I have officially arrived in Lisbon, Portugal! Irma had to be at her internship at the pharmacy all morning/afternoon so she was wonderful in making arrangements for me ahead of time. Her uncle and cousin picked me up at the airport and brought me to her and her mom's apartment outside the city then gave me a little tour. Currently her mom is on vacation in the south of Portugal, the Algarve, so Irma and I have the apartment to ourselves for the week. She had ready my key to the apartment, her phone number in case I needed to reach her, the form I need to complete to get my transportation pass, and even the wi-fi password so I could check my email and work on my blog. In addition she had cleared out a closet/dresser for my use and had lunch prepared in the fridge for me to heat up. While these may all be boring details, it goes to show the hospitality that she and her family, as well as the Portuguese people in general, have shown me already in just the first 24 hours of arriving. Below you can see photos of the apartment, just to gain a sense of where I will be staying for the next five weeks. I enjoyed looking around at all the details of the art and decorations as it compliments the personality of Irma and her mom. For instance, you can definitely tell that they travel often as there are pieces from other countries (even the United States) on display throughout the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms. Tomorrow I am supposed to meet up with her professor, who will be my preceptor for my pharmacy rotation while I am here.
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For those of you who are new to reading my attempts at blogging, welcome. For those of you who followed along on my adventures in Turkey last year, welcome back. Currently I am sitting in the Philadelphia International Airport after a quick flight here this morning from Harrisburg. My bag has been checked and so I'm patiently waiting in the company of my blog and a book for my flight to depart to Lisbon, Portugal in order to start my five week excursion. If you are completely lost and have no idea who I am or why I am going to Portugal please feel free to browse through the other tabs of my site to fill in that missing information. In case you didn't notice or couldn't tell from the footers at the bottom of each page, I enjoy quotes, especially about travel, because sometimes other people have already put into words what you're feeling yourself but may have a hard time expressing. So just for good measure, there's one more quote by Rachel Wolchin I would like to share with you. "If we were meant to stay in one place, we'd have roots instead of feet, he said." So, yet again, I find myself ready to explore a new corner of the earth (literally because Portugal is located on the corner of the peninsula shared with Spain) to meet new people, marvel at a fresh culture, and discover more about pharmacy practice around the world. I hope you find my writing intriguing and if something sparks your interest or if you have questions please feel free to leave me a comment. I have found half the fun of a blog is reliving my own experiences and the other half is hearing other people's thoughts and reactions. With that short introduction out of the way, I will provide another update once I have arrived across the ocean! |
AuthorCheck out the About Me tab for a brief self-biography of Valerie Nolt. Archives
August 2015
Categories"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world."
- Gustave Flaubert |