Gerrit likes to cook, and makes most of our dinner main courses. He doesn't like following recipes though; he has more of an "intuitive" approach and he likes the preparation to be quick. Most of his dishes could be called "Gerrit's (something) Surprise". He had bought some fresh pork chunks, a jar of Portuguese sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and wine vinegar, a sweet potato, and an onion. He sautéed the onion and pork, added the other stuff plus a cup of wine, some salt and pepper, paprika, and garlic, and simmered for a couple hours. "Gerrit's Portuguese Pork Stew Surprise" was delicious, and certainly passed his quick-and-easy test.
He is also having trouble with the El Corte Inglés parking garage. You're supposed to take a ticket when you enter the garage, like we're used to in the US, but you don't pay by credit card when you exit. You need to get your ticket validated or pay at a booth inside the store as you return to the garage. There is some magic ink or something in the ticket itself; all you need to do is drive up to the exit gate with a valid ticket in your car and it opens. You don't even need to roll down your window.
Gerrit had to ask a clerk about how to do this the first time, and it worked fine. The next time, he accidentally grabbed yesterday's used ticket, and of course couldn't get out. He had to back out of the exit lane muttering apologies to the drivers behind him, park again, go back inside the store, translate the error message appearing on the ticket machine with his phone, and then try again with the proper ticket (duh). There is an easier way to do this parking garage thing with some kind of phone app, we're pretty sure, but it is going to take some investigation. It's all part of the general muddling and stumbling you have to do for a while in a different culture with a different language. Especially when you're being an idiot.
More muddling: when we bought our TV a week ago they were supposed to call to arrange delivery. Gerrit's US phone number didn't work, even using international dialing, so yesterday we gave the store the number of our Portuguese fixer. Hopefully that will get the ball rolling. Cell phones, TV, and Wifi internet are all bundled together here and they can't install the modem without the TV, so we're muddling along with cell phone hotspots on our US carrier account for internet till then. I guess this comes under the category of "first world problems".
Today we took a little driving tour around Gaia (the city where we actually live) and Porto (across the Douro river to the north). We drove on lots of little European cobblestone streets, some where the mirrors of the car were literally two inches from the walls on either side, saw some nice views, and got a little more oriented. (see photos below)
There was an older couple at a table nearby. The man had a withered hand and walked with braces. When they stood up to leave, a younger man from their neighboring table got up, touched the old guy's arm, and bent to pick up something of theirs they hadn't noticed they'd dropped. They waved "thanks" and " no problem" to each other. You see kindness like this everywhere, but it seems like it's so prevalent and natural here.
(As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it, scroll through them all, and click in the black outside a photo when you're done.)
