Partiu a perna, e agora tem duas canadianas

Or, the punchline to my favourite (and only) Portuguese joke

Another week has flown by - yesterday I reached the milestone of one month at work, which is hard to believe. There's still not that much to tell you about from the office - the people are friendly, the work is interesting. On Thursday I had the excitement of a trip to the Salão Imobiliário de Lisboa (think Ideal Homes but more Portuguese) to chat to some estate agents, which was entertaining, and it was fun to go round with Chris, our press officer, wearing 'Professional' lanyards.

Just a little snapshot of SIL

Otherwise, lots more desk-based web research - I sometimes feel like I'm reading and digesting a measurable percentage of the internet every day, which is clearly not the case.

Anyway, back to the fun stuff, i.e. weekends and evenings! Last weekend was fabulous. On Saturday I went down to the rowing club and finally sorted out my registration (everything except the Sport Medical Examination which I'm currently ignoring in the hope that the club will forget about it...). Then I got the train to Estoril (on the coast west of Lisbon) where I met Carly, who had adopted a group of tourists in Lisbon for the half-marathon. We had a lovely afternoon on the beach - swimming, eating ice cream and generally enjoying the sunshine, feeling smug that it was October and still beach weather. Then we went back into Lisbon and made our way to the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, a perfect place to watch the sunset.

Photo credit to Carly :-)

On Sunday I just made it to church on time, having left about 15 minutes before the harvest festival service was meant to begin, and under normal circumstances it's at least a 25 minute walk... yes, I ran some of the way (obviously falling back into my Merton habit of arriving at Chapel slightly out of breath at 5.44 for the 5.45 service). And after the service there was the unexpected pleasure of a free lunch (provided by Feyikemi and friends) which was delicious - also got talking to the new locum vicar and his wife, who were both very nice. Carly and I then did a bit of sightseeing by tram, and ended up at Outjazz in the Tapada de Necessidades, which was really fun - essentially a very relaxed outdoor concert-festival type thing. We had dinner at her flat too afterwards.

On a slightly crowded tram... and at Outjazz
Photo credits to Carly again.

Monday and Wednesday evenings I went down to the rowing club to refine my boaty Portuguese vocabulary, if not my rowing technique - Filipe, the cox/coach, remarked that when the river is choppy, which it definitely was on Wednesday, you don't learn, you 'desaprende' (unlearn). It's still super fun though, and there's never a dull moment, what with the constant amazing landmarks (sadly impossible to photograph while rowing!), and sharing the river with car-ferries and container-ships, amongst other vessels.

Tuesday and Thursday were more relaxed, and on Friday I went swimming, which was fun, before having a great family conversation on Google hangouts - good to see my brother enjoying life in Oxford. I sadly had to miss out on Saturday's rowing session after feeling ill in the night and when I woke up, and spent a lot of the day resting. I did make it to the Casa Fernando Pessoa, though, which was fun for a quick look around! I was also very pleased to see the huge flag at the top of the Parque Eduardo VII has been reinstated - not sure why it has been missing for the last few weeks. 

Not much of a sense of scale - believe me, it's enormous.

Oh yes, now let me explain the joke.

It's about 'um menino que não tinha namorada' (a boy who didn't have a girlfriend). The punchline means 'he broke his leg, and now he has two Canadian-f.pl. (i.e. two Canadian girlfriends) OR two crutches'. I'm very proud of knowing this joke, even if it's pretty atrocious.

Extra photos of pretty bits of Lisbon

Thank you for reading!

Tem pão de ló?

Or, the search for the most elusive pastry yet

In case anyone has been worried by the recent lack of posts, let me reassure you - everything is absolutely fine. I have just been a bit busier, keeping track of Stephen who came to visit for a week (Wednesday 24th - Wednesday 1st).

Forget port and vinho verde, these are the best Portuguese drinks - Ucal and Compal

If any of you are keeping track... I last posted nearly two weeks ago, on Sunday morning, so I will briefly inform anyone who's interested what I've been up to from that point onwards!

I spent the rest of Sunday at church and made some lovely new friends, including Carly and Feyikemi (names which will reappear!). The three of us went for lunch, which extended into the afternoon, and walked through the Parque Eduardo VII back towards our homes. In the evening I had the pleasure of dinner with the fabulous Sofia (soon to be a Merton student) and her family - they were so kind, and I had a great time.

A new working week - there's not much to report from the office, although I feel you should know that I'm developing a good 'interny' position for myself in the hierarchy, including doing photocopying, picking up shirts from the dry cleaners, buying stationery (three trips so far), carrying coffee in to clients, and making 'proper English tea' for the boss (only one cup... I guess I did something wrong?). I am doing real work too, though, promise! I'm continuing to make the most of my free time. On Monday evening I went down to the river for a rowing session which was really fun - I went out in a quad with some middle-aged men, definitely a new experience but a positive one. Then on Tuesday evening I was invited to Feyikemi's birthday party at a fancy seafood restaurant in the Baixa - it was great to meet more people and see a different zone of Lisbon. I made it home successfully on the metro ready for a good night's sleep.

Then Wednesday brought all sorts of excitement in the form of Stephen's visit to Lisbon. He arrived just before midnight, and despite leaving loads of time, I nearly failed to make it to the airport - the metro workers were going on strike for Thursday. Without knowing it, I ended up on the last train before everything was shut soon after 11pm - the man literally locked up the gate to the platform after me. Still, once I'd met my guest at the arrivals zone, we managed to get back into central Lisbon by taxi. Stephen was staying at the Pousada de Juventude (youth hostel), not too far from where I live, but I stayed there too that night to avoid waking up everyone in the flat, also meaning we could have breakfast together in the morning.

Rainbow! (if you look closely)

The weekdays fell into a pleasant pattern of Stephen meeting me outside my flat to walk to work, then meeting up again for lunch, bought from a pastelaria (pastry/cake shop... and more) and eaten in a convenient shady spot, and in the evening going for a wander and finding dinner somewhere. He seemed to find enough to do during the day time - lots of walking up and down hills, I'm told, as well as discovering the Botanical Garden's museum which had an exciting maths exhibition... each to their own. On Thursday evening we both went to dinner with some of my colleagues, who were just starting a night out, which was suitably amusing.

In the middle of the week-long visit, we had a very adventurous weekend, finding our way to the beautiful town of Sintra, which is about 45 minutes' train ride away from Lisbon, and far more peaceful and green than the city centre. The town is full of historic buildings - castles and palaces in particular, since its cooler micro-climate has attracted important people there in the summer for centuries. We definitely did our fair share of touristing while we were there. We looked round the Palácio Nacional de Sintra, full of amazing ceilings and furniture, among other things, and climbed up the hills to see the Moorish Castle and the Palácio de Pena, a ridiculously pink and yellow fairytale palace (although didn't venture inside those two).

If you've read the previous sentence, you'll probably be able to work out what this is.

A particular highlight was the Quinta da Regaleira, which is a house and gardens designed in an extremely eccentric Romantic way, with all kinds of towers, caves, waterfalls, secret underground passages, a 'reverse tower'/deep well, and much more.

The poço (well) - pretty cool!

I didn't quite feel a sense of 'philosophical discovery of the tensions between good and evil', as promised by the leaflet, but I loved the way there was always something new around the corner.

At Regaleira, complete with excellent tree ferns

No account of a trip involving me could be complete without a report on food, so I'll note here that we also sampled the local delicacies, including some different pastries, like travesseiros and queijadas, and went round loads of pastelarias looking for some 'pão de ló', which look suspiciously like Yorkshire puddings but, as we eventually found out when we tracked them down in Lisbon, tastes nothing like them! Our chocolate one disappeared so quickly that it didn't even get photographed. (Having said that, none of my Portuguese food has been photographed yet... probably because it's all so delicious...)

The week passed very quickly and soon Stephen had to return to sunny England. Although to be fair, Portugal has been much sunnier and warmer for the last couple of weeks - apparently it got to 30 degrees yesterday, for example. I'm not complaining! We had had a lovely time, and inevitably felt a bit sad that it was coming to an end. Still, rumour has it that a surprise birthday visit will be occurring in November...

Extra photo just because

After Stephen left, I spent Wednesday evening at home relaxing and chatting to my family, and Thursday evening doing lengths at the swimming pool. I managed to hold a proper conversation with someone in my lane (or rather, the lane - when there are classes happening, there is one 'leisure' lane open with signs for both 'fast lane' and 'slow lane'). He was bemused to find out that I'd only been in Lisbon for a month and already spoke Portuguese, until I said I'd studied the language for two years beforehand... I had another small moment of triumph earlier in the week when a waitress told me that, although I have an accent, there are lots of returned emigrants who speak with an accent like mine - though I'm not entirely convinced!

I'm now looking forward to a trip to the beach with Carly tomorrow - taking advantage of the amazing October sun and warmth. So, on this warm Friday evening, I wish you all the best, and must thank you for reading. Until next time!

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