So much has happened since we arrived on June 20th in our new country. We wanted to give an overview of how things are going, what we have struggled with, and things we have learned along the way. Andrew and I are each going to weigh in with our personal perspectives thus far.

Highlights (Michelle)

• Locals have been very patient and helpful. That is not to say that everyone is super excited to see Americans who aren’t fluent in the language in our neighborhood (expats seem pretty rare where we live). There may be a few pieces of gossip flying around about the people who have moved into the house that has been vacant for three months on Rua Joaquim Ribeiro. We are trying to be polite and understated and not cause too many waves (no loud, drunken outings for us).
• Although it has been unseasonably hot here, the weather is actually awesome and our city is beautiful. We are in a Mediterranean climate and usually have nice ocean breezes which makes the higher temperatures enjoyable. Strolls around our neighborhood and especially down by the ocean make me believe we are actually retired.
• Our pets have adjusted splendidly to extensive travel, a new house, and a climate change. I am delighted to report that everyone seems healthy and happy. The evil cats create chaos and destruction every day and the dogs are glad to be reunited and spending a ton of time with their parents. We don’t have a backyard so every doggie trip outside is a neighborhood stroll.
  
• Food has been reasonably priced and delicious. From tuna salad baguettes for €2,50 at a local cafe, to fancier dinners like paella and cataplanas. We haven’t had a miss yet when eating out.
  
• Although we are not fluent in Portuguese, we have been practicing the language using Duolingo since November. I am happy to report that most people understand us when we speak Portuguese and we are making the words we do know go a long way. When that fails, there is also Google translate which we have been using when we get into a pinch. We even successfully navigated a trip to a local administration office where we asked for an address change and got free drinks from a local restaurateur because we spoke Portuguese.

Challenges (Andrew)

• Arriving to an EMPTY house has made us really improvise and maybe make a couple of rushed decisions that weren’t the best. The property owner recommended a nearby appliance store and we bought quite a few things from there, but in retrospect they may not have the best prices in the area. I chose a gas oven and we are STILL trying to get a gas canister hooked up.
  
• Super sick and jet lagged! Michelle got sick with a horrid head cold just before we left Oregon. She was stuck on the floor (and eventually in bed after we got one) from the moment she arrived until she had to rush back to MN to pick up Zoe and our visas. It’s not that she never got out of the house, but it was extremely limited. I started feeling sick just before she left and was very glad we had a refrigerator full of food because I was incapacitated with the head cold for most of her trip.
• Although Michelle is 100% right about our successes with the language it must be said that we vastly overestimated how far we would get by using English. Our house is about three blocks north of a railway line that runs through the town. In all our time exploring we have met two people within a three block radius of our house who speak somewhat fluent English. When we ask “Você fala Inglês?” (do you speak English?) it is almost certain the answer will be “Não” in our neighborhood.
  
• Things take a long time here. We are trying to ease into the more relaxed Portuguese lifestyle but it took days of back and forth communications and weeks of waiting to get debit cards from our Portuguese bank. This wouldn’t be a huge deal if it didn’t cost €6 to do an in-person withdrawal at the bank! I already mentioned it but we have an oven sitting in a box and still need to make arrangements to get it connected to gas so that it is actually functional.
• Cultural differences are going to be a challenge for quite awhile. We wanted to go to one of the local pet stores to get some soft cat food. There are at least three within a few blocks of us, but every one was closed. Small stores close from about 1:00 – 3:00 pm but those times are very flexible. Often businesses will just have signs that essentially say “we’ll probably open again later today”. We finally went to a mini mercado (small market) and they had a single serving of soft dog food without a price, the clerk printed a receipt which showed €7,10! Michelle said “just buy it and let’s be done with this” since we’d walked almost two miles at this point. I give the clerk a €10 bill and she’s clearly irritated since the cost was only €.90. Oops.

Things we didn’t know… (Both)

• Michelle: We actually love not having a car. It is extremely liberating to explore our city on foot. We don’t have to worry about crazy gas prices, insurance, accidents, or parking. Walking everywhere is currently our primary form of exercise since we haven’t settled into other forms of exercise quite yet. We are walking 5-10 miles per day and learning a lot about our neighborhood as we find our favorite cafes, restaurants, and grocery stores.
• Andrew: Speaking about our bairro (neighborhood) – it is a haven for small businesses. Almost every block has an assortment of cafés (coffee shops that serve food, beer, snacks, and pastries), bars, and mini-mercados (tiny markets). Every few blocks you can find padarias (bakeries, with amazing pastries and bread), restaurantes, pet stores, cabeleireiros (hairstylists), igrejas (churches), yoga and massage parlors. At first they all appeared to be very similar to each other, but over the past three weeks we’ve learned that each one has something unique to offer.
  
• Michelle: Café culture is NO JOKE here. People spend inordinate amounts of time at their favorite spot. You will see some of the same people every day at their local café. Grandmothers come to sip espresso, gossip, and keep an eye on the neighborhood. Grandfathers drink tea or beer and sit for hours outdoors. Almost all have indoor and outdoor seating. Most have snacks, wine, liquor, desserts, pastries, and savory food. The closest to us is Café Bianca where we ate on our very first day (amazing food for an unbelievable price). We are trying to ease into becoming regulars here, but I dissuade Andrew from going every day (he would love to) since I don’t want to overburden one establishment with our foreign American asses. I joked with Andrew that he is already “leveling up” in video game speak at Café Bianca since the price of beer has already dropped and we also now get complementary snacks like chips and peanuts when we order beer.
  
• Andrew: All the small businesses I talked about exist because they are unique. In America you see a menu and order and get the food you want when you want it, it is an expectation we have. Sometimes breakfast is only served til 10:00 or lunch doesn’t start until 12:00. I learned early on, when Michelle was sick, that this isn’t how things are here. I went to our local café at dinnertime and tried to order two “prato do dia tirar” (plate of the day to go). The employee (who is amazing!!) just looked at me, said “não” and went on with her day. Another time we were at a café a block and a half away and they have a sign advertising five different types of baguettes, I tried ordering two of them and the employee just looked at me and said “atum” – they actually only had tuna available. I keep saying “the employee” because cafés usually have just one person working – they do EVERYTHING. When I tried to order food to go I didn’t know two very basic things: prato do dia is usually only available between 12:00 and 3:00pm (or when they run out of ingredients) and the employee had a full café of people drinking coffee, beer, and tea so there was no way she would be going to the back to cook two meals! Each café is its own community, if the employee has to run an errand they often stay open and a known customer will handle basic orders until they return.

Tchau for now, we really plan on doing more posts starting this week, we just had to get our bearings. I will also be doing the long promised blog updates (e-mail notifications, update the main page, etc) ASAP!