader of the family!
I am SO glad that Colin Powell made this statement. He is truly an intellectual not because he is voting for Obama but because of the reasons behind it. Being a muslim does not make you a terrorist and Obama’s agenda is inclusive of ALL Americans. We need to remember that. THANK YOU Mr. Powell, this endorsement will go down in history.
I just got back from Portugal early this morning. It’s currently 2:23pm in London and I am EXHAUSTED, in a good way of course 
My 3 girlfriends and I decided to take a different fall break route than most of our friends and go to Estoril, Portugal, a little beach town in the southern part of the country with a ton of history and catholicism breathing out of every historic establishment. We were approximately 30 minutes away from the country capital, Lisboa, and learned that the Portuguese way of life is a tad bit different (or maybe a lot different) than the American or even British way of life. Talk about relaxation, these people do not stress and you cannot force them to do so. There is no rush in any daily activity and boy oh boy do these people LOVE breakfast food. Eggs are served with every meal of the day without a doubt! But without fail, you can always find your typical hamburger on the menu like any European country. I think that’s kind of gross, but whatever.
The people were very accommodating language wise. I was warned not to speak Spanish to them because they find that offensive. If anyone has studied Portuguese, you would know that the languages are almost identical, but I guess there is still some historical/cultural tension. For instance, we would be at a restaurant and the staff would claim to speak English, German, and French but not Spanish. Ummmm, please spare me who are you fooling! lol There is no way you don’t speak Spanish and your countries are that close to each other and languages that similar. But not all of the Portuguese found Spanish insulting. In fact, on election night, I got in this really deep conversation with a half Angolan and Portuguese man about the significance of the Obama election and the work ethic of black Americans. He spoke in all Portuguese and I replied in all Spanish. We communicated very well, but he swore I was Cuban since he couldn’t believe that an American actually took the time to learn another language other than English lol.
So the night of the election we stayed up until 7am Portugal time celebrating the Obama victory with tears, screams, and plans of excitement of how we were going to contribute to the change when we got back to the states. The following morning we were still in complete awe, but ran to the nearest beach store to pick up Portuguese newspaper coverage on the election results. We layed on the beach almost relieved that this entire thing was over (yet just beginning) with confidence in our new President and his ability to deliver. Afterwards, we celebrated with a delicious Portuguese dinner and proceeded to pack our bags for our next afternoon check out.
