Remnants of Portugal - Sintra

Two Souls Perched at 8th Century Castle Lookout Post

Just a short day trip away from central Lisbon, the setting of Sintra is so different that you feel like you may have been transported to a different place and time. The green rolling mountains and the regal splendour are a welcome respite from the busy hum of the city. For a millenia, Sintra has enchanted kings, poets and weary travelers passing through it's enchanted valleys.

Castle Enclosed by Forest on the Approach

The ruins of an 8th century Moorish castle perched atop the tallest peak allow for breathtaking views from in every direction. On one side are the bridges and monuments of Lisbon in the distance, and on the other, the winding Atlantic coastline. In between are palaces and mansions built by the wealthy and powerful through the ages.

Mansion in the Distance

Palacio da Vila from Above

Scaling the stairs of the castle walls was exciting, beautiful, at times a bit horrifying. I had to actually sit down at one point due to vertigo from the height and strange angles. Somehow, the 2-foot high walls on the edge weren't very comforting in light of the several-hundred-foot drop on the other side. It was definitely worth it for the views, though.

Vertiginous Wall Shot

After winding my way down the mountain, I relaxed in the city center. Nestled in one of the valleys, it's a great vantage point to see some of the landmarks from a closer perspective. The day that I visited, it was full of tourists, but I guess that's the price of a summer trip to a popular spot.

Sintra City Center

As I made my way back to the bus station to head back to Lisbon, I stopped at one of several fountains where you can fill up on natural spring water. This one was designed by Portugese sculptor Jose da Fonseca. When I visited, there were families filling up huge bottles of drinking water for the coming weeks. Much better than buying bottles in the supermarket, no?

Moorish Fountain by José da Fonseca c1922

One of my last stops before heading out was the Town Hall. You know there's a history of money in a town when even the town hall looks like a palace.

Town Hall

I left with a lingering impression of the magic of Sintra. Enchanted misty valleys, surrounded by fantastical fairy tale palaces and ancient monuments. Magical, indeed.

A Microcosm of International Relations (?)

Recently, the relative peace and calm of our double occupancy in a three-room flat came to a screeching halt when, suddenly, one of the many people "coming to look at the room" finally decided to take it. My long-time roommate, Manuel, is a very un-Spanish Spaniard, if you ask me. He's very quiet, kind of timid and keeps to himself. Keeps to himself ALOT, like never ever leaves the house unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately for me, he had a break from the university all summer, which he spent perched in front of the television with his laptop in his lap, splitting time equally between playing video games with the most annoying little noises and watching television programs with similarly annoying sounds. He seems to only like cartoons on the television, although he has managed to find programs with real human beings that are like strange simulations of cartoons. EVERYTHING he watches has weird and annoying sounds, screams, stupid humor, etc. I have had a few talks with him about volume, but other than that, I've just put up with the noises, since I spend most of my time outside of the house, um, living and stuff...

ANYWAY, I came home one day, and Alejandro, the French Computer Science student, had moved in. Upon our first meeting, I could see the fear in his eyes, when he said, "Tu eres el Americano, no?" Yes, I'm the American. But, I think (or thought before I moved here) that I'm a decidedly un-American American, but kind of changing my thoughts on that after six months away from the mother ship. I can understand his hesitancy, as I am from the country that in some states changed the names of fried potato strips from French fries to American fries in a moment of patriotic furor. Well, after the initial discomfort, we actually got on quite well. His Spanish was not great, so he spoke to me in English the first day, but I told him that I preferred to speak in Spanish, so after that, Spanish it was. Later that day, Manuel asked me what I thought of the new guy. I said, "Fine, seems nice." He said, "He should be speaking Spanish, he's in Spain."

From what I can tell - and this is just what I've gleaned from conversations with students and the general vibe since I've been here - but French/Spanish relations aren't much better than French/American relations. One Spaniard explained to me that the Spanish see the French much like the Portugese see the Spanish - a richer and more powerful country that acts in an overbearing way in bilateral relations. If you ask a French person about the relationship between France and Spain, they'll say there's no problem. The Spaniards are all right. Same with the Spaniards about the Portugese. But, ask the Portugese about the Spanish (I did when I was in Lisbon), and you'll probably get a little more colorful response.

