It’s the Little Differences
That you sometimes notice the most
Hello everybody!
The sun is shining and the weather is downright agradável (agreeable). We are thankfully escaping the heat waves that are baking the rest of the Iberian peninsula and southern Europe. These cool Atlantic breezes sure are magical.
What’s on tap this week?
Portuguese quirks that make life interesting
Quick Hits
Let’s dive in!
It’s the little differences that you notice the most
Life in Portugal as an American expat isn’t all that culturally exotic. European countries share a lot in common with The States. Some differences can and should be expected (business courtesies, greetings, phone conversation specifics, etc), and we are learning how to be more aware and fit in.
But we’ve also started to notice some funny patterns that we just can’t explain. It’s not just us. When we hang out with other expats, the conversation inevitably turns to these anomalies. Let’s talk about a few of them:
Iced coffee isn’t really a thing
Coffee culture is huge here. The Portuguese end every meal with espresso, and in general, even the cheap stuff (.80€/shot at a small bakery) is tasty. I don’t even understand how anyone sleeps here, with the high levels of caffeine intake. Maybe it’s all the wine?
The coffee menus are generally all the same. Espresso, coffee with a little milk, coffee with a lot of milk, Americano, Cappuccino… all hot.
Hilary is a big fan of iced plant-milk lattes, and she is persistent about trying to get restaurants, cafes, and bakeries to make her one. She has made many attempts but has never been successful.
Every time, without fail, she gets some version of a hot latte paired with a small bowl with one or two ice cubes in it and some tongs. This is always served by a very confused (almost to the point of being distressed) server.
Even when I flex my Portuguese and describe exactly how to make an iced latte (put ice in a cup, pour cold milk in, and drop a shot on the top), we’re just met with confused, concerned stares. It’s almost as if the concept is so foreign that it’s not even conceivable.
Portuguese: Why would anyone want a coffee that’s not hot?
Us: Possibly because it’s 30ºC outside? lol.
Yes, we have fancy, fair-trade, single-origin, craft coffee roasters here (and a few Starbucks), and they serve cold brew and iced drinks. But these are few and far between and don’t exist at all in smaller towns. And for some reason nobody outside of those craft-coffee walls has ever heard of iced coffee.
We are simply baffled by this disconnect.
The transformative power of a steering wheel
The Portuguese people are some of the friendliest in Western Europe. They’re kind and welcoming and will jump at the chance to help you any time you need. The pace of life is relaxed and slow. Interactions begin and end with beijinhos (little kisses) and abraços (hugs).
Everything changes as soon as you put a steering wheel in front of them. It’s truly a Jekyll & Hyde transformation. These wonderfully friendly, generous people turn into honk-holding, sidewalk-driving, cursing, pedestrian-scattering race-car drivers.
We live on a big boulevard and the primary soundtrack to our life (other than seagulls and the neighbor dog who barks all day) is the sound of long, extended, angry car horns. Jaywalking is death-defying.
Of course, there is plenty of road rage in the USA (and the likelihood of someone pulling a gun is exponentially higher), but there, the rancor goes way beyond the streets… it was in our daily lives, on tv, on social media, weaved into regular interactions. In short, it’s not a night/day contrast.
Here, everything is so tranquilo until a steering wheel shows up.
Just park wherever
One very valid reason people honk here is the parking situation. It’s frankly astonishing.
Porto is an old city without much parking. So it’s very common to see people double park along a line of parallel parked cars (a segunda filha - the second line), park on the sidewalk, park in the bike lane, or simply stop in a lane of traffic, put hazards on, and wander into a padaria to get a loaf of bread…
It’s almost comical, unless you’re the one stuck on a one-lane street behind someone who is just casually blocking the road while they’re sipping a definitely-not-iced coffee at the cafe.
The concept of circling the block until you find a legal spot doesn’t remotely exist here.
If your car is completely blocked in by someone who has double-parked, you’re expected to follow the standard local process:
Honk a bunch and wait until they come and move their car
If they don’t move it within some undefined “reasonable” amount of time, call the cops to have the car towed
Even for locals, it’s a running joke.
These and a hundred other quirky little things are just a funny, perplexing, (and sometimes annoying) part of expat life. I hope by sharing with you, you get a peek into the random daily routine here.
Quick Hits
THEY STARTED WORKING ON OUR ROOF! This is a huge step forward for our renovation project. So far they have just put the structural support beams in place, and it will likely take them two months to actually do the replacement, but we are able to breathe a bit easier now that something is actually happening.
Hilary finally found the organic farmer’s market she’s been lusting after since our arrival 10 months ago. Sure, we have plenty of fresh, local fruit stands, but this one is bio! It’s surprising how hard it can be to track stuff like this down, even in the age of the internet and social media. The smile on her face when she came home with bags stuffed full of vibrant veggies was undeniable.
We attended a vegan food fest this weekend, and it was great to see it so packed. We discovered lots of local plant-based food offerings and, of course, ate many pastries. I didn’t say it was healthy, I just said it was vegan.
We spent Saturday afternoon playing tourist on a gloriously sunny, 24ºC (75ºF) day. This involved going down to the Gaia waterfront and enjoying a cocktail with a stunning view back to Porto, stopping by a fancy hotel at the bridgehead that we’ve been wanting to check out (and seeing their falcon-powered pigeon deterrent), and wandering through the streets of old town. We have to keep pinching ourselves to believe that we live in this incredibly beautiful, vibrant, colorful, historic, international place.
What did you get up to this week?
Two Another recently released a deluxe version of their Back to Us album, which is a favorite of mine from 2022. If you’re not familiar with this indie-soul duo, you should be: