One Year In Coimbra!

Looking back on this last year in our new hometown of Coimbra, Portugal we feel comfortable, at ease and happier than we have been in a very long time. Of course, there were some bumps to overcome but in each case our lack of Portuguese didn't make things impossible. The few times we have struggled to get our message across, someone always found another person that spoke English and all was sorted out.

This is one of our neighbors

We found our apartment on a Portuguese website for rental listings and our landlady speaks English. She also gave us the name of a friend that works at the bank where we opened an account and where he also helped us sign up for our medical insurance.

My Doctor - Prof. Doutor Carlos Robalo Cordeiro

I have been to the doctor for a pulmonary issue that I need to deal with periodically. He is not only a specialist but also the 

Regent of the department, President of the Portuguese Society of Pulmonology, President of the Center of Pulmonology Congress, Secretary General Elect of the European Respiratory Society.  He speaks English and the appointment was made by me sending a message via their website and it was incredibly easy and so fast that I was able to see him 4 days later.  He is so kind and treats me like I am the only person in the world during my appointments. 

Our Eye Doctor - Hermínio Simões Carvalho

We will be seeing an optometrist in few weeks for an exam, new lenses and frames and he also speaks English. Vince and I have both been to the dentist for root canals and the people we saw speak English.

This is our favorite woman in the world!  Her name is Maria Elena and she has been selling at the marked for 50 years!  Look at that sweet face.  She always give us kisses and giant hugs and she makes sure we have what is the best and freshest organic veggies and eggs!

The only time we come into contact with people that don't speak English is at the Farmer's Market, some small local shops, our hairdresser, most taxis, and some people working at the mall and grocery stores but nothing that has created any problems for them or us. Google translate is helpful if we need it. We continue to study and are learning slowly but surely.

We have been adopted by a Portuguese family with two girls, 7 and 4 years old, and that is where I feel silly not even being able to speak or understand a 4 year old when she comes to whisper something special in my ear! It is so cute and Mom and Dad speak English and are very patient with us and help us with our Portuguese. It is obvious we all adore each other. We are in contact often and they worry and look out for us.

Vitor and Teresa when they took us to Castle Montemor-o-Velho which is 929 years old. 

After leaving the church I accidentally locked the door when I shut it!  

                                      We walked the walls and I swear I could hear voices.

On the left is daughter #1 Teresa (Little "T") and on the right is Ines.  They are so adorable and are always excited when they get to see us.

Not having a car has been easy. We walk 5 minutes to the taxi stand to go to the mall and our grocery store once a week. Other than that, we walk 20 minutes into town to have coffee, go to our bank, the pharmacy, my shoe repair man, small shops and people watch. It is about 2 miles round trip so we are keeping in shape.

Our bank where we also signed up for our health insurance

                                                                   Our Pharmacy

Our coffee shop is in a 600 year old annex of a 1,100 year old church and is a spot where tourists gravitate to. We have met people from Ireland, England, Australia and some from the US, but not many foreigners live here.

The inside of the coffee shop.  Vince is sitting at the window in the lower right.

But our good friends Sacha, Jmayel and Story moved here the same time we did, also from Thailand, and they live close enough for us to meet and give Story cuddles.  

A woman we met last year at a local shop invited us to her wedding next May and when we see her she always stops to give us kisses and ask how we are. Likewise, the man at the bank, the woman at the optometrist office, the men working at our favorite coffee shop will go out of their way to greet us and ask how we are. They even worried about us when we were on a trip for a couple weeks and wondered if we were ok. The genuine kindness of Portuguese people is beyond anything we have ever experienced as adults in the US. I think is is probably similar to when we were children in the 50's. People had manners, greeted everyone they saw with a “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, How are you today?” Including a smile and a hug and kiss. When we pass someone on the sidewalk we say “Good Morning” and they respond back in kind.

This might sound old fashioned.... Men are gentlemen and women are ladies here. I see many women of all ages wearing skirts. slacks and dresses with boots or medium size heels, scarves, and nicely done hair and minimal makeup. Many men wear suit jackets or nice button down shirts and slacks and this includes the younger men and women going to the university.

Rarely do we see negative attitudes from people working with the public. Customer service here is just part of the culture and people will help out anyway they can. It is a quiet society and when someone raises their voice, all the locals turn to look to see if something is wrong. People speak quietly while talking and it is very nice to have a conversation where people are not yelling to be heard.

After attending a concert at the university, Christmas music at a church or being out for New Years Eve fireworks we walk home very late at night without a care in the world. Families of all ages are out and lovers are holding hands or kissing under a tree. We have never felt anxious or worried about our safety.

This is the Pedro and Ines Bridge we use to cross the river and walk to town.

 Several months ago we connected with a lovely woman named Eve from the US that recently moved here. We are picky when we meet someone and don't often invite strangers to our house but there was just something about her that we felt it was ok to let her into our life. We meet for coffee, peruse antique shops and give each other support and encouragement and laugh at mutually understood stories of figuring out how to use the washing machine or hanging laundry outside to dry or me being afraid to speak to the women at the fresh bread counter because of my lack of language...I am over it now because the bread is fresh, warm, delicious and won me over.

We don't watch TV and don't have small children asking for the toys they see, so Christmas to us appears to be low key compared to the US. In the past couple of years the malls have had Black Friday Sales, but you won't see anyone pushing, shoving or being injured while shopping. Children still sit on Santa's lap and presents are given with heartfelt love and joy. There are not blocks and blocks of houses decorated with outdoor lights. The main downtown and central square puts up decorations and the shops and malls decorate their windows. 

Christmas Squirrel's are a thing in Coimbra

We went to a concert at the 1,100 year old stone church on the right. We stayed bundled up and froze our butts off and tried to imagine what it was like one thousand years ago!

Old and New

Recycled plastic bottles made into a tree in front of Igreja de Sao Tiago church which is over 1,000 years old.  Just after I took the picture, the dog lifted his leg on the tree! 

A band playing Feliz Navidad in the main square.

Santa at Forum Mall

Our friend Teresa works as a manager of a department in a major grocery store and she said that the beginning of November starts the very difficult holiday season. People will get grouchy closer to Christmas and stocking the store is overwhelming and tiring. They won't have a break until January 6^th, then things can get back to normal. So, Portugal is the same, yet different too. Like people everywhere some struggle to make ends meet and this time of year is stressful for many, but people try to remember that the feeling of the Christmas season is one of family, friends and being grateful for what you have in your life.

The weather is gorgeous! We sit outside at cafe's year round and only had to go indoors once or twice during the winter because it was raining too much. The entire country needs rain desperately and the fires of summer have only given us smoke for a few days where we live and we are lucky we can stay inside when we need to. The clear blue, blue skies are dramatic when they have puffy white clouds. We have no air pollution to speak of. 

 We see the trees and flowers blooming in the spring and now the Autumn leaves are full of color. Winter camellias, persimmons, oranges, nuts, pumpkins and chestnuts are fresh and beautiful. The Atlantic ocean is only 30 minutes by car away and we get seagulls that come away from the sea to live here and float on the river in the winter.  

Seagulls on the river

Here is to many more years of love and happiness in our new home!