August Highlights

The month of August was great and I traveled a lot. There was some serious stuff mixed in as well, but the travels included:
  • A few days in Lisbon, which I briefly mentioned here previously. The city was fun and accessible and I was pleasantly surprised that could understand a bit of Portuguese.
  • A trip to London, during the second week of the Olympics! While I was there, I watched a handful of events that were being broadcast on BIG outdoor screens at Hyde Park. People were proudly wearing the colors (and t-shirts and pins and hats and flags) of so many countries. I recall walking past an athlete wearing official national team warm-ups for the Nigerian basketball team and a clutch of people who seemed to be coaches for some team from Serbia. I met a journalist from Chile who told me crazy stories from life in the Athletes' Village. And there were tons of volunteers everywhere in official, brightly-colored polo shirts offering directions and maps and just generally being cheery. There were even non-official volunteers handing out free bottles of water. Additionally, I got to see the men's marathon and the gold medal match of women's indoor volleyball. It was all really special.
  • I traveled to Luxembourg briefly. I went for an interview (which didn't work out) but while there got to see a bit of the city, which is very picturesque. Additionally, I had the chance to see some old family history. 
  • Following Luxembourg, I took a fast train to France where I visited cousins in Paris and friends outside the city. Hooray for easy train travel! With the friends outside the city, we spent a day at the tiny farmhouse they rent out to vacationers in a village called Courtieux. And with my cousins I got to catch up as well as see a lot of sights in Paris by bike. Sunny weather and the Velib bike sharing program made it incredibly easy to get around. 
  • I also spent a weekend in Bilbao and hung out at some beaches not too far from the city. The city's annual fiestas were going on which meant massive street parties, fireworks, and open water boat races between local school teams.
And when I wasn't traveling, I was spending time in Madrid, where it was incredibly hot for most of the month. I improved my Spanish a bit, cooked a little, and mostly tried to stay out of the heat.

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