* no classes anymore, just interviews. the ones i did went pretty well (i was rather pessimistic in the beginning, but as it turns out, people seem to like me and my curriculum). well, two down and 3 to go, i’ll try to keep you posted about how it goes.

* yesterday benfica played (and won) against liverpool and it was a good excuse to gather the portuguese groningen gang on sally’s (and meet some nice new people as well). not much of a game though, but fun to talk in portuguese to more than one people.

* bike without brakes. again. i’m getting used (and good at it as well) to not using the hand brakes and instead, reaching the ground with my feet or efficiently dodging obstacles.

* review of my presentation on student colloquium:

Campos: vivid presentation style, lively intonation, a lot of gesturing + expressive mimics and facial expressions; good to give in-between summaries to let the audience know where they are and questions the audience need to ask themselves /you are going to answer + use of synonyms.

yay! thank you mr. simon peyton jones for the tips!
ps: people always seem to note my facial expressions… am i such an expressive person? :)

01. life’s a little bit on hold, as we start studying for exams, and i pursue my job hunt. it’s not going too bad, i guess, but the anxiety of waiting for answers makes me a little bit nervous. that and waking up with drunk people fighting, wasted bodies running and screaming in spanish on the corridor, close to my door. that’s how i woke up today. i got restless, i felt like going there and making them shut up but i didn’t. i stood there in bed, paralyzed, hands on my ears, waiting for it all to end.
anyway, the good spirits in the corridor make up for the eventual dawn mess. l., one of our floor-mates, is getting married next year, in may, and we’re all invited. she’s overwhelmed with it, and i’m happy she’s happy. this stories resembles a little the "l’auberge espagnol" / "les poupées russes", doesn’t it? the wedding is in china, actually, and if all works as planned, we’ll meet in shangai in a year and a few months. great! :) i’m really looking forward to it!

02. for all of you who ever wondered if this rum i’m always talking about is any good, you can now listen to it here, via livestreaming. give it a try. me and levi lost most of our music last week, which we had on his 80gb external drive, plus some pictures (nothing we didn’t have on film or backup, so no biiiig deal), but still, it didn’t feel good. now we rely on portuguese radios and podcasts more.

03. i’m in love with freitag bags – they’re everywhere here. colorful bags, made of lorries canvas. recycled urban freeways. perfect for the bikes.

04. we had a portuguese dinner on monday (9 portuguese people in groningen – can you believe that?) filled with good food, super bock and moscatel, vinho do porto and lots humour in our own language. oh! and a mad mad idea of returning home (in portugal, that is) by bike. 2200km! maybe it was the wine working… i think we’re all crazy, but if we get the sponsors, i’m on it :D (and yes, we know about the euromillions jackpot…let’s hope that works!)

05. thanks joão, for all the steve jobs’ zen. i can never have enough. :)

back in groningen, for at least another month.
feels great to be here again, finally. we arrived yesterday after a painful check-in at porto’s airport (including me unpacking ALL the contents of my overfiled backpack and not being able to put everything back in again), hours waiting at stansted airport (where we had tupperware dinner party, with our mom’s food and we watched an old lady going berserk), and hours on the train etc. but we were quite anxious to see everybody again, and it all payed off when we found the crew chatting on the second’s floor corridor. some things never change, indeed.
the temperature has dropped to a couple of negatives degrees now, but no snow on sight, just ice spread a little bit everywhere.
levi has started to wear his termotebes (really shielding portuguese (?) undershirts, from when we were kids) and i’ve settled for odlo warm shirts.

levi also went to his stomach doctor, which forbid him to drink alcohol and coffe and smoke. the poor boy is taking his revenge in chocolate (old picture to illustrate what i mean)… :)

quick update, just to say "hello! i’m still around!". i really don’t like leaving meiadeleite without regular updates, but right now i’m having trouble keeping up with normal life + all the stuff i got myself into.
here’s a bit of the stuff i’ve been working on:
* templates: marta’s and hi tech.
* newsletters: june’s urban movements (rum + maus hábitos) and another one for rum com jazz.

lots of other stuff coming up, webstuff mainly. and… i’m getting the cutest notebook around (at least if you ask me)!

trying hard not to become a total geek. tough job.