I have been in Portugal a staggering 20 days and with one week of classes behind me, I felt it was time for an update on the blog front. I also would like to add a cautionary note that this blog will be filled with my side notes and tangents as I see fit. But then again does a tangent really fit? If it did I guess it wouldn't really be a tangent. Whatevs... Basically, I'm allowing my thoughts to run away with me on this one and my fingers will be just mindless slaves to the nonsense that spills out of my brain. If you decide to skip the side notes, you will not miss any details from this weeks adventures.
Thursday, February 10th
After returning from my trip to Spain to see Jared it was time to get into school mode. The night before orientation I packed my backpack with pens and pencils and made sure I had a notebook, a book to read, and my glasses. I literally haven't packed a backpack since freshman year of high school seeing as all the cool girls at CHS rocked the purse and binder combo.
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| High school... Good times |
Side Note: When I think back on the ridiculous trends and foolish games that existed in junior high and high school, I can't help but laugh. There was a long period of time where every morning, all the girls got together and traded one shoe. Just one (similar to Beautiful Nail). I have absolutely no idea where it started or why this ludicrous phase began but it happened. Remember Jessica Porambo's highly coveted black ES sneakers? Oh em gee. There was also the trend that required your backpack sit as low on your back as physically possible. The mechanics of a backpack make it most comfortable and supportive if worn high on your back with the majority of the weight resting between your shoulder blades and the small of your back, however, at some point that became nerdy and having your backpack land squarely over your rear was all the craze. Ha! I can only imagine the years of irreversible back issues we all gifted each other with that one. Such pish-posh and shenanigans.
I arrived about 45 minutes early to the 2:00pm orientation session and received my student ID, course schedule, and a packet of helpful resources for getting acclimated with Lisboa. While waiting for the program to begin, I made friends with three students from Amsterdam - Elasia, Nathan, and Roger - who are all really nice. There's not much to say about the orientation itself seeing as it was only about 30 minutes long and they told us little information we didn't already know or couldn't have read in the packet. The useful thing I did learn was that courses could be changed February 14-22 from 9am-3pm in the undergraduate office - that was the one thing I really did need to know. Next, NOVA students gave impromptu tours of the building and upon the conclusion of the tour I headed home.
Monday, February 14th - Happy Valentine's Day Boyfriend :)
One of the courses I was scheduled to take ended up not being offered in English so I needed to pick a 4th course to carry a full load and receive the appropriate credit at USC. The office opened at 9am so I figured I'd show up about 30 minutes before that to take a number so I could be in and out before my first class at 9:30am. Apparently, every exchange student and their second cousin's boyfriend's niece's godmother had that idea. Fiddlesticks. When they began seeing students at 9am they were on #690 - I was #762.
Two hours later I had caught up on some reading, met up with friends, made some new ones, and chosen a 4th course. Now I had lectures Monday/Wednesday and discussion sections on Tuesday. Class 3 days a week? Yes, please. At this point it was about 10:30am so I had already missed my 9:30am class but it was just the first day so I assumed I didn't miss much.
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| Yeah, just like that |
Side Note: By far the most interesting first day of class happened my second semester sophomore year. I was in Managerial Accounting, more likely referred to as 250B, and it was the professor's first time teaching his own class. He was standing at the podium giving his intro lecture when we all noticed that his speech was slowing down and he was starting to turn this pale blue color. I had always heard the expression "turning blue" but I'd never actually witnessed it and he was legit turning blue. He was starting to sweat and his eyes were looking really glossy (I'm in the front row mind you). We asked if he was okay and he said yes as he took a swig of his Coke but no less than 60 seconds after recapping that bad boy he stumbles backwards, looking weak as ever, backs into the white board and crumbles to the floor like someone just removed the bottom right block on a 2-foot Jenga tower (that block's a wench). It was crazy! One student leaped over the desk to our professor's aid (you would have thought he was auditioning for Spider-Man), another student had already "counted down" to DPS Emergency (the phone number is 740-4321) and the rest of the room was in shock.
Stephen Gaghan couldn't have written this scenario in a blockbuster hit. It turned out he had just eaten some bad sushi before class so he was going to be fine but it was unreal. No first day could ever top that (unless perhaps next semester Harrison Ford is here and everyone gets
a humpback whale or a school district with full faculty).
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| Thank you Jared |
I expected that the first day in each class would consist of the professor giving a little spiel about themselves and their background as a professor, handing out a syllabus and going through it, and then sending us on our way until the next class. That's basically what happened during my next 3 theoretical classes. I have a couple classes with the Amsterdam kids which is great because I like meeting new people and I didn't want to spend my time with just the USC boys (no offense guys).
Side Note: My boyfriend is amazing :)
Tuesday, February 15th - Happy Birthday, Dad :)
I only have discussions on Tuesdays and there are no discussion sections the first week (what ever would we discuss?) so I took this day as my last Tuesday off and did absolutely nothing. Loved it.
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| Belem Tower |
I did however take a moment to reflect on what I want out of this city and what I want to see while I'm here. I made a list of things I want to do and see and entitled it "Touristy Thrusdays." Starting this week, since I do not have class on Thursdays, I am designating it my day to explore Lisboa like a tourist. My list includes but is not limited to: Belem Tower, Monument to Christ, Algarve beaches, the Oceanarium, Castle of St. George, and Lux nightclub. It's gonna be a whole new aspect to the Adventures of Missy so look out for the tales of my inner tourist.
