WD-40 for the Brain

Despite the evidence in my blog’s stats section (seriously – you guys check this thing all the time), I have been slacking on my posts lately.  I’ll offer two excuses for you to do with as you please.
One – I went to Sao Miguel, one of the neighboring islands, two weekends ago with a few friends.

I’ve been working through my pictures as well as the 700+ taken by the rest of our group.  Someday a post about that trip might show up here, but 1,400 pictures is a lot to go though during 15 minute study breaks. Which leads me to…

Two – After much arm twisting on my part, I finally received word that I will be allowed to take the Professional Engineering Exam this October in South Dakota. This exam is a big deal – HUGE DEAL. I have been trying to get my brain to cooperate and start functioning in the engineering world again. It’s been slow going so far, but I’m finally making some progress. And, by progress, I mean I’ve finished about an inch of the ridiculously huge book you see in the background of this picture.

Most of my life between now and October 28th will be taken up with solving practice problem after practice problem. If anyone has any tips for how to study for this exam, I’m all ears.

As the title of this post suggests, my brain is a little rusty after sitting idle on this very humid island for the last year. Yes, it’s been a year already. I decided this afternoon that cookies and milk would be ideal form of WD-40 for my brain, so I made two batches of cookies (double chocolate and white chocolate macadamia nut).

I think I’m on the right track. My brain feels better already!

New Toys

One of my house guests found a new toy today. At least it was new to him – it’s Roxie’s favorite and has been for several years.

Gus liked it so much he made it squeak All… Day… Long. Needless to say, he didn’t get to play with his new toy very much before it had to go to toy jail. A girl’s got to keep her sanity.

I also got a new toy today. Well, I actually got it a couple of weekends ago, but this was the first time I got to use it. This lovely, monogrammed cake stand came to me as a birthday gift from Ms. Lindsey.  She got a matching one this weekend in the mail. Post pictures Lindsey!!

I was planning to make a chocolate-raspberry layer cake, but in true Lajes Commissary fashion, there were no raspberries to be found this week. So, I had to improvise. Strawberries are almost as good as raspberries.

For those of you who think this looks familiar… you’re right. You’ve seen the raspberry version in another post.

Beer Fountain

I have only been to one street bull fight so far this year. We went to several last year, and while they are fun, between the parking and finding a seat on some stranger’s wall, it’s not as appealing as it was when we first arrived on the island. However, when one of our Portuguese friends invited us to his family’s house last night to watch a bull fight, we decided it sounded like a good idea. When he said there would be a beer fountain, we were all in! I mean really, who can say no to a beer fountain?

At five-thirty last night, nine of us piled into our cars and headed for Angara. When we arrived at Pedro’s house, we were escorted through a courtyard set with tables and chairs into his grandmother’s house. In the kitchen was a full spread of Portuguese party food – sausage, meringues, Alcatra, and much more.

We piled food on our plates and joined the party underway in the courtyard. Promptly at six-thirty, the boom of a single firework signaled the start of the bull fight.

We spent the next several hours watching bulls and crazy guys with umbrellas run up and down the streets. In between bulls, we crowded around the beer fountain for a glass of Super Bock. The beer fountain is an old livestock watering trough converted so that a keg can be hooked to the faucet. It’s pretty cool! Every year during this bull fight, a keg is hooked up and free beer is handed out to spectators.

After the bull fight, we walked back to the car to the sounds of a local marching band playing traditional bull fighting music.

Don't forget to check out the new pictures in the picture tab.  I add new ones with almost every post.

Goodnight moon

The view from our back yard - full moon shining over the ocean.

House Guests

Sam and Roxie are hosting a couple of house guests of the canine persuasion. Meet Gus and Rookie.

Gus is a 100+ pound Golden-doodle and a bit of a cuddler. Rookie is an 80 pound lab/sheppard mix.

They came in on the plane this weekend with their humans, new members of the CE family at Lajes. As this is PCS (moving) season, the kennel was full, so Gus and Rookie are going to stay with us until their humans find a place to live and get settled.  Now instead of tripping on two dogs when I walk down the stairs, I have an entire thundering herd to contend with! Everyone has been very good so far though, so I think we’ll have a great time with our guests.

I know you all love the dogs, so here are some puppy pictures for your enjoyment!

Festas da Praia

Living overseas gives you a unique opportunity to learn about other cultures.  One event central to Azorean culture is the town festivals. Each town on our island hosts a festival at least once per year.  The biggest festival of the year is Festas da Praia – held this year from July 29 to August 7.  It features parades, food booths, concerts and other forms of entertainment.  Nearly every night this week, I have been downtown until at least midnight, sometimes much later, enjoying the festivities.

On Tuesday night, the American band Hoobastank played in the Deam Zone, a giant plastic tent used for concerts and DJ’s. I joined members of the CGOC (Company Grade Officers Council) to carpool to the concert. We arrived around 9:30pm, found food and drinks, then made our way to the Deam Zone for the 11pm start time. Yes, you read that correctly! The concert was lots of fun. My friend Paula took lots of concert pictures and was kind enough to let me use them here. Thanks Paula!!

The concert ended at 1am! Needless to say, I slept in on Wednesday. On Thursday evening, I joined a friend for dinner and a picture taking date. We had to wait quite a while for a table, so we played our new favorite game - Romper Spotter.  There were lots of rompers to be spotted (Portuguese women are a little obsessed).  Some looked much better than others.

Once we were seated, we enjoyed some traditional food from Madeira (another group of Portuguese islands). The main dishes weren’t that great, but the fried corn and sweet potatoes were awesome!

We also enjoyed some Puncha, a drink made of citrus juice, rum and honey.

After dark, we wandered around taking pictures of the parade route, walking streets, and the Dream Zone.

We eventually made our way up to the hill overlooking the town of Praia da Vitoria.

Our final adventure for the night was getting out of the parking lot. The Portuguese really know how to cram cars into parking places. The problem is that their cars are really small and easy to turn, and our American cars are really not! Everyone made it out unscathed, but there were several really close calls!

I am headed out tonight for the last night of the festival. It’s been a fun week, but I can see why it only comes along once a year. I don’t know if I could keep this pace up any longer!

In totally unrelated news, I had my first open water scuba lesson today. I was a little panicked on the surface, but as soon as we were underwater, everything was wonderful. I even got to touch a star fish – so cool!

There are lots of new pictures in the pictures tab.  Go check them out.  There are puppies.  :)  I know you all love the puppies.

New Record

July was a big month for Life in Lajes. You, my fabulous readers, shattered the previous record of 616 hits, by checking in with me a whopping 728 times during July!

I would like to take some of the credit, but I think most of it goes to my guest blogger Lindsey from http://www.newlydependent.com/ and, of course, to Roxie. Seriously guys, if all you wanted was dog pictures, you just had to say so!

I also had my first comment from someone I’ve never met. Hey bejellyfish! Hope you stop by again soon. It’s a little surreal thinking that you’re communicating with people you’ll never meet, but it’s pretty cool too!

So, here’s to making August even better than July. Thanks for stopping by and reading about my crazy life in the pond.