The construction on the school is still underway, but they have started repainting the outside of the school. The new color is a very bright mustard hue. All the kids think it's atrocious. The school is positioned at the top of a plateau that overlooks the river, fields, and smaller towns. Driving to school every morning from the valley it looks like a gold building on top of a cliff. The bell rings around 8:30 every morning. A lady comes to unlock the classroom doors and the kids slowly trickle in. There are no morning announcements or any announcements. I don't think the school has an intercom. There is very little school spirit at the school mostly because there aren't sports teams. If you want to play a sport you have to join a club in the city.
Speaking of the city, Santarem; I had a chance to explore it today. After school, I went with my friend to the mall and had lunch. We met up with three more of her friends and went shopping at the mall. Some stores were really expensive and I have to make sure to convert the Portuguese currency (euros) amount to dollars so I didn't end up spending $50 on a t-shirt. Portugal doesn't have any American chain stores like American Eagle or Hollister, but they have their own chain clothing stores. Two of my favorites were Bershka and Stradivarius. Almost 80% of girls here wear hiking boots and skinny jeans, which I think is an odd fashion trend. The others wear sneakers or converse or boots (like leather boots or Uggs). They wear lots of sweaters since it's so cold in school. The guys wear hiking boots too, but sneakers as well. They wear t-shirts, polos, plaid shirts and jeans.
We left the mall and walked down to the center of Santarem where all the streets are made of cobble stones and the walls are covered with mosaics. Shops line the streets on either side. The streets are very narrow; they can fit about one small European car and there are sidewalks on each side of the street. We looked at some more clothing and jewelry stores. They took me to Portas do Sol Park. It was on the edge of one of the three cliffs and overlooked the Tagus River and the agricultural area. Santarem use to have a wall surrounding it. The wall in the park was restored and you could overlook the wall to glimpse the magnificent views below. The train tracks follow the winding river and occasionally a train would speed along the laid path. The vineyards spread across the land, the smaller villages are white specks in the distance, the roads snake through the green fields leading to the villages. I took pictures of buildings and mosaics and random doors, which my friends thought was funny. I was explaining the contrast it had from rural NY. I had to meet my host sister at 6:30 so we had to speed walk back to get my backpack from my friends apartment. We made our way along the cobble stone streets as the sun was setting. Weaving around parked cars and dodging pedestrians and moving vehicles on the narrow streets we made the trek back. It was dark when we reached the apartment building. The street lights and car lights flickered, lighting up the city. There were no clouds so the glimmered in the sapphire sky. A good end to a busy day!
Speaking of the city, Santarem; I had a chance to explore it today. After school, I went with my friend to the mall and had lunch. We met up with three more of her friends and went shopping at the mall. Some stores were really expensive and I have to make sure to convert the Portuguese currency (euros) amount to dollars so I didn't end up spending $50 on a t-shirt. Portugal doesn't have any American chain stores like American Eagle or Hollister, but they have their own chain clothing stores. Two of my favorites were Bershka and Stradivarius. Almost 80% of girls here wear hiking boots and skinny jeans, which I think is an odd fashion trend. The others wear sneakers or converse or boots (like leather boots or Uggs). They wear lots of sweaters since it's so cold in school. The guys wear hiking boots too, but sneakers as well. They wear t-shirts, polos, plaid shirts and jeans.
We left the mall and walked down to the center of Santarem where all the streets are made of cobble stones and the walls are covered with mosaics. Shops line the streets on either side. The streets are very narrow; they can fit about one small European car and there are sidewalks on each side of the street. We looked at some more clothing and jewelry stores. They took me to Portas do Sol Park. It was on the edge of one of the three cliffs and overlooked the Tagus River and the agricultural area. Santarem use to have a wall surrounding it. The wall in the park was restored and you could overlook the wall to glimpse the magnificent views below. The train tracks follow the winding river and occasionally a train would speed along the laid path. The vineyards spread across the land, the smaller villages are white specks in the distance, the roads snake through the green fields leading to the villages. I took pictures of buildings and mosaics and random doors, which my friends thought was funny. I was explaining the contrast it had from rural NY. I had to meet my host sister at 6:30 so we had to speed walk back to get my backpack from my friends apartment. We made our way along the cobble stone streets as the sun was setting. Weaving around parked cars and dodging pedestrians and moving vehicles on the narrow streets we made the trek back. It was dark when we reached the apartment building. The street lights and car lights flickered, lighting up the city. There were no clouds so the glimmered in the sapphire sky. A good end to a busy day!
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