Its nice to have something to add again, well something significant and worth remembering. I decided that yesterday and today i would have a break from work as i have been stressing myself out over it just recently and i think it was just what i needed, plus i think its good to actually do stuff to be inspired, rather than just trying to force stuff. Anyway im glad i did as i have had two fun days. Yesterday was Portugals independence day or something to that effect and so I decided it would be good to head into town to see what was going on, after a Portuguese start, late due to a couple of Italians taking their time over speck and parmesan and rocket lunch. So we headed to the main square hoping to see some parade, i had no idea what was going on but when arrived their was literally nothing but an empty stage, so i was disappointed and thought we would end up just heading home but we didnt and heaed towards the elavator viewing point where there was an orchastra stand but no orchastra but we found out that there was a performance at five and so we walked and talked and had a good time, fun in the sun. At the right time we headed back to hear the music, which was amazing, just classical music but it was so relaxing and yet intense, there was a real positive ambiance with people sitting at there windows and families, locals, tourists all ages were brough together by the music. I though that it would be great if the music was constantly in the background, life would be so much more interesting. Aswell as the orchastra there was some other entertainment of a different kind well to these kids at least. there was at first three of them who were having such a good time playing on this slope, play fighting sliding and just being kids, it was so endearing and brought back thoughts of my own childhood particularly playing on the drive with Danny and Alex. It was so sad when one of the kids dads dragged him away by the ear, i felt it was unnecessary and he started crying, i felt so bad for him. After the day out i returned to Casa Marvao had some dinner and then headed out for an evening stroll as the weather was so nice. We made our way to the statue at Praca Commercial, where we myself Jo and Lissy chatted and waited for a Portuguese friend of Lissys and Eva and Fabio. when theyd arrived we continued strolling pretty aimlessly but eventually we settled in a bar and had a beer, we didnt leave till gone two we got back about three o clock. I was about to go to bed when eva offered some pineapple which i did have and then we spent about 40 minutes eating pineapple in the middle of the night, which was a sligthly surreal experience. I recieved a text about an hour later from eva telling m that she was dizzy and would not come to the beach with us tommorow.

Then today I got up at 9.00 with the bell tower which i do always enjoy and got reasdy to head to the beach, capiricha which i had never been before but was looking forward to. At the metro station i displayed my awful short term memory by buying a ticket and literally losing it there and then and so had to buy another, it was ridiculous. Anyway we headed to the end of the blue line to catch the bus. It was cool all five of us at the back of the bus, its such an interesting notion so many connotations, racial obviously and then backrow hards at school. We arrived and found our spot on the sand and basically had a chilled out time talking and reading eating and swimming. Yes i actually swam in the atlantic although it was absolutely freezing, it was really fun once i got over the initial shock but i was so cold, and the waves really threw me around. As you perhaps might expect from an English tourist i took home an English tan, that it red and white, all of us had caught the sun but you have to see the funny side, mine is really symetrical which is something. Then i bought a canvas and a bit of oil paint for one of my projects which i am nervous about doing as it has been so long, there is something so proper about oil paint very fine art but it should be fun and if it goes to plan I will have learned a new skill.

I know, i know its been a while, its hard to gtet yourself motivated to do this blog but i need to see the bigger picture as in i would like to keep this blog as a reminder of my time in Lisbon. My lack of 'blogging' has been due to my increase of working, i have been working long hours to get projects done but as per usual as soon as one is done ill want to do something different. The work is going ok and feel i should have it under control. On Thursday a lot of the house went to Cinco Joses bar for his birthday which i hadnt planned on going to but ended up having a fun time. He recommended me a passionfruit margarita after a conversation we had about drinks the other weekend and it was so nice, dangerously drinkable though i felt they went a little over the top on the salt but i didnt stop me from having a second. We had a shot which Jose paid for which i was a bit hestitant as I did not want to get drunk but again it was pleasant and very drinkable. I ended uo staying till one or two o clock though in Portuguese times is not that late.

