Live each day to the fullest and expect the unexpected. That is the mantra I am flowing with at the moment. While seated in the living room quietly minding my own business, I heard some shouting out on the street, which is an extremely rare occurrence around here, since it is usually quiet as a church. The neighbours are having some construction work done so I figured the workers were once again trying not to hit one another with bricks or the cement mixer got stuck again trying to manoeuvre in our narrow paths. But the shouts came closer and it quickly became apparent that someone was shouting into my house through an open window.
Curious, I stuck my head out the door and was met with a rather agitated fellow holding a cooking pot and babbling a mile a minute. He asked whether I had a microwave and if I could heat up his food for him because it was impossible for him to eat cold rice and chicken. He certainly had a point, and I took the pot from him but explained that I would heat it up in a pan instead because I don’t have a microwave (don’t like nor believe in them). Beneath the lid was a generous portion of rice with a few beans mixed in, and a few pieces of fried chicken. I happened to have a beans and chickpeas in the fridge that I had cooked the day before, so I added those to the rice, heated up the chicken and then fried a huge omelette to top it off. I didn’t say anything when I returned the pot, and also handed over a large bottle of cold water. The Brazilian smiled gratefully and quickly peaked under the lid. His eyes grew wide and his face lit up with a grin that went from ear to ear. I told him that he was welcome to knock on my door again the next day if he needed his food warmed up again.
Roughly two hours later my groceries were delivered by a lovey Brazilian woman who drove up here for the first time and got utterly lost. While unloading my delivery she teased me about the amount of cat food she brought “let me guess, you have cats…” and almost choked with laughter when I said I actually cater to 15 cats! We talked about the usual mundane things until she asked me whether I was Spanish, because I am clearly not a local. I explained my Latin American connection and she grinned, explaining that she and her family moved to Portugal recently and are having a really difficult time with life in Europe in general and the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. “I am Brazilian but I don’t understand half of what is being said here. The Portuguese spoken here is very different and I struggle with the doctors’ appointments all the time.” Welcome to my world, and I told her my struggles with the station announcements on the trains here.
Her family has decided that Europe is too cold for them both culturally and climate-wise so they are migrating to Florida soon. They mistakenly assumed that the transition from Brazil to Portugal would be easy, but they were not prepared for the European aloofness. This is a common story I hear among many Brazilians who migrated here in recent years. False expectations and high cost of living are a shock, especially in the Lisbon area. I pointed out that Portugal is actually the warmest and friendliest of all the European countries, but one must not forget that it is still Europe and therefore the cultural boundaries and anonymity that are common to all Western and Central European countries pervades, no matter what. Nevertheless, they have their sights set on Miami and the latino vibe that makes more sense to them.
She couldn’t figure out why I chose to live at the edge of the world, but had to admit that there was indeed a certain charm to the mountain life. This is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, and it has to be a conscious choice. If you are the type who thrives on the metropolitan vibe and night life, you definitely need to stick to cities like Lisbon or Porto.
FrogDiva Thoughts 