I've really enjoyed your posts. Thank you (and great photos too). This one struck a chord as we are expats from the SF bay area and the language, the peace/noise and giving up the 24 hr news cycle (we were pretty heavy into it; Nicole, Rachel as well) all align with what we have experienced. We moved here in April (been in an airbnb in Principe Real for 3 months but moving tomorrow to an apartment in Campo de Ourique, a lovely neighborhood as well, both in Lisbon).
Why I am commenting today: yes, the men speak very loudly (and passionately) but I had the experience of being very close to a bee hive of women all talking at the same time when I had a heart "event" 2 weeks into moving here. I got phenomenal care at Hospital da Luz/Lisboa but day 1 in the emergency dept, there was a female patient in my 8-bed room that had visitors; 3 ladies and I could not believe the speed and volume of their talking. I wondered if I would get any sleep but thankfully they were gently moved along around 9P....so, suffice to say that women can hit some high decibel levels as well!
PS: if you ever want to hear more about a side-by-side comparison of healthcare here in PT as opposed to the US, it is exponentially better here (my experience) at a fraction of the cost (especially bedside manner in how the Portuguese put a huge value on empathy, care and concern). It was nothing short of mind-blowing.
Julie (not missing life in the US one bit. Physical safety is at the top of my list of favorite things about Portugal so far. Everyone talks about the fish, but their bread is pretty amazing as well)!
Julie, thank you for your comment- one thing I am worried about is if one of us ends up in the hospital with our (extremely) poor Portuguese language skills. It’s reassuring to read your comment about empathy in addition to quality of medical care.
I am excited about our trip in late September to check out Lisbon and other areas of Portugal…
Well, newly arrived to PT, I spoke 10 words of Portuguese--I understand your concern, but everyone in emergency medicine and almost everyone on the hospital side (I was in there for 3 days) spoke English. Only one nurse's aid did not speak English but found someone for me very quickly. On the other hand, the administration side is a mixed bag. One suggestion as the language is very tough to learn (for me): look into PockeTalk (we bought it on Amazon). Not inexpensive but almost seamlessly, you speak into it and it spits out your the answers/responses in Portuguese (or any of 70+ languages). It also prints the response on the screen; small device....fits in your....We have used it for lengthy convos (service people, making res, etc...) For us, well worth the $$$ Please stay in touch w/me if you have other Lisbon questions! Happy to help!
well said. We can all use a bit of peace and quiet in this turbulent world. I say this as we are battening down the hatches in preparation of Tropical Storm Emma - or is it Erma? Anyway, I have moved my outdoor furniture to safety. Do they have storms in Portugal?
Hi Nancy--
I've really enjoyed your posts. Thank you (and great photos too). This one struck a chord as we are expats from the SF bay area and the language, the peace/noise and giving up the 24 hr news cycle (we were pretty heavy into it; Nicole, Rachel as well) all align with what we have experienced. We moved here in April (been in an airbnb in Principe Real for 3 months but moving tomorrow to an apartment in Campo de Ourique, a lovely neighborhood as well, both in Lisbon).
Why I am commenting today: yes, the men speak very loudly (and passionately) but I had the experience of being very close to a bee hive of women all talking at the same time when I had a heart "event" 2 weeks into moving here. I got phenomenal care at Hospital da Luz/Lisboa but day 1 in the emergency dept, there was a female patient in my 8-bed room that had visitors; 3 ladies and I could not believe the speed and volume of their talking. I wondered if I would get any sleep but thankfully they were gently moved along around 9P....so, suffice to say that women can hit some high decibel levels as well!
PS: if you ever want to hear more about a side-by-side comparison of healthcare here in PT as opposed to the US, it is exponentially better here (my experience) at a fraction of the cost (especially bedside manner in how the Portuguese put a huge value on empathy, care and concern). It was nothing short of mind-blowing.
Julie (not missing life in the US one bit. Physical safety is at the top of my list of favorite things about Portugal so far. Everyone talks about the fish, but their bread is pretty amazing as well)!
Julie, funny you should say that…please stay tuned.
Julie, thank you for your comment- one thing I am worried about is if one of us ends up in the hospital with our (extremely) poor Portuguese language skills. It’s reassuring to read your comment about empathy in addition to quality of medical care.
I am excited about our trip in late September to check out Lisbon and other areas of Portugal…
Well, newly arrived to PT, I spoke 10 words of Portuguese--I understand your concern, but everyone in emergency medicine and almost everyone on the hospital side (I was in there for 3 days) spoke English. Only one nurse's aid did not speak English but found someone for me very quickly. On the other hand, the administration side is a mixed bag. One suggestion as the language is very tough to learn (for me): look into PockeTalk (we bought it on Amazon). Not inexpensive but almost seamlessly, you speak into it and it spits out your the answers/responses in Portuguese (or any of 70+ languages). It also prints the response on the screen; small device....fits in your....We have used it for lengthy convos (service people, making res, etc...) For us, well worth the $$$ Please stay in touch w/me if you have other Lisbon questions! Happy to help!
We use free PT TraNsllater app on phone.very helpful!
Thank you- I will certainly check out both the PockeTalk and the PT TraNsllater!
well said. We can all use a bit of peace and quiet in this turbulent world. I say this as we are battening down the hatches in preparation of Tropical Storm Emma - or is it Erma? Anyway, I have moved my outdoor furniture to safety. Do they have storms in Portugal?
60mph wind events do not cause for hysterical news coverage...
It’s Elsa (my puppy’s name is Elsa, and we think one of these things takes after the other. ;-)