Lagos, Portugal

Journal entry: March 6th thru 12th, 2005



3 hour train ride from Almada to the city of Lagos. Lagos is a small portuguese city in the southern of Portugal, known as the Algarve. Basically the Portuguese Rivera.

As soon as we walked away from the Lagos train station, an old man came to us telling us about his residencial in Lagos. He at first spoke with us in English, but when learned that Attila and I were able to speak Portuguese, we became even more kinder, as well as giving us a kinder price for the room eight euros a night.

Attila felt that Lagos would be a great start for finding work. I was glad at this point, "vacation time needs to end" I said. The following night, we walked around this small town, checking out the scene and the bars, expericing the night life. We walked into one bar and from the looks of it, I thought they might need someone to hire. I inquired about what jobs they had. In fact, Attila and Nate were also curious as well. I guess somehow Nate stood out from the both of us, considering that I was the first one to ask. Nate was hired on the spot. "Nate doesn't even know how to speak Portuguese!" In any case, we celebrate his new job by showing up for some drinks.

Even with Nate's landing a job, Attila and I spent a lot of time checking other regions around Lagos, especially in the city of Sagres. While in Lagos, we ate at a local cafe in town, where we met this cool Portuguese guy named Marco. He hooked us on Super Boc beer and something to eat.

Three days already passed, Nate is working and Attila and I were asking all around town. I guess we didn't fit the right look or profile to work with these people. Not portuguese people, mainly English living and working easily in southern Portugal. Jealously looms high above.

It seemed as though Attila and I can't make it in this town, no jobs and all the girls wanted Nate. Our luck got even better, we finally landed a job passing out flyers. "There's no money in this shit!" Even with these discouraging realities, Attila and I would spend most of our times either in our residencial or going out to Sagres to visit Marco and his friend, Victor.

A long lonely road to the infamous point: Cabo de São Vincente
Taking a drive with our newly found friends was a great get away from the British and the eye-candy girls who had eyes only for Nate. I worried that jealousy will ruin our good times. Can we make it together as friends?

Cabo de São Vincente

Attila and I seriously were considering what will happen if he and I don't land a job? What about Nate and his job? We had to stick together I said, but it wasn't going to easy with one person working and two only being able to pass out flyers with the hope of making 10 euros!

Nate meet this cool Dutch guy, named Oscar, who came to Portugal just to surf. Oscar landed a job working in the Canary Islands for the summer as a surfing instructor. We would have risked going there with him, but nah!

Nate met this guy named Burk who was a tatoo artist. Nate decided to give Burt a try and get a tattoo on his arm.


The symbol of Peace!

"Fuck this shit!" Attila and I stopped passing out flyers. We went to almost every bar in town. Same fucking story and more lines of bullshit. Since, we didn't have the MTV look or Spring Break attitude. So we spent of our days at the beach. We stopped caring at this point. Even the jealousy with Nate was over. He was our friend. Attila and I went out and had Bacalhau (salted cod fish) meal for lunch and Indian food for Dinner.

Six days, six damn days, we've spent in this town and can't find a job. "whats the point of even staying here any longer?!" Nate went to work, Attila and I stuck in our small room, reading and listenting to music in order to remain calm. Nate came back to the room earlier than schedule. Nate got canned, probably for giving us cheap to almost nothing in price for beer. We agreed to stick together. The next morning, we left for Huelva, Spain. "No work and Brits dont mix, let's get out of here!"