Airports, Airports, Porto!

Okay, it is now 11 o'clock at night on local Porto time and I've just had dinner. So here is the story thus far:

I slept the entire way from SLC to Chicago. Nothing new or exciting. The flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was pretty good for an 8 hour flight. I had an aisle seat and no one in the seat next to me but somehow the audio for the movies in my chair and the empty chair next to me did not work, so I only watched but did not listened to Made of Honor with the dashing Patrick Dempsey and Drillbit Taylor which I have already seen. The food was surprisingly good, I got to pick between 'Chicken' and 'Asian'. Feeling brave, I picked the Asian meal, which turned out to be some decently delicious Indian food. I only brought one book with me: Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey. It was a tough decision, only bringing one book, but I am not comfortable with my lack of knowledge of English history, so it has to be improved. There was a lot more turbulence on this flight than other cross-Atlantic flights I have taken, so that was not fun, but I'm alive, so it's okay!

The flight from Frankfurt to Porto was not long, albeit a very rough landing. It feels strange to have taken off from Utah at 10:30 in the morning on Monday, and it is now already Tuesday evening, but that's jet lag for you.

Porto is a very old city, with gorgeous architecture if you're into the whole pealing paint, red roofs, and dirty stone kind of thing, which I am. I only wish now more than ever that Spike were with me. She was the only friend I had who spoke Portuguese. I can see it now: she and I walking on the bank and her chatting with locals while I stand sheepishly in the background. By the end of the day we'd be in a bar and she'd be teaching me how to say things like 'I love you!' and 'I'm drunk' in Portuguese.

I can already tell that it's not going to be easy for me to adjust to the time change. When we finally got to our hotel it was about two o'clock in the afternoon here, meaning my body thought it was eight o'clock in the morning. I had trouble sleeping on the planes, and I immediately passed the fuck out. I didn't wake up until it was time for dinner at eight o'clock this evening. Like everywhere in Europe (or so I am told), Porto dines late at night. In the course of the meal I had tripe, sardines, port wine, and really tasty beans and rice. Yum yum.

Communication is going to be tough these few weeks before I settle in Leicester, but by then I should have Skype, but until then I shall blog! Internet needs to be free and in more places.