I have been going crazy with all the door slamming in this house its ridiculous why cant people just close them gently, i know that the wind catches them but still learn to close them manually and leave them on the catch so there is not the constantly noise. Last night there was another Casa Marvao party, this one for Minttus birthday, the first half was a dinner spread which was tasty and then it gradually became more of a party as more and more people arrived. I retreated to my room for a while as I felt a bit on show for lack of better words. But later on I returned and did have an enjoyable time chatting and drinking with friends, the best part was getting the whole house (besides the new Ukranian but he doesnt really socialise with us) for a group photo which ill need to get a copy of as it would be a nice momento. I think today will be a bit of a chilled out Sunday, i have a few decisions to make whether to keep the language course up or not, I want to but my work has to prioritise and thus i havent really thrown myself into the language, i hope to go for it in the last couple of weeks once my work is complete. I hope its not so long till my next entry.

I have been scratching my head trying to think what to write as its been a while and yet there is not a lot for me to say. I have been working on my projects going to lessons both art and language. I hope that once my projects are complete i can turn my attention to learning the language which i know is a bit ironic as i will be learning it just as i am leaving but still it ll be a good life skill. I had a restless night the other day and i contemplated the essay and more specifically difference. However in my slumber i ended up dwelling on the idea of whats the difference between beer and fish, im not sure why but stayed awake thinking about this topic. At first i was under the impression that they were completely unrelated unanimate objects but then i started to think they are both edible goods both are bought and sold, both packaged, both are intrinsically natural and so my night went. yesterday after a long chat with my parents saying how i wasnt doing anything that night maybe just a bit of work, i ended up going to a house party then on to Lux, the only famous club in Lisbon. The house party was great, a real sociable event talked to lots of different people, nice and chilled. At about 2 00 we headed to Lux, my first impressions were good, it was as i expected and had been warned that its very comercial, but at the same time thats sometimes what you want, something popular, familiar. Got back home about 500 worried i would wake Jose so took off my boots ever so quietly outside my door and then stumbled in to see that he wasnt in anyway. I found out today that he had crashed on the settae although times seem to be questionable as he swaers he was up till five talking in the lounge so maybe i was missing something, who knows? Todat has been relaxed, normal Portuguese day i supposed sunny and warm, walked to the supermarket at the top of the stairs which was a bit of an effort after having walked to Pingo which is the other directio to find it closed but still i got a few bits and pieces, most o which i have already gone.

Last night was the first bbig night out in ages. In Lisbon i never feel such the urge to go out in the same way i do in England, in fact i think i have only been to one actual club here, Jamaica. Anyway last night there was a MTV festival going on in Baixa Chiado which we went to, twice. We heard that it started at 500 however, this was just the whole event and the music would not start till 900. The latter was so cool just walking through this street with loads of out side speakers the bass was incredible you could feel it being amplified through the street. The main street got so busy, it was amazing the contrast between the main street and the rest of the area. There were a lot of people on stilts, i wouldnt have fancied being in their shoes, or stilts more to the point.At one point in the evening we stopped at this Jazz bar which was really good, i absolutely loved it, it was so chilled in there a massive juxtaposition to the chaotic nature of the street. I did a shot of absinthe with a couple of others, it really burnt me inside, i probably overreacted but it was strong. I heard today that in my drunk state i pronounced Evas name perfectly which is always reasurring.

Besides least night the weekend has been proccupied with my video. I have very nearly done, and will finish it tonight and i am so looking forward to seeing the outcome and doing the editing. I was suprised at everyones willingness to be a part of my project, i dont think i would have got the same enthusiasm in England. I loved how obscure the whole concept is videoing people reading a broken english 'Poem' in the bathroom i even got someone standing on the toilet, i really abused my power. Although it seems a bit of a folly i am really pleased with the idea and it really suits the brief of being a souvenir as i really will wan to keep it forever as a momento of this period of my life.

