Voga e sota

(Or, bow-side and stroke-side)

I've had another good few days - lots of time spent in the office, but a few more interesting things as well. At the top of the list of exciting events was yesterday when I went down to the river for an open day at one of the rowing clubs! 

Unique location

Some things are the same wherever you go

The open day, at the Associação Naval de Lisboa, was advertised online as a chance to try rowing on the Tagus, with the additional bonus of 'In rowing you will always be among friends' - and it completed lived up to expectations! The people running the session made me feel really welcome. There was a tank session, a gym session (ergs and core) and a water session. I had to learn a lot of new vocabulary quite quickly, and it got a bit confusing when it became clear that the word for the seat is 'slide' - as any English rower will tell you, the slide is not the same as the seat. If you rowed sitting on the slide (metal runners underneath the seat), you would definitely know about it... It felt pretty good to be back in a boat, even though the style of rowing is pretty different - the Tagus can get quite choppy so the boats are much wider. I'll probably go back to the club for another session on Monday, then think about whether I'm going to become a member. The club's location is pretty cool - within a couple of minutes of pushing off from the pontoon, you row under the massive suspension bridge, the Ponte 25 de Abril. The traffic on the bridge makes an impressive roaring noise - I'm sure it's something you get used to eventually.

Continuing on the sporty line, I had one successful trip to the swimming pool, and one unsuccessful one - unsuccessful in the sense that the pool was closed for classes. I did end up getting the timetable of how many lanes are open, though, which should make things easier - not sure why they didn't give it to me when I joined, seeing as the information isn't available anywhere else, but never mind! I took advantage of the chance to wander round Campo de Ourique - I found Fernando Pessoa's house, definitely going on the list of things to go back to.

The house's façade is covered with quotations

Lisbon still has a few tram lines running - the old-fashioned sort (pictured here) are now joined by modern 'super trams'. The old ones have the best sound effects, though, and they're always full of people. These two are in Campo de Ourique as well.

Moving vehicles

There's not really much to report about the office - things have continued in much the same way. Friendly people, big lunches, moderately interesting things to do. I've had a couple of 'meetings' with people my boss thought I might find it helpful to talk to, which has been quite fun. The other day I had one of these meetings at the Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão - imagine, a whole university for E&M... Sadly it was pouring with rain so I didn't manage to take any photos, either of the university or of the Assembleia Nacional (parliament) which I walked past on the way. Maybe next time. 

I also realised just how small the world is when I bumped into someone I knew from last year's interviews at Oxford. She lives in Lisbon and will be starting at Merton in a few weeks - what a coincidence! 

I haven't got much more to say now, but will keep you updated. Thanks for reading!

Então vamos falar só português

(Or, what people say when they discover I speak the lingo)

The last few days have been pretty good! I've been trying to settle into things, find my way around, and get to know a few people. In general it has gone more or less to plan...

I spent most of Thursday and Friday in the office so tried to do some interesting things in the evenings. That included a quick walk through 'Vogue Fashion's Night Out Lisbon' which was entertaining. Coming home I may have accidentally rung the doorbell outside a downstairs neighbour's flat - it was identical to and adjacent to the light switch - but I definitely got away with it. I also made a trip to the nearby Parque Eduardo VII, which is great - you can look down past the statue of the Marquês de Pombal, to the river Tejo (Tagus), and to the hills on the other side. It's pretty impressive, as well as making a relaxing place to read after a day of looking at a computer screen.

As described above. Notice the Oxford-style (everywhere-style) tour bus

My hosts, Luísa and her daughter Elena, have really gone out of their way to make me feel welcome, including cooking for me, and explaining the finer points of Portuguese current affairs discussions that I attempted to watch with them on TV. Elena's introduced me to her friends too. Taking the attitude that it's always best to accept invitations, I spent Friday evening with a few of them at a horror film festival (called Motel X in case anyone is interested)... Horror isn't at the top of my list of hobbies, and I wasn't filled with a new passion for the genre. But it was fun to spend time with new people, and the fact that I didn't understand much of the conversation didn't matter too much.

While I'm on the subject of the language, I have noticed I understand more of what's being said around me even than a week ago. On the other hand, it's going to take a long time until I can cope with the more difficult sides of communication, like listening to two people talking at once (a common occurrence in the office). 

Here's a pretty garden I can walk through on the way to work if I slightly divert my route (gratuitous photo to break up the text...).

Fountain complete with "dragons's teeth" surrounding

Another thing I'm getting used to is the concept of a Portuguese work lunch. Every day we go to a small local restaurant (the same one) and have a massive meal, along with a glass of wine, and a bica - yes, I've been converted - for a grand total of about €5 each. One of the restaurant owners rounds down the bill if it doesn't split evenly - it says a lot about how good-natured people are here. 

At the weekend I carried on settling in. I made my way to a swimming pool (didn't get too lost), registered, and had a swim, and enjoyed an excellent lunch in my favourite Lisbon cafe afterwards. On Sunday I went to St George's, the English church - everyone was very welcoming and it made me feel quite at home, even though I spoke Portuguese with people afterwards (one of the many times people have said the title quotation to me!). In the afternoon I went to the Estufa Fria which I love, having visited it before on family holidays. Next time I'll take my camera and share the joy.

Meteorological update: The weather has been 'patchy', and it absolutely poured today. I'm not too amused by the forecast either, but at least it's still warm. I don't mind the rain as long as I don't get too cold!

Photographic evidence of cats and dogs from the office window

Rain, thunderstorm, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, sun!

Anyway, should probably stop there or I won't have any ideas for next time. Hope you enjoyed this! Do leave a comment if you have questions or... comments... :-)

Thank you to everyone for reading - last time and this time!

Estou, sim

(Or, how to answer the phone in Portuguese)

So, I've made it to Lisbon! And it's been very exciting so far. The last few days have been a bit crazy, what with trying to find somewhere to live, saying goodbye to my family, and getting settled in at work, but it's all turned out well. I'm writing after my first full day in the office, having just moved into my room at the house of a lovely Portuguese lady and her daughter.

Finding a room didn't feel simple at the time - I must have made well over 30 Portuguese phone calls, which got progressively easier, trying to arrange to see rooms being advertised online, and visited a few that were uninspiring and unsatisfactory in various ways... But I have been lucky to find, fairly quickly, somewhere that's both comfortable and convenient. 

I live near here

My parents and brother, who had valiantly traipsed round Lisbon putting up with me being stressed about being homeless - an interesting end to the summer holiday! - left yesterday afternoon, and treated me to a night in a hotel, as my rented room wasn't available until today. In the evening I went to work out my route to work on the bus, and was walking home when I met a group of lost Americans who had been on a cruise around Portugal. Wanting to do my good turn for the day, I helped them find the restaurant they were looking for, only to be invited to dinner... definitely not what I was looking for, but they were very keen for me to join them. That solved the problem of who to eat with, and it was great fun.

This morning I woke up long before my alarm, with that 'first day of school' feeling. Or, I should say, full of anticipation for the day at work. I did have one surprise before I left; even though I was expecting the unexpected, today's massive thunderstorm and general rain were not part of the plan.

An unexpectedly cloudy and wet Lisbon morning, as seen from the hotel

Fortunately, I'm still sufficiently English to be able to cope with the rain. I got in on time, met my office mates, and soon settled down with some things to do. I may not have quite managed to translate the whole of the 2000 word document I was given (English to Portuguese!), but the boss has sorted me out with a plan for the next week and a half. According to my colleagues, a more important challenge is to start drinking a glass of wine with lunch and 'uma bica' (very strong coffee) afterwards.

Thank you for reading! Até a próxima (until next time).
Amanda