"The World is Our Campus"

"The World Is Our Campus" is printed on all of the maps that were given
away at the study abroad fair and the large map hung on all the cabin
walls. Today it was really true. This is one of the weirdest (in a good
way) school experiences ever and it is so insane that it is actually
happening and I am here. After class everyday we head up to the top deck
to read our homework and tan poolside. That's the best kind of school I
can think of. If it doesn't get anymore out of the ordinary from there,
we have our professors dining and tanning by the pool with us. How many
people can say that they tan with professors?! All of my professors are
really nice and relaxed. They care most about connecting the class with
the countries we will see. Like in my Northern History class we are
learning about the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 and today I got to explore
Lisbon.

So that brings me back to the "World Is Our Campus". Usually at school
we have labs in separate rooms with beakers, test tubes, and dissection
kits (science major problems), but today I had a lab class in the
streets of Lisbon for about 8 hours. We were finally back on land after
a week at 9am and made our way to the bus which took us to a museum. It
was called the Meseu de Cidade (hopefully that is spelled right). We
saw old maps of the city and pictures form before and after the quake.
We saw different things that were uncovered from the wreck and how the
city was reconstructed after. We then had free time so we took off with
other students and walked around the city and got some euros.

After the museum we made it to lunch, which was so good. We had an
appetizer which they seem to bring out to everyone with the bread. I
don't remember the name though and it was basically beef in the
consistency of mashed potatoes and was fried, it kind of looked like a
mozzarella stick. For the actual meal we had steak called bife in a
butter and beer sauce. The beer made it not very greasy or buttery
tasting. It was really good. After that we walked the streets and alleys
and windy routes with a guide. We learned about the new city
construction after the quake. The best part was going underground in
museums to see uncovered walls and ruins of the original city dating
back to the 13th century that they just built on top of. I even got to
see a skeleton in the ruins. And I am in love with all of the blue tiles
and tile work here it's so amazing. Right now we are back in the room
and doing homework and relaxing!