-
Festival Med 2023
Our wonderful friend Jorge (our Portuguese professor) loves live music of almost any variety. Jorge had been telling us and other students in his classes that Festival Med in the nearby town of Loulé is an amazing event, he was going and offered to have us join his group if we were interested. The festival…
-
Day Trip To Spain
One of our classmates/friends and her husband invited us along for a shopping trip and lunch in Spain. This sounds exotic from an American perspective but it’s quite commonplace here in Portugal. Spain is about a 45 minute drive from Olhão and public transportation options are also available. It is a popular destination because a…
-
We Skipped Ugly Christmas Sweaters This Year
-
Festas And Fun
The season of holiday parties was upon us and we said yes to almost any reason to celebrate the remaining weeks of 2022. Two parties in the countryside: One of our classmates lives in Moncarapacho which is about 7 kilometers from Olhão and we attended two social gatherings at her house. The first was a…
-
Giving Thanks Abroad
November sits right between two movie filled months, Michelle’s horror extravaganza in October and Andrew’s Christmas romantic comedies in December. It’s that time where many Americans make a full transition to having lives dictated by various holidays and parties for six weeks or so. Fittingly, it was a transitional month for our lives in Portugal…
-
Our Dance Card Is Filling Up
In Medford we had a few “non-work” friends, but every year or so we’d talk about making a concerted effort to expand out to new social circles. We made amazing and hopefully lifelong friendships with coworker and work associates but those gatherings almost always circled back to endless conversations about our job. After almost 20…
-
Fall Reading
Andrew: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. A digital library loan. My Rating: ***** Even if, like me, you are kind of sick of stories about multiverses, don’t skip this amazing novel if you are a sci-fi fan. A scientist discovers a method to jump to other dimensions that are similar to our own BUT…
-
Pumpkin Spice And Halloween In Portugal
-
Immersion: More Like An Ocean Than A Pool
Michelle: Immersion?!? People use this word pretty frequently when the subject of our move to Portugal comes up. It is usually a short, topical conversation much like a fleeting news headline. What actually comes to mind when you use the word immersion? I consider one of my favorite kitchen gadgets an immersion blender which I…
-
Another Journey On The Road To Residency
My journey through the bureaucracy of becoming a legal resident in Portugal has been a series of physical trips, often covering long distances and being more stressful than the actual appointments involved. Trips to San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Orlando have all been intense journeys. Fittingly today’s post will focus on my journey more than…