So much to share since my last missive.
Nick and I started a Portuguese language program, much of which is online but with two live zoom meetings each week. Have I said before how difficult this language is to learn??? Did you know that the numbers one and two actually have masculine and feminine versions? We say dois copos for two glasses but duas garrafas for two bottles; um menino for one boy but uma menina for one girl. If I am introducing myself to someone in Portuguese I must say that my name is "a MaryLou", while Nick would say "o Nicholas". Speaking fluently will not happen overnight but we are constantly trying to use new phrases we've learned, which often ends with the Portuguese person trying to help/correct us, though always in a friendly manner. Our cupboards, kitchen drawers, bathroom mirrors, even the inside of our front door, are covered in post-it notes, with words or phrases we're supposed to learn. Daily we're doing drills online, trying to memorize and learn to conjugate verbs.
A few weeks ago we attended our first expat get-together, put on by a couple whose YouTube channel we follow, Expats Everywhere. It was a very nice get-together at a lovely outdoor bar area downtown. We met a number of Americans at this one and the first question was often "What made you leave the U.S," as opposed to Portuguese people who always ask, "Why did you choose Portugal?" Without discussing politics it was quite clear why we all chose to get out of Dodge. One reason we chose Portugal was because of how safe it is to live here. The country ranks in the top 10 safest countries in the world. No one carries a gun and we never hear of theft. Two examples: I left my cell phone in an Uber car back in July after being dropped off at the bus depot in Aveira. A few minutes later I heard someone calling my name; it was the Uber driver, running to find me and return my phone. A few weeks ago Nick lost his cell phone and we were sure it was lost for good. The following evening I received a call from a man letting me know he'd found Nick's phone. It was another of those situations where he speaks Portuguese and I couldn't understand more than a few words. My first thought was how did he get my number because he didn't have Nick's code to unlock it but he mentioned something about Vodafone, which is our service provider. Apparently the guy who found it turned it over to someone he knew at Vodafone. Once again it was our landlord Nuno who stepped in to help us. I gave Nuno the phone number of the guy who called me and he reached out to him. We had the Sim card disabled in the meantime. A few days later Nick got his phone back.
Last Thursday we spent the day with our new realtor and her side-kick. Yes, we are committed to Porto and have decided to buy our own place, a flat rather than a house. It was a long day, looking at five different places. We've made an offer on a very eclectic place and are awaiting an answer. If we don't get this one then we will start looking again. Here's another interesting fact; buyers must pay a fee before closing that is somewhere in the range of 6-8% of the purchase price, depending on the cost of the property. That is not a fee paid to the realtor but rather taxes. On the flip side, property taxes we'll have to pay are less than $600/euros annually. Condo fees in most places we've seen range from $30-90/euros a month. Here's another interesting fact about crime here.....at least three of the places we saw had parking spaces in the underground parking garages for those buildings. People tend to use part of the parking space designated for their cars to also store things like bikes, furniture, household goods, etc. These items aren't locked up....they are just sitting in the parking space and no one touches any of it. Incredible.
Also last week, we were dining at one of our favorite restaurants which we first discovered back in March when we were here looking for an apartment to rent. Solange, the owner/chef has become a friend as well and wanted to introduce us to another couple, Lorriane and Gary, who were also dining there that evening . They are also expats and just happen to live near us in the Boa Vista neighborhood. Lorraine is a Brit and a retired chef. We all hit it off and exchanged numbers and are planning to meet up for dinner in the 'hood soon. Accompanying them was another couple who were visiting from LA, Karen and Dan. Dan is a musician and told us about a Fado group he'd met and performed with here in Porto. The next day Dan texted and invited us to meet up with them that evening at the Galeria de Paris, a little bar/restaurant in a very funky nightclub area downtown to listen to Fado music. Dan again accompanied the group on his guitar for most of the set. Fado is the traditional music of Portugal that I would liken to torch singers.....usually sad, longing kind of music that is really quite lovely.
I've been negligent in posting more photos on Instagram but will get busy now to show the beautiful Palacio de Bolsas, which was the original stock exchange in Portugal that we toured recently. My most recent photos all seem to be for the shipping company, showing them where they can park and measuring the distance to the front door...really.
Just as I was preparing to sign off we got two bits of news...the ship with our goods is due to arrive in Rotterdam on September 25th. Once it clears customs they will put it on a truck and deliver it though we still don't know exactly when. But at least things are getting closer. The other great news is that our offer has been accepted! We're working out the details now and will likely close at the end of January and move in later in February, which works well for us. The current owner is a writer and painter from the Netherlands who is returning to his homeland. Very exciting!
Adeus, abraços e beijos,
MaryLou