We packed up and left Algarve in the midst of rain and wind like you wouldn't believe. Or maybe you would believe, because even on the sunny days, there have been rain showers, if not downpours, every single day we've been here. All the locals have apologized for the weather, saying how atypical it is for them this time of year, but that they've needed the rain. I guess we can't complain too much, because they got a foot of snow back home, in the middle of March. But, you know, climate change isn't a real thing and we're all just making it up. Anyway...
We got on the bus and went to the church we were singing in, Nossa Senhora da Conceição. Or rather, we got dropped off near it and walked on slippery cobblestones the rest of the way because the streets were too narrow for the bus. I didn't mind too much because these trips are all about walking anyway, but the cobblestones are extremely slippery when wet, and one person fell on the walk and a couple of us had to help them up and support them the rest of the way to the church, which of course we didn't mind doing, but it just shows how slippery the sidewalks and streets are. I nearly fell a few times myself, because of course there were multiple hills we were going down on the way there too.
We had rehearsal when we got there, both our own and with the Coro Vox Albuhera, a local community choir from what I could gather. This group was mostly middle aged and older people from various backgrounds who lived in the area and liked to sing. If there was any other connection I am not sure what it was. This group was just as nice as the other Portuguese choir we sang with, though most of the ones I talked to didn't speak nearly as much English as the first chorus and it was a lot harder to have real conversations, which I did feel a little bad about, but what can you do? We sang very nicely together, doing a couple songs with our director and one with theirs. Afterwards we walked to the conservatory a few blocks away which I guess is associated with either the church or the group, where they had a buffet lunch set up. This was more of a casual thing, as nearly everything was something homemade that the members of the Portuguese choir had cooked for us, and we all stood around eating while holding our plates. There was so much food that I could never remember it all, but it was all good. Lots of fish cakes and pickled stuff, and tons of dessert. My favorite thing was the wine-soaked pears. It looked like they had peeled the pears and stuck the whole thing in a pot of red wine (probably port wine) with maybe sugar or something added to it for at least a day and refrigerated it. They were sweet and didn't taste like wine at all.
After lunch it was time for the concert. There was a full audience, and I think knowing his helped. This concert went really well, maybe even as well as the first one we did. It definitely makes up for the kind of meh concert that we did a few days ago. The last couple days in general have made up for the kind of meh days that we've had on this trip, and I'm now back on the positive side of things and really glad that I came here. I'm also really glad we didn't do the separate group scarf thing for that one song, that I got my yellow one back, and that when we finally got around to doing the song in Portuguese, we didn't butcher it too badly.
Right after the concert we went back to the conservatory to change into regular clothing and hop on the bus to Lisbon. I don't know how I missed the memo to change into semi-nice clothing because we weren't going to the hotel first, but straight to the restaurant for our farewell dinner. Most people were dressed somewhat nicely, and I was dressed comfortably for a somewhat long bus ride, but whatever. It was dark when we arrived at the restaurant, or as far as the bus could fit. This was a somewhat fancy place that was located for some reason on the docks near all the fishing boats and stuff. I already mentioned it was dark, and the Portuguese apparently don't put a lot of stock in street lights. This was a bit problematic because several planks of the docks were broken, rotted through, or just gone, leaving gaping holes for pedestrians to put their feet through and either break an ankle or fall and most likely lose a shoe to the ocean in the process. A few of us volunteered to stand on these holes and direct the rest of the group around them as they passed, both on the way to and from the restaurant. I'm not sure which ones were more scary: the bigger holes on the walking path or the smaller ones on the stairs.
The food was good and there was, in typical Portuguese fashion, a ton of it. We started with bread, which was mostly miniature pieces of toast that you could put different sauces on: oil and vinegar (why?), sardine spread (pretty good), and something else I didn't try. Then they came around with tempura vegetables, which were ok, but instead of soy sauce to tip it, they had a big vat of vinegar (again, why?). Next was a bowl of pineapples in what looked like mayonnaise but wasn't, and I could figure out neither what it was nor what we were supposed to do with it. After that was sliced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and pesto, which is pretty hard to mess up, and so it was good. Then they had little breads I think with warm cheese (brie? goat cheese? I don't remember) and honey. These were amazing and I had a lot of them. I'm pretty sure after this it was time for the main course, which for non-special-dieters was veal with caramelized onions and some sweetish sauce I couldn't place and I think vegetables including baked potato slices. This was really good, and I ate the whole thing; it's only the second meal here I've been able to finish because their portions are huge. Then there was this odd mousse cream thing for dessert. It was good but very rich and I couldn't finish it. They are fond of their custards here.
After supper and a few speeches by the Stutsmans (the family sponsoring the trips we take, who decided to come along on this one), the dean, and Dr. Gemme, we made the treacherous walk back to the bus and then went to the hotel. Some people went out to party on their last night in Portugal, but Bobby and I were never party people and also we're getting old, so we just stayed in and fell asleep after making fun of Portuguese TV. A lot of over-the-top reality shows, some sports coverage, and a bunch of really weird cartoons, none of which we could actually understand. Bernd das Brot is a German kid's show that they air here and it is about a sentient loaf of bread that is constantly depressed and grumpy. I encourage you to read about it, because even just that is entertaining. And let's not forget the Biggs channel, which was just a looping animation of going through some kind of maze; I'm sure that during the day it was cartoons or something and this was just their late night feed, but still, pretty weird.
I would like to tell you that the next day where we went home was uneventful, but that wouldn't be entirely true. We had all morning to pack, but Bobby and I both woke up with the flu and didn't want to get out of bed. We did eventually, and we'd missed breakfast at the hotel by then so we went out to a pastry shop for a breakfast of pastry and soda. Then back to the hotel to shower and pack. We got on the bus, and then on the plane after saying goodbye to our tour guides and bus driver, Erich, Mario, and Pedro, respectively. Again, couples weren't seated together, but this time I managed to trade my aisle seat with the person next to Bobby's inner seat so I could sit next to him. We were both pretty miserable on the plane ride, but Bobby managed to sleep for a lot more of it than I could. My headphone jack didn't work so I couldn't watch any movies (they didn't even have English subtitles or I would've tried that), but I did read a whole book on the plane. The food was not great but I've certainly had worse on planes. We were both cold on the plane ride, and I alternated between freezing and sweating. Also, between already being sick/having a headache and being in a pressurized aircraft, my head hurt so badly that I was crying. I felt like it might actually explode I was in so much pain. I'd taken all the drugs in my purse and they weren't doing a damn thing. Eventually I got a flight attendant and asked for a bag of ice to put on my head, and I spent the rest of the ride holding a bag of ice alternately to my forehead and back of my neck, because the cold was the only thing that could numb the pain even a little bit. Eventually we landed, got our bags, got through customs, and then had to wait for the bus to pick us up. We got back to SCSU without breaking down this time, and I drove us home. By this time, I'd recovered a little but Bobby had gotten worse. We got home after midnight, where an enthusiastic Akasho greeted us. Jim came up and said hi, and then we went to bed.
Overall, it was a good trip. The weather could have been better, but we still had a good time. This group managed to be a bit less like the obnoxious college Americans that we always seem to be whenever we go someplace, and it was interesting actually talking to the people you sing next to all year. We saw some cool stuff and ate some good food and met some really nice people, so I'd say it's a win, and I think I'll want to go on the next one as long as the price doesn't dramatically rise. I really enjoyed singing other country's music with other country's choruses in that other country. That's the best part of the trip for me.
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