Oaklandish: First Day in Lisbon

I arrived in Lisbon today around 11:30am (3:30am in Oakland time) and instantly felt completely helpless. It took me an embarrassingly long time to find the subway station, and an even more embarrassingly long time to figure out how to get to my hostel using the metro system (yes, even though I saved directions in my phone’s camera roll). This is essentially my first time spending time in Europe (besides a brief 2014 layover in Amsterdam), and I was not expecting it to feel so different from the United States. It sort of feels like I am on a movie set. The buildings are so colorful and charming, the lighting is perfect (at least today…I’ll keep you updated as winter progresses), and there is a vibrant, pleasant energy swarming around the city.

Dripping with the nervous sweats, I checked into my hostel. Not to jinx it, but I’m currently the only guest in the 8-bed dorm room I’m staying in (if you’re reading this, knock on wood). Although I definitely am seeking a social experience eventually, I’m extremely grateful to have the slow, calm entrance that having a room to myself provides. After putting my stuff away, I wandered outside looking for a place to eat some lunch. Again, I felt completely helpless. All of the restaurants look more or less the same and I don’t even know how to begin decoding a menu in Portuguese.

As I was aimlessly strolling, looking for somewhere cheap to grab a bite, a woman sitting at a table outside smiled at me. I smiled back and instinctively kept walking, but soon turned around and asked her if she is from Portugal (hoping for a local’s recommendation). It turns out we are both from Oakland! She invited me to sit with her and we ended up spending nearly 4 hours together. We bounced around to several places, and I ended up eating a platter of fried fish and red rice (I truly did not know what I was ordering but luckily it worked out), an aperol spritz, an incredible meringue dessert, and an espresso. A crucial lesson I have already learned is that it’s ok to say no when people offer you things (duh, but easier said than done). I somehow ended up drinking 3 beverages when all I ever wanted was water, simply because they were offered to me. I also learned the hard way that just because someone offers you something, it doesn’t mean they won’t charge you for it. Starting tomorrow, I am going to take some more time to listen to what my body wants before responding, and once I respond, I will stick to my response!