Lisbon Surprises

Our time is drawing to a close. Our stay with Martinho and Antonio has turned into a competition of making dinners, opening good wine, and being clean and tidy. They will remain our friends when we move here. The other night they had a friend come over from London. Sadly, his father passed away here in Lisbon, and he just needed to be with friends… lucky for us he's also a chef in London. He didn't cook dinner, but the meal they purchased was definitely gourmet. We were flattered to be part of it. A week later another friend came for dinner. This was his first time to come to their house because they never have company when they have paying guests. Again, we were flattered to be part of it all.

Another benefit to meeting the second guy was he referred us to his attorney who handled his visa process. We have an appointment tomorrow. I think it will be about $180 each for getting our NIF (like a social security card), opening a bank account, and I don't know how much for setting up the documentation to get a D7 visa for retirees. We walked to his office today to see how long it would take. It's a really, really fancy office with a receptionist for the building. She used a swipe card to let us into the elevator area, then she entered the floor. The doors slid shut and we went straight to the fifth floor… no way to sneak off the elevator at a different floor.

Afterward lunch, I googled rooftop bars in Lisbon and we hunted one down using my Portugal Map app. I would NEVER have found this place! It is possibly the most eccentric hotel and bar I've ever been in.

When we left the bar to go home, everybody else also left their respective bars to go home. The soccer game was over. The metro was packed beyond belief. I actually refused to get on the first one because the people getting on were too rowdy for me. The next one was equally packed but calm. I had people calmly pressing into me from four sides. I wanted to get a picture of all the hands holding the pole in the middle, but I didn't want to seem weird, so I snuck this one of our feet.

I'm looking back on the impressions from the last two months and some things sort of stand out. Church is one of them. Riverside International Church has been a blessing for us. The pastor just did a sermon series on the book of Ruth. You may wonder why that would be impactful, but you have to understand the audience—95% immigrants. So, to recap; Naomi immigrated from Bethlehem to Moab (an enemy country) with the hubby and sons. Hubby and sons died, leaving Naomi with three daughter's-in-laws. Naomi decided to go back home to Bethlehem. The three girls decided to go with her, but Naomi refused to let them, but Ruth stood her ground and said, "where you go, I go." So now Ruth is the immigrant in a foreign land. She gave up everything to go to certain poverty and struggle in a culture who didn't like her people. As I looked around, I saw many tears being wiped away by people with the same struggle.

There're times when I feel like an outsider. Especially at the pool. All those elderly Portuguese water-aerobic ladies don't feel comfortable around me. They see me as a white lady who can't speak Portuguese… true, but still, it's awkward. The other day a woman got pissed because my Portuguese is terrible, so I switched to English. She waved a hand and said, "No, no English!" I told her I was trying to learn Portuguese in my limited range of words and she immediately softened. She slowed down and really tried to help me understand her. It was a major achievement for me. When I left the pool, the receptionist gave me a daisy to celebrate International Woman's Day.

Things surprise me sometimes. The other day I was walking along at a train depot and some teens rushed me from behind. I spun around—on guard! He just wanted tell me that my backpack was unzipped. Lol… that cracked me up. Then I was at a café and a lady poured her sprite into her glass of red wine. I'm at a loss for words. Then this one surprises me over and over again… the dude zipping past me on roller-skates wearing a bright one-piece pink leotard with his waist-length blonde wig flowing down his back. That's enough to get my attention, but the fact that he stops to randomly dance or climb a statue and make humping motions on it… well it just surprises me every time. A couple of weeks ago we went to Setubal on the train. We went to our train's sales window, but it was closed. We went to their competition's window and he said, "Just get on their train and pay for it when you arrive." I thought this idea seemed like something people would abuse. I was even more surprised when we arrived at Setubal and tried to pay, but again the window was closed. I asked the next window over and with a little wave of his hand in the air, he said, "Just go enjoy your vacation." I was in conflict for about five minutes, then I got over it and took his advice.

Here's another one I can't seem to get used to—being electrocuted by the converter. In case you didn't know, the electricity is different in different countries. Our hair dryers will self-destruct if you plug them into an outlet in Europe. Take it from me. So the converter converts the electricity to match your device. Oddly enough after you unplug the converter and touch the two prongs simultaneously, you will say a cuss word and fling it across the room. I hear that's a universal response. (Almost all new electronic equipment like laptops and cell phones have converters built into their chargers. Research it first.)

My table here in Alameda Park keeps wobbling. Joe surprised me by pulling out a wine-cork he'd cut into a wedge. He stuck it under one table leg and problem solved! He's so smart. Today was busy. First we went swimming, then rushed back to our place to change and drop off our gear. Then we walked 30 minutes to the attorney's office for a 1:30 appointment. We were starving, so we actually ate at Burger King first!! It's been a good fifteen years since I've eaten there and it tasted exactly the same. Our purpose was to hire the attorney to get us a tax ID number (NIF) and to open a bank account for us. Another surprise was it was $850 instead of $360. I suppose we could've done it without him, but it's pretty complicated… especially from the US. Then we went to a kiosk and discussed our plan-of-action over a beer and a glass of wine. Then we hustled home to drop off our documents and now we're at the park so I can write. The attorney told us that we have to have a six month lease prior to filing for a D7 visa. I can't quite wrap my mind around how that'll work.

We've got the house to ourselves this weekend, so the party's at our pad! Hah… more likely we'll make chili and hotdogs and watch Hercule Poirot. Proof that we're actually pretty boring. My legs ache from all the walking. I'm looking forward to getting back to Sacramento (even though it pouring down rain there) and my garden and my friends and family. I've made great friends here, but old friends' hugs are so much better. I would say my cat has missed us, but we had Izzy stay at our place this last two months, so I'm pretty sure she's been spoiled rotten.