Yesterday we added to the family of pharmacy students living at Irma's house. Two German students that she met through the European Pharmaceutical Students Association have come to visit Lisbon, and naturally she welcomed them into her home. Although Irma had a meeting yesterday evening at her faculty and was not able to meet Ricky and Josy upon their arrival. So this became my chance to shine! I met them at the metro stop and facilitated their first tour to acquaint them with this charming city. Just as Irma had taken me downtown to the historical/cultural part of Lisbon, I was able to do the same with them. I walked down the main shopping street, Rua Augusta, to the Praça do Comércio found at the end with the two columns port. Then we walked up the hill to viewpoint #1 and went to the same restaurant Irma had previously taken me to, I figured it was Portuguese approved as a good restaurant to take tourists. Afterwards, we headed down the hill to the twin fountains and finally got on the train at Rossio so I could show them how to get home. Even though I was not quite as facilitative of factual information and names of places on my tour as Irma could have been, the girls exclaimed that they already have fallen in love with the city (just as I have) so I felt that I did a decent job of showing them around. Irma was also proud of me for knowing my way around to all of these places. I had a great time talking to Ricky and Josy about Germany; they're from the area around Munich. We went on to discuss some of the different places we have traveled both for pharmacy and just for fun. Ricky did ERASMUS in Italy and Josy did the same student exchange program as myself in India. However, it was especially interesting to learn about Josy's travels in the United States. After graduating from pharmacy technician school and before starting pharmacy school, she wanted to improve her English speaking skills so she took classes and lived in the United States for six months. Her trip began in Boston and the surrounding area, then she visited New York City before heading to the west coast. She proceeded to see San Francisco, San Diego, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and even Hawai'i. I may be missing a few other places she visited on side trips as well. Talk about some places in the United States I've never been...basically that entire list except for NYC. Needless to say, between taking formal English classes and talking to Americans on a daily basis, her English improved dramatically. She asked me if her German accent was hard to understand. It was not.
The girls will be staying with us in Lisbon until Saturday, at which point they have rented a car to drive north in Portugal up to Porto then south down to the Algarve for a two week trip in total. They even offered for Irma and I to come with them partway north this weekend, then we would take the bus or train back to Lisbon. It is sounding like a very possible possibility that this will happen. Aqui está a novas amigas!
1 Comment
Brenda Miller
7/8/2015 09:59:46 pm
Val,
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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 |