No School

Last Thursday I did not have school because the Pope came to Portugal. Some people believe that all Portuguese are very Catholic and very religious, but it really depends on the family. My first family went to church almost every week; my second family never goes. When I went to Galeana a few weeks ago there were groups people walking along the highway. In each group, there were about 2 to 5 people. Some had walking sticks and bright neon construction vests. If they had anything else, it was a small backpack or fanny pack. My host sister explained that they were going on “pilgrimages” to Leiria. To show their devotion to God, they sleep on the floors at places like fire stations. When the Pope came to Portugal he went to Lisbon first and then to Leiria to give a mass. Lots of people from Santarèm went in groups and walked to see him speak.

I took advantage of the day off from school and had another foreign exchange student visit me. Ari is also from the US and is here for 6 months. The five other Americans and I have kept in contact with each other. We email each other a lot and have been planning to get together. She is in Evora and really wanted to see more of Portugal so she came to visit me in Santarèm. Since Portugal, is a small country you can take a bus pretty much anywhere. My host sister went with me and we showed Ari around the city. We went back to Portas de Sol, looked at the old churches, and explored all the little shops. I showed her my school (I think I was the only student who went near the school on a day it was closed). The sun was shining and it was a perfect day to be outside. Santarèm is known for two pastries, pampilhos and celestes, so we went to the best pasteleria in the city to get them. Pampilhos are made of a sweet dough about an inch wide and three inches long and filled with a sweet custard. Celestes are made of an egg custard mixture and have chopped almonds mixed in and are wrapped in a paper-thin dough. We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch (It’s not that we’re sick of Portuguese food, but good Italian pizza sounded delicious). Wandering on one of the narrow roads we found an amazing chocolate shop. Tucked off to the side, with a small door and tiny window display, we walked right passed the first time. Luckily we realized our mistake and turned around. The inside was filled with a wall of wine, a wall of jam and a glass counter filled with chocolates. The flavors were endless: butter cream and champagne, caramel, praline, strawberry, apricot, cherries dipped in chocolate with liquor, dark chocolate mouse and ten types of truffles including, cappuccino, almond, dark chocolate. We did limit ourselves to one chocolate apiece since we were still full from lunch. We found a little shop with Portuguese souvenirs and we both finally bought a Portuguese flag. Our feet were sore by the end of the day, but we had so much fun! I may take a bus to Evora later this week so she can show me around her city.