My Lisbon Home

A huge part of this trip has involved me sharpening my self-reliance skills. I have always been pretty independent, and I never really required that much looking after, my parents more or less left me alone. I also don’t really have much trouble adapting to new situations. There is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from getting something done by yourself. However, there are times when self-reliance means doing it yourself, and there are times when self-reliance calls for admitting when you need help. After two weeks of trying to find a home, I was in the latter situation. I finally went to the school and mentioned my predicament and all of the particulars. They had a fresh list of potential apartments close to the University and Rita, my primary contact with the University up to that point, helped me with a phone call. I visited a place on Rua de Laranjeiras with Edward, who had just flown in, and after looking the apartment over, told the landlord that we would take the place. He gave us the keys on the spot. That made me feel wonderful since there had been a couple of places which said I could come by the next day to move in, and then change their minds, they were both French which irritated me all the more. Anyways, there were three rooms, but Edward and I were prepared to split the entirety of the rent even if we couldn’t find a place. Luckily, I had become friends with a German exchange student staying at the hostel. He had been looking for a place even longer than I. So, I offered him the third place and he accepted after a brief look.

So without further ado, this street became my home for what was at the time, the next four months…

It is only five minutes’ walk from my university and it only takes a little longer to get to the nearest metro stop, so it is perfect for what I wanted. Here is the interior…

The living room with some laundry hanging out. No one has a dryer so…

My little room…

It may be small, but of the three it is the warmest. Here is the kitchen…

The white box on the wall above the stove is our hot water heater. It and the stove run on gas that we order on our own whenever we need a refill. That is about it actually. Not much, but for what I am paying it is just fine.

Here are some pictures of the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa…