I’m Acclimating! Tuesday marked my second anniversary in Portugal. It has been two years of learning and getting accustomed to not knowing things and being okay with that. Moving to a new country—especially when you don’t speak the language—is humbling to say the least. But it’s also stimulating, fun, surprising, and without a doubt, the…
Vila Real and Ayamonte, Spain make a great day trip from Tavira. I have had a friend visiting for the past month and the running joke is that she is getting the grand tour of every grocery store in The Algarve. We’re mostly hanging out, doing a lot of walking and hitting restaurants. Not doing…
The death of three friends—all younger than I—in the past two months has me wondering what will happen if I die overseas. It’s kind of a morbid thought (kind of, Barbara?) but one that I need to address, probably sooner than later. Normally when someone dies, their family takes care of all the arrangements. My…
We have hit the rainy season here in The Algarve and no one dares to complain—we’ve been in drought for far too long. The days are a tad raw. Without sun, Portugal is like summer camp in the New England mountains, colder than it should be and everything is damp, no matter how long you…
Meeting new friends in Portugal could be a choice but thankfully, it is truly unavoidable. As I have stated many times, I am an introvert by nature and can get along quite well with little social interaction. I had, in my day, a very busy schedule of business networking meetings, running my own groups, serving…
I spent last Friday in Faro, which is the capital of the Algarve region. If you’re coming to visit, Faro is the closest airport to me. Just sayin. I arrived in Portugal through Faro airport and my driver told me he loved living in Faro. I have visited a few times, mostly for government paperwork…
When you emigrate to a new country, you’re navigating blind. There are so many more unknowns than knowns. And the second hardest lesson you have to learn is you have no idea what you don’t know. That’s partly because of the sheer volume of unknowns from tiny details to BIG IMPORTANT THINGS! and because they…
One of the luxuries of living in a safe place is that you can walk at any hour without worrying about being attacked. That is no small thing for a woman who grew up most anywhere in the US. I walk home after my Portuguese classes. It’s not very late—around 7:30—and the walk takes about…
I am sitting at an outside table at a little café, enjoying a galão because that is one of the few coffee variations I both like and can pronounce. The other is cappuccino, of course, but it is late in the day and rumor has it that you shouldn’t order cappuccino after 11:00 am, or…
Something the glossy magazines don’t tell you about living abroad: Some days are quit days. Any number of obstacles have presented themselves and you feel like you just don’t have the energy to take them on; this whole living abroad thing is too hard. You want to quit. When All the Little Things Pile Up…