Aveiro, Beiras, Portugal
Monday, June 27, 2011
This past Sunday we went on an excursion to
Aveiro beach in Portugal. Maybe it was just because I hadn't been to the beach in quite a while or that I'd secretly been born on the beach or something, but between class, meetings, tours, and homework, here was where I'd felt the most tranquil during this whole month. Of course we took a ridiculous amount of pictures and I even scooped up some sand and seashells to bring back as a souvenir :). The thing that caught me most by surprise was how much we (myself, Raven, and Quin) had gotten stared down while at this place. I thought I was used to getting stared at in
Salamanca, but these people took it to a whole other level! We would catch women, children, and the old men -of course- staring as we walked toward them then actually turn around and stare more as we walked away!! I'm assuming they probably don't have nearly the amount of blacks visiting Portugal as they probably have in
Spain by now, so that may have been the cause. Also, we'd stopped by a pizzeria right before it was time for us to get on the bus to leave, and I was a bit dumbfounded (but happy) that workers there spoke English! I was prepared to either be confused because I didn't know any Portuguese, or speak in Spanish since it was their neighbors' language, and I didn't have to worry about either! That was a relief to say the least. Since we only have one more day here in
Spain, I must say that the trip to the beach was a nice wrap-up to this experience. Now, I have to go start pre-packing to head back home on Tuesday and trying not to cry as I do so :)
