You Have Questions

I'll try to answer...

From time to time I receive questions from readers via comments to a post or email. So today I will try to answer a few…

VRSA Is More Like Portugal

We are often asked why we left Cascais since clearly, our posts demonstrated how much we liked it. Yes, it is true we loved Cascais! And it should be noted that it is a very easy place to land when first arriving from the US. The climate reminds one of San Diego and there is clearly a “touristy”, upscale vibe. Also, nearly everyone speaks English! Even those people that tell you, “Não falo inglês” will understand much of what you say and are able to speak a few words. They simply lack the same confidence we lack when we attempt to speak Portuguese.

We left Cascais simply because of the cost of real estate. To buy a house (not an apartment) with outdoor space (courtyard or lawn) within a few blocks of the central area would have cost at least 1.2 million euros…more likely 1.4. When you convert that to US dollars ($1.35-$1.6M), we were priced out of the market.

But having admitted that, there is one other factor. A factor that Denise would always emphasize. She would say:

We moved to Portugal to live in another country … not San Diego!

And she is right. Vila Real de Santo Antonio feels more like a Portuguese town than one created for tourists and expats. In fact, we were recently speaking to Dutch shop owners in the architectural salvage store we found in central Algarve. They commented how much they love VRSA saying it reminded them of Tavira 20 years ago … that it is more authentically Portuguese. I have no way of confirming such a comparison, but I’ll take their word for it.

Differing Expat Communities?

There is certainly an expat community here. I think Veronica’s videos have brought a lot of people to VRSA. I mentioned before that her bike rides through the natural reserves and to Castro Marim were how we knew the town existed! To date, most of our interactions have been with Americans that are part of “her tribe”. We have met some other nationalities, but that is primarily through our golf club or our own attempts to expand our sphere of acquaintances. So perhaps this is an unfair comparison, remember we have only been here a few weeks, but it seems that here the Americans tend to keep to themselves. In Cascais, it was more of an international gathering.

Phone calls are the biggest challenge when learning a new language.

Are you speaking Portuguese yet?

Which is a great segway into the next question…how are our attempts to learn the Portuguese language going? Well, Denise has continued her daily disciple! When that woman decides she is going to do something there is no stopping her!!!! I am pleased to report that so far I have kept my New Years’ resolution to study for at least 15 minutes a day and most days I work at it for 30 minutes. So far, I have not missed a day!

I feel I am finally making progress. For the first 2 months, I used the Quizlet app most of the time. Quizlet is primarily a flashcard app…but its test and speed rounds add some variety to the learning. I was introduced to it by Liz, from Talk the Streets, as her course includes links to Quizlet decks she has created to complement her lessons. And yes, I have started once again to use her coursework.

In the last 4 weeks, I have added two components. First, the American expat group meets weekly to “learn Portuguese” … but without a formal program, frankly, they weren’t making very much progress. So I decided to try to provide some level of structure. If you have ever tried to teach, you know that preparing to teach someone is a great way to learn yourself. Also, I have added Memrise to my daily routine as my comprehension and pronunciation need a lot of work. Memrise has a feature that requires you to understand a native speaker, speaking at a normal rate of speed. That along with its ability to check my pronunciation has added a lot to my daily study.

We brought this portrait of Onix painted by our friend Jackie Jacobson.

Can you find pet sitters?

We recently found a pet sitter. She is an English woman, who along with her husband, retired just across the river in Spain. A true dog lover she will stay in our home and care for Onix for only 12€ a day. We thought 20€/day was cheap when we lived in Cascais. After interviewing her and checking out her references I told her “You need to charge more!” Anyway, we are using her services this weekend…so while we don’t expect any surprises, we will let you know.

And on the topic of things that are far less expensive…haircuts. In the States, I was paying $70 for a simple cut. In Cascais, 30€. Last week I had my hair cut for 17€. She did not provide a cappuccino and cookies like Clint in Carcavelos…but I’m still happy.

Storage?

And finally, a question asked by a recent US arrival to Portugal. She asked, “Where are the storage facilities?” And her husband chimed in, “I have been looking for a new business opportunity.” Americans are used to having places to rent to keep their stuff:

We're filling our lives with so much junk — clothes we'll never wear ... spare furniture ... stuff we "might use" — that the U.S. now has more self-storage facilities than McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger Kings, Starbucks and Walmarts combined.

• That's around 50,000 storage complexes. — Axios.com

We have never rented a storage facility. (If you have been reading along you know that we are regular purgers.) But clearly, a lot of Americans are used to having them. And those that aren’t, rented one to keep those things that they are not yet ready to move to Portugal or want to keep in case they return to the States.

In the case of the couple above, they are traveling between the US and their home in the States … planning to visit each for 6 months at a time. Even though they are leaving Portugal to return to the US in just 3 weeks, they have signed a one-year lease for an apartment in VRSA to store the stuff they don’t want to haul back to the States. There are items they brought with them, such as clothes, and items they have acquired over the past few months (coffee maker, bicycles, etc.). We all tend to acquire stuff!

I Googled “storage facilities Portugal” and actually found one about 40 minutes away. But, in general, you won’t find one or more in every town the way you might in the States.

So there you have it … a smattering of this and that. If you ever have a question, please leave a comment or email me.

Next Week: funky and fun architectural salvage and the Knights Templar who lived next door.