Well, the fun didn't stop there. For the next month, there were all sorts of little feuds between the other two roommates. It's not even worth going into, really, but mostly stupid stuff, like where to hang the bathroom rug (if at all). Never spoken, always just with actions. Finally, one day, Alejandro told me that he was moving out at the end of the month. He showed me a letter that Manuel had written to him in English that stated that he wasn't to have guests over any longer, because Manuel needed to study. I'm thinking - STUDY WHAT, the latest Japanese game show on T.V.?? It went on to state that the letter was written in English just to ensure that he would be able to understand it. Alejandro said that he could not live for an entire year with someone who couldn't talk to him about a problem and instead had to slip a note under the door.

So now Alejandro is gone, and it's back to a two-man flat with occasional random visitors dropping by for a "viewing." It's kind of sad, though, because I really liked Alejandro. And his Spanish may have sucked, but at least he SPOKE, so I could practice something, if only bad Spanish in a thick French accent. He also had the added benefit of GOING OUT frequently, about which we could compare notes and share new late night bus and metro information. Nonetheless, I actually really like the flat with only two people, and after a moment of annoyance at the entire situation, I settled back into the old rhythm pretty easily. Now I think I understand why the world is such a complicated place ;-)

DISCLAIMER: I like my roommate Manuel, we just have different tastes in "entertainment."

Integration Issue

This is sooooo long overdue. Although my Yankee assimilation into Castillian culture may never actually be complete, I think I've reached what could be considered integration!

I remember a couple of months into my stay here, just after the 19th nervous breakdown, I was watching the sunset at Casa de Campo park near my house. The park is huge and the setting, with the forest of green trees and the dusty mountains in the distance, is a beautiful place to watch the sunset. The buildings of the city center can be seen off in the distance in the other direction. So, I'm sitting there, watching and reflecting, and suddenly I realize, I'm watching the sunset by MY house in MADRID, SPAIN!!! Wow, for the first time, it felt like home. I have suffered much more alienation since that point, but it was a beginning.

The Mountains in the Background
The City in the Distance
The Revelatory Sunset

Another turning point was when I returned from my trip to San Sebastian and Bilbao in August. After almost a week in Basque Country, I returned to Madrid's Avenida de America bus and metro station, which is always bursting with people. As soon as I entered the metro, I let out a sigh of relief to finally be HOME.

Then, I really knew that I had reached a milestone when I recently had a moment of clarity during a weekly two-hour organizational meeting for my volunteer group. As the coordinator spoke about a pressing issue, there were at least three side conversations going on while another person sat at the window in the back smoking a cigarette. Suddenly, the coordinator's phone rang with the latest-latin-pop-song ring tone. He answered it, and proceeded to talk to the person for two minutes. "Hi, I'm in the meeting, what are you doing..." The clarity for me was that this was often how the meeting went, and I never really think twice about it anymore. For just a moment, I remembered how absurd this would seem at a meeting in the states.

I love Madrid, and after the first couple of months of hell, I think I finally reached Stage III of culture shock. At this moment, I might even be at Stage IV, which is crazy, and perhaps a bit frightening. It's pretty amazing, though, considering how it all began. (Can you say "emotional disaster, kids?") I'm so pleased, because one of my primary regrets about my six months in Costa Rica was that I spent the majority of my time with Americans, and I never really felt like I had become integrated into Costa Rican culture.

One of the guys who recently came to look at an open room in our flat was from Berkeley, and we were discussing our thoughts on Madrid. He said, "There are tons of Americans here." I'm like, "Really, I haven't noticed." Aside from my friend Jerry, I spend all of my time with Spaniards. OK, let's not deceive ourselves... I spend a lot of time alone, so it's not like I have this eternal Spanish fiesta going on with ALL of my myriad friends, but I do hang out with Spaniards at least a couple of times a week, and I finally have a few pretty close friends.

The down side to all of this is that, just as my integration is feeling really authentic, I've decided that I need to return to the states to kind of get the ball rolling in the next direction. I'll be back in the Midwest in January and then back to San Francisco at the beginning of February. I am so very sad that I'll be leaving all these amazing people that I've met, but I'll definitely be back, and at least I have some cool friends with whom to share more fun moments before I go.