last night at grupo familiar I was talking with one of the ladies about me wanting to go into Lisbon today and she told me that there was suppose to be a storm and that there was a yellow warning for the weather. But I thought, "Hey, a little storm can't be that bad...right..." I woke up early this morning and got ready and peaked out the window and I thought there were only grey clouds so I headed out. I had a pretty cute outfit on too! I was wearing brown khakis a cute top that I stole knowingly from a friend and brown close-toed shoes. Once I stepped out of the apartment building I realized that the grey clouds were also leaking moisture everywhere!.....as in raining...just in case you didn't get that! I had the little voice inside of me say, "maybe you should forget about this and just go back inside," but I decided that I could brave a little rain. Hello duh! I go to school in Oregon!
I hopped on the bus got to the metro station and road into Lisbon and as I went up the stairs from the metro I realized that everyone was standing inside the building and nobody was leaving. When I got close enough to the rain I realized it wasn't just raining it was doing something 5,000,000x worse! I stood by the door for a while and realized it wasn't slowing down so I decided to brave the rain. Once I got to the street I realized that I had to cross a 4 ft. wide creek on each side of the street but I figured no big deal that will probably be my biggest problem and plus I really wanted to go to the Fado museum. In Lisbon there is a main street that is closed to all automobiles and is strictly a foot traffic street. This street was no longer walkable because it was now a rushing river! Once I saw the river in the street I decided I just needed to call it quits and head back home. I probably ended up walking about 75 yards away from the metro station before I decided to turn back. By the time I got back to the metro station my pants were soaked...actually my whole body was soaked! I had an umbrella but it was raining so hard that the umbrella didn't stop much of the rain.
I got back on the green line to head back to Campo Grande where I could catch a bus home but there are about 9 stops between where I was and my last stop. We were about three stops into the trip when I realized that we were sitting at this stop for quite a while! We sat in the metro for about 20 minutes before they told us to get off and then we sat outside of the metro for about another 10 minutes before they kicked us out of the metro station completely so we were back on the rainy street in the middle of Lisbon somewhere! All I could think was, "Passa por Vialonga?" I wanted to call the Fairbanks and tell them that I was stranded in Lisbon but I decided to figure it out on my own. So I started walking until I found a bus stop that might have taken me back into the downtown area of Lisbon. While standing and waiting forever for the next trolley or bus to come I saw a little old lady go down the metro station stairs and I waited to see if she would come back up but she never did! I was so excited I could actually make it home!! I was able to catch a metro and eventually got home!
By the time I got home I was starving and freezing! I changed and went down to the cafe and had some super delicious pork with beans and rice. Beans and rice in Portugal is very different then what we get at a mexican restaurant. The beans are usually cooked together and are usually on the saltier side. I think the main lady at the cafe is starting to like me and my abilities to fumble through Portuguese....or atleast she is always happy to help me. After lunch I hoped in bed and burled up in all of my blankets until I could get warm again. By the time I got warm I realized that it stopped raining and if stopped raining in Vialonga then it definitely stopped raining in Lisbon...yep that is how my brain works!
I got dressed again hopped on the bus got to the metro station and went to get my 24 hour pass that I had bought earlier out and realized that I left it at home! So I had to buy another 24 hour pass! By the time I got into Lisbon I decided to run to the shop I needed to go to before heading to the museum because they were suppose to be open till 9 or 10 pm. I walked to the museum and got lost on the way in typical Diane fashion and by the time I got to the museum it was 5:45 and they had already locked the place down because they were closing at 6 pm!
So with all those adventures I learned to listen to that little voice in the back of your mind that says, "maybe you shouldn't do this!" Because mine was definitely saying it every time I went somewhere today and I didn't listen once!
Well that was today.....hopefully tomorrow will be better and drier!
Peace Out!
Little update about my parents: Everyone is out of the hospital and they are all now at my house having a gimpy party everyday! Please pray for continuing recovery!
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