The illusion of freedom. Me and Emily went to the zoo, i was so excited at the prospect and it really lived up to my expectations. I was a little worried that it would be a zoo that mistreated the animals, but on the whole it seemed legitimate and the enclosures on a whole were nice and big and i particularly liked how many of the animals, instead of being caged up were put on islands surrounded by water, this seemed much nicer, but was it just 'an illusion of freedom'. I saw loads of animals as you would expect, i loved theses camels, of the two humped variety, they were really great and walked with such a swagger as if they knew they were the business. I panicked for a while when i thought that there was no giant anteaters but we found it in the end but it let me down as it kept walking in the opposite direction to the camera. There was this cable cart that circled the whole zoo which gave a great view of Lisbon. There was a dolphin show that was amazing, but no kiler whales. I was surprised at how unbusy it was seeings as it was a saturday during the easter holidays and it was perfect zoo weather, but not that im complaining. If it was London zoon you wouldnt have got a foot in the door or actually seen any animals besides screaming children. Thinking about the Tourists Gaze and what it says about museums being tourist traps, is the same appliable to zoos. It is interesting going to a zoo in a foreign country as in essence zoos are simulating different climates etc, yet you can tell a lot about a country from its zoo i think. You can tell the atttitude towards wildlife and conservation, Lisbon scored highly on this front especially in comparison to the Thai zoo my parents informed me about. And Emily was perfect company.

Putting my critical studies hat on i have decided that my essay is going to called the Erasmus gaze, the title is the hardest part now i just have to do it. This last few days have been perfect weather and its only going to get hotter, its like British summer time yet it is only spring. We went to the Indian restaurant tiwce in like four days once with Jo and her mum and the other to show Emily off brialliant both times, we have become regulars. After the latter meal we went to Crew Hassan for a couple of beers which was cool as always, they played some wicked reggae music and even a raga esque version of Ready or not by the Fugees which i actually quite enjoyed but i think i was alone in that thought.

work has been my occupation of choice the last couple of days, i have tried to start as many projects as possible, perhaps its just a psychosymatic thing but having started projects lifts such a weight off your shoulders. I visited a cinema which plays classic cinema which was so cool. We watched Party girl, a 1920s film, described as colour film noir which was fantastic it was all so elgant and classy. The mise en scene was brilliant everything had such a nostalgic glamour to it, i really enjoyed the two dance performances in it too. I particularly liked how it contrasts with the 70 s style pornography I ve been using in my projects which is the opposite of class, but i love the kitchness of many of the images. I read a short story from a book called The Faber book of best new Irish short stories, which was called different city, different state which i thoroughly enjoyed and hope may be something i can feed into my essay.

I went to the Natural History museum yesterday and then to the Botanic Gardens in Rato. I was very excited at the prospect of this trip as i love the british counterpart however, i was sadly let down. There was just a lack of everything; we had to pay which the guide book didnt warn us of and then the exhibitions were just dull. The first was comically bad it was just a room of dirt with general litter scattered with a faux dinosaur fossil. The was a T rex skull which was impressive, in fact there were about three skulls but that was it, besides some awful pixellated displays. There was a collection of precious stones, but i really was not interested in them. The funny thing was thebest display; the full dinosaur models were behind a white wall which i couldnt see over which was embarassing but through the crack i could see they were covered in bin liners, why? The botanic garden i did enjoy, it was nice to see a bit of greenery which Lisbon sadly lacks, i d like to go there again to spend longer but i doubt ill visit the museum again.

The Party in the evening was much funner, i joined a bit late because of work, though people kept turning up in my room to sign Emilys card, i completely ignored them and just kept working. There was a real abundance of cakes due to the request from Emily however i dont think anyone wa expecting quite so many. I ate so many it made me feel sick and i dont think they mixed well with the drink. The funniest ocurance happened; i went outside for some fresh air and started talking to this boy who was here on holiday. Anyway after talking for 5-10 minutes he said im Bored or at least thats what i thought he said so i was like oh there plenty of people inside and was apologectic and then he said it again and agin i was suggesting he went inside but the third time he said no my name is Bjord, it was hilarious, or at least i thought it was. I got really bad stomach cramp from mixing cake and alcohol and so retreated to my room and continued with my toilet roll, script. I never realised how long they were, i wrote for about an hour probably longer and im not even half way. I got plenty of photos to work from to combine with the toilet roll souvenir, im really want to know what my tutors will think of it.