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