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| Waikiki - Oahu, Hawaii |
Side Note: Tourism is a funny thing. There are hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people in any city around the globe at any given moment and I've never really thought about how many of them are not locals. When I'm in Los Angeles, I'm at home. But how many people crossing the street with me are visiting to see a Lakers game or go to Santa Monica pier or walk on the stars in Hollywood or visit Mickey in Anaheim? The only explicit indication of a tourist that I am aware of and partake in is photography. The person walking through the city with a Nikon Coolpix or Canon Powershot attached to their wrist just clicking away at everything from the landscape to their plate of food is probably a tourist. But even that can be a subtle indicator. Not everyone will travel to Waikiki in the summertime fully decked out in a floral sarong, straw sandals, and hibiscus earrings doing everything short of screaming, "I don't really live here! I'm on vacation!" (Gotta love my mother - she's the comedic relief in the family.)
Wednesday, February 16th
It was my first real day of classes where I presumed actual lectures would be given. It had been over 2 months since I had been to a class and frankly I was a little nervous. It was no longer natural to coerce myself to concentrate on insipid lectures whilst cambering over my college-ruled lined paper documenting points I'm unlikely to ever read again. Suddenly this was a foreign concept to my lackadaisical brain waves and it took a serious effort to snap into gear. Thankfully my classes went pretty smoothly. A few words each:
Information Systems: Good professor. He's organized and speaks English well. Semi-interesting so far. Think Business 101 meets Engineering 101 but not as awful as that combo sounds. It's my favorite class right now.
European Law: Oh em gee... so boring. Way too much like a history class and I hate history as a subject. And what am I going to do with all of this knowledge of European law when I get back to America?
Law for Economics & Management: Same professor as Europen Law so same basic vibe. It's boring but it's a big lecture hall so my attention doesn't have to be hers the entire 90 minutes. I am Lord of the Super Jewel Quest.
International Management: I like this professor but she has a super thick accent. Seems like there is going to be one big group project that will be a large portion of our grade. A 20 minute presentation will ensue at the end of the semester. Shoot me for having to do this project. Shoot me for having to listen to 20 others.
Side Note: Group projects make me cringe. That is all.
Friday, February 18th
Elasia, my friend from Amsterdam, invited me to go shopping with her on Friday afternoon. It dawned on me this day that I had yet to explore a mall in the whole 20 days I've been in Europe. What is wrong with me?? This disregard for my girlish nature was soon to be corrected.
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| Colombo |
I met up with Elasia at the Sao Sebastio metro station and she led the way to Colombo mall. It had been so long since I had been in a mall I was actually in shock when I saw it. It was beautiful.
The first store we went into smelled so amazing that I had to buy one of the mango-strawberry candles. Mm mm good. The next store... I bought a little more: a pair of gloves (70% off so I couldn't leave them if I'd wanted), a scarf (50% off), two hair bow clips (I love anything with a bow on it), and an umbrella (the sky has been crying for days now). It was a successful stop to say the least. At this point it was about 5pm and neither of us had eaten all day so we went to get some grub before heading to another shopping center that Elasia wanted to me to see.
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| Nameless Italian goodness |
The food court in Colombo is so overwhelming. There are at least 30 places to choose from and making a selection seems like a near impossible feat (like choosing between pumps by Louboutin or YSL). We eventually settled on an Italian place which let us choose the pasta, the sauce, and three add-ins. Cheese and rice, can't I just order a #4 combo and be done with it? So we just started pointing at things. The chef spoke English so we asked what he recommended and what goes well together and we both came out with fabulous dishes. I don't even know what it's called but it was great. Also during our meal I learned that Elasia speaks four languages: Dutch, English, Spanish, and French. Talk about feeling underachieved. European students are incredible.... like whoa.
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| PRIMARK |
When we finished eating we went to another shopping center named Dolce Vita which translates in Italian to "Sweet Life." Sounds good to me. We only had a little bit of time so we went straight for the store Elasia came to find. The store is called Primark and it's kind of a Wal-Mart meets H&M with a Factory 2 U vibe. That probably doesn't sound super appealing but it is a wonderful establishment. They have literally everything and it's all at a great price. I bought a purse, a ring, a necklace, PJs, dish towels, slippers, a sweet purple blanket, and the best pillow I've ever slept on (memory foam, for the win) all in the same store. It was fantastic! I must formally blame Elasia for any and all credit card damage done at these two locations in the future. When the hit man my father hires to murder my plastic wand shows up at my door, I will avert him to Marques de Pombal in search of Elasia.
On our way home from Dolce Vita we took a cab because it was kind of raining and there wasn't a nearby metro stop. During the ride home the cab driver turned on the radio and Journey's
"Don't Sop Believing" came resounding out of the stereo like the familiar voice of an old friend. The view of the city lights from the back seat of that car coupled with the rain made for a pretty spectacular scene.
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| Lloyd |
Side Note: I have been watching a seriously obsessive amount of Entourage lately. It rivals my first semester of college when I introduced my roommate to One Tree Hill by watching 110 episodes or 4,730 minutes of Mark Schwahn's masterpiece with her, otherwise known as OTH seasons 1-5. Anywho, this recent increase in my intake of profanity and offensive comedic timing has behooved me to rename my cellphone "Lloyd" after my newly kindled love for Ari Gold's assistant. He is just too precious.
February 19th - Happy Birthday, Mom :)
"Just when you think that you're in control,
just when you think that you've got a hold,
just when you get on a roll,
here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again." -OK GO
