A Day in My Life

Hello:) My name is Ainslie and I’m currently studying abroad in Lisbon, Portugal through CIEE’s Culture & Language program. It is now April, which is crazy because these last few months have truly flown by and I’m not ready for my time here to end. Before I get into my blog, I thought I’d share a little bit about me… I’m 22 years old and originally from Massachusetts. I attend The George Washington University in Washington DC and am a psychology major with a business minor. I love spending time with my friends, exploring new places, spending time outside, and cooking. I chose to study in Lisbon for many reasons, but the main one being that my family is of Portuguese descent, and I wanted to learn more about where my family is from. Secondly, I wanted to study in a city that is less common for abroad students. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to study in Lisbon. There are so many things that I love, but some of my favorite things include the welcoming people, the beautiful city, the warm weather, the wonderful CIEE staff members, the delicious food, and the culture. 

MARCH 6, 2024

9:00 AM:

Like every morning, the first thing I did was eat breakfast and enjoy a coffee. Most of my meals are sponsored by the best store in Lisboa... Continete!!! Continete is the grocery store we shop and is less than a 5 minute walk from my dorm, Xior Lumiar. This morning, I sipped on a cappuccino from the coffee vending machine that is in our dorm lobby which happens to be very affordable (only 0.65 cents!). 

10:30 AM:

My first class of the day is Portuguese and Brazilian Cinema at 11:00am. My commute to school is about 30 minutes and includes walking and an easy metro route. 

11:00 AM:

Portuguese and Brazilian Cinema starts at 11:00am and goes until about 12:30pm. Today, we watched a short film and then discussed our thoughts as a class. In many classes, we do individual or group activities that we later submit for participation credits. 

12:45 PM:

My next and final class of the day is one of my favorites, Contemporary Portugal. Today, our class focused on the topic of Portuguese fado music and other Portuguese soundscapes. With the general political elections approaching, our professor also briefly described the main political parties and outlined how the government is set up. 

2:15 PM:

After classes, I went to my favorite brunch restaurant near campus, Olivia. After enjoying a nice salad and another coffee, I made my way back to my dorm. 

3:30 PM:

I arrived back to Xior around 3:30 and decided to go for a walk in the park right outside my dorm with my friend Ella:)

5:30 PM:

After relaxing for a little bit after our walk, Ella and I took the metro to Campo Pequeno where we met up with other students in our program and a CIEE staff member for a cooking class. CIEE offered this cooking class early on in the program which I participated in. I loved it so much that I signed up for it again! This class took place at the Lisbon Cooking Academy, and we learned how to make the famous Portuguese pastries, Pastel de Natas! We had such a fantastic time learning from the wonderful Ana Martins and of course, ate way too many. 

8:00 PM:

After the class, we took the metro back to our dorm. For dinner, I ended up eating some leftovers because I wasn’t very hungry after all the Pastel de Natas. Afterward, I finished up an assignment, showered, and went to bed.