Los Colombianos in Lisboa

Even though my initial plans for Portugal was for two or three days in Lisbon, I ended up spending a week in the San Francisco-esque city, simply because of its enchanting landscape, beautiful beaches, and vivid nightlife. I never felt bored for one minute of my stay. Although, the first few days after SBSR I mostly spent sleeping off the festival and watching foreign films while my host, Bruno, spent three days miserably sick in bed. Poor guy!

Once Bruno went to the doctor and got two shots of Penicillin in the butt, he started to come around and decided to take me to one of his favorite fish restaurants in the city. I’m not much of a fish fan, but Portugal is a country of fishermen, so I had to try it! Bruno ordered a plate of Dover fish and squid for us to share, and a bottle of Vino Verde-a local white wine made from green grapes that bubbles just like champagne. The wine was delicious and so was the fish! However, once Bruno took out the squid’s spine and showed it to me, it put a slight damper on the rest of the meal and I ate the garnish of tomatoes instead. Overall, it was a tasty meal, and I’m glad I got to go.

Later that night, we went to a Portuguese/Brazilian dance bar and spent hours switching between dancing and drinking 1 euro beers to cool us off on the tiny sauna of a dance floor. There were a few other CouchSurfers at the club as well, one of which-Toby, was at the festival with us. I had so much fun learning to dance to tango, polka and salsa fusion music-which believe me isn’t very easy!

The next morning, Bruno felt well enough to go to work but still wasn’t feeling too hot, so I decided to stay with one of the CouchSurfers that was at the SBSR festival with me for the rest of my time in Lisbon. Natalia and her two roommates Christian and Gilbert, who are all from Colombia, made great company for my last few days. I was mostly grateful just to be around Spanish speakers. It’s not like I speak Spanish either, but after spending two weeks in Spain I know enough to get a general idea of what is being discussed. Portuguese sounds like a mixture of gibberish and Russian to me, neither of which I speak.For most of my stay with the Colombians, Natalia and I just sat around drinking nice wine and gossiping with each other. She was such a character, always with a story to tell, and something about the melodically energetic way she spoke made me never want to leave.

During the day when Natalia had to work, I Spent my time strolling through Lisbon’s hilly side streets, observing the cities wildy entertaining art sculptures, and sun bathing on its white sandy beaches. I walked as far up hill as I could to Castelo São Jorge, one of Lisbon’s highest points. As I gazed down at the bustling city landscape, it occurred to me that I could one day live here. I love everything about Lisbon, and I could easily see myself here for a year or two. But that would mean that I need to learn Portuguese, a feat that now seems impossible. But who knows what the future will bring. All I can think about now is where I will go after this-East. Back to Spain, making a pit stop in Zaragoza on my way to Barcelona. My horizon is bright, indeed.