Shopping Like a Local
Just follow the old lady with the cart…
Our streak of warm weather continues, so we are spending as much time out and about as possible. What have you been up to?
Topics for this week:
Shopping like a local at Estadio do Mar(ket)
More adulting at the IMT
Leveling up our Vietnamese cooking
Let’s go!
We finally found the Saturday market
We kept hearing tales from other expats about this “huge farmer’s market” out in Matosinhos. A few weeks back we joined up with a local friend to go and find it. We looked on Google maps and followed a listing to central Matosinhos, only to find one small stand in the middle of the square.
We were perplexed.
In the ensuing weeks, we kept asking around, and someone finally said “just take the metro to Estado do Mar and follow the crowds, you can’t miss it.” So this last Saturday we finally made the journey.
The directions couldn’t have been more accurate. As the metro rolled up to the stop, all the old Portuguese ladies with their granny carts started jostling for pole position at the exit doors, so they could beat all the other little old ladies to the fruit and veggie stands. All we had to do was follow.
This shindig is massive, and it’s a weird mix of flea market, swap meet, and farmers market. Gorgeous, overflowing displays of local veggies, flowers, and starts sitting right next to tables piled with used clothes, with a gold-chain-wearing dude yelling out the Portuguese equivalent of “2€ for this crap!” (loose translation)
Kids clothing and toys, swap-meet Louie, sneakers, tableware, furniture, rugs, tools… if you need it, they have it, and the gray-hair senhoras are throwing elbows to get the best stuff.
The veggies did not disappoint. Unfortunately, nothing was organic, but most everything was local and unfathomably inexpensive. The vibe is frenetic and disorganized. And most of the vendors only speak Portuguese, but shopping is language 101, so we had no trouble communicating.
We perused all the aisles to see everything on offer. It’s a parking lot with tents/covers haphazardly set up and guy wires snaking everywhere. Plenty of low-hanging things to clothesline or skullcap those of us that are taller. And I caught more than my share of shoulders and elbows as people pushed past to get to whatever prize they were fixated upon.
This is definitely my kind of market. Zero pretense, all action, everything cheap. Hilary enjoyed getting some starts that we couldn’t find elsewhere, but she prefers a bit more organized vibe, with organic/handcrafted stuff. That said, we had fun. I’ll be back for sure.
Adventures with the Portuguese DMV
I’m in the process of exchanging my Washington driver’s license for a Portuguese one. The first step (actually 7 steps in all) was getting my official driving records, having them apostilled by the WA secretary of state and then certified by the SF Portuguese Consulate, which I did last summer before I left the states.
The next step (after getting my residency card) was to have an online medical exam specifically for drivers. It was quick and easy, and the results were zapped digitally to the IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes).
Once that happened, I applied online and submitted scans of all the relevant documents. Within two days, I got a message that they had set up an appointment for me to drop by the IMT office to submit the original documents and turn over my WADL.
So I woke early and showed up to find a MASSIVE line. After a while, I figured out that since I had an appointment I could cut up to the front, but lo and behold, my appointment had been canceled!
After some back and forth with a dude behind the counter (who accused me of canceling my own appointment), he set another one for two days later.
I showed back up to a packed, muggy, sweaty office crammed full of people waiting not-so-patiently for their turn. The vibe was tense but still civil. About 30 minutes after my appointment I was called up, processed, and out.
I now have a temporary Portuguese DL and should get mine in the mail… someday.
Leveling up our Vietnamese cooking
We hosted a couple of expats for a vegan Vietnamese dinner at our place last week. Hilary had the idea to serbe make-your-own goi cuon (salad rolls), which would be both tasty and fun.
We (meaning mostly Hilary) spent the whole week in advance planning, buying, and testing out ingredients. Once again, we were faced with unfamiliar brands of products and non-standard ingredients, which means many trips to many stores, and tasty test runs.
Hilary made pomelo salad (with vegan fish sauce), satay tempeh skewers, baked tofu, peanut sauce, rice noodles, and an array of herbs for MYO salad rolls. Also a raw mango cheesecake for dessert. I contributed with some lemongrass seitan, tamarind whiskey sours, and sous-cheffing.
Everything was a massive success and of course 100% vegan. We ate Vietnamese for a week and a half, with test runs in advance and then days of leftovers afterward. But Asian cuisine is the hardest to find here, especially vegan. So we reveled in all the fresh, bright, dynamic flavors. And we honed some valuable cheffing skills.
What did you get up to last week?
I’m a big fan of Spotify’s vibe-specific curated playlists. This week’s offering is one that resonates…