Winter, and Christmas is Coming

With these rainy gray days it's great to spend a day at home, lighting a fire, watching the storms, feeling cozy.  It reminds us of storm watching on winter days at the Olympic coast.

And when we're not sitting around feeling cozy there are a handful of projects to coordinate: major garden and irrigation upgrades, bugs in the solar power system, getting our driver's licenses transferred, preparing for customs and final trucking of our goods when they arrive in Porto, deep cleaning, preparing for the upcoming flood of boxes, and planning for the bungalow.

Our solar power system has been demonstrating a new feature: at indeterminate intervals of between a day and three weeks, it shuts down the entire backup network (main water pump, internet, house lights, refrigerator, access into the garage) for 20 minutes or so, whether the grid is up or not.  Is that any way to treat the circuits which are the most essential to keep powered?  The solar sales people tell us it is, it's a "perfectly normal regular safety check" but we are not convinced.  So the battle is engaged.

Our shipment from the US has become even more circuitous and we're not sure why.  It was bad enough initially, going clear through the Mediterranean to unload in Italy and then to go overland from there, but now we see the ship and itinerary going back through the Straits of Gibraltar, south hundreds of kilometers to the Canary Islands and then back north all the way to Leixões (next to Porto)!  Wacky!  We've asked our shipping agent about this, but no reply yet.

We have both been sniffly and coughing for several weeks, mostly Pat, almost constantly but especially at night.  We've cleaned the HVAC (heater) filters, vacuumed carefully, and washed mold out of some hidden corners, but the only thing that helps is to shut off the HVACs entirely for a couple days.  Gerrit and his new best friend Gemini have found the procedure to disassemble the HVAC housings for thorough internal cleaning, and that's next on the list.

We want to move the bed out of the middle bedroom and to the garage, so we can stage and store all the stuff which will be showing up here shortly.  There is also a bookshelf needing purging to make room for our coming books and other things, and the garage needs to be cleared out as much as possible so the boxes can be loaded directly from the truck into the garage.  And this is just the start...

We're still undecided on exactly which bungalow we want.  Our friend and architectural connoisseur Bernardo has convinced us that we should go for a modern look to match the house better.  The cabin manufacturer we had settled on has a significant number of credible bad reviews, too, all of which is making us rethink the whole thing.  Again.

On Wednesday Dec 10 we met our friends Jess and Julian in Porto for lunch.  They have been doing farm work for room and board (and their own education) here in Portugal for a while, and are just wrapping that up to head to the warmer south.  The weather for our lunch was comfortable, sunny, and beautiful, and we had a great time catching up over a delicious meal.

Ponte de Lima is gearing up for Natal (Christmas).  We were there on the nice evening of Dec 10 and took pictures of some of the spectacular lights they're setting up.  All this public expense and time, in a small town, simply for the enjoyment of its citizens!

Watch the lights "drip"

Some Portuguese greeting tips: "bom dia" means "good day" and is used as a general greeting.  Until noon.  At that moment everyone shifts to "boa tarde" (good afternoon).  If you wish someone "bom dia" after noon they will reply "boa tarde".  Then there is a looser transition, around 8 PM, to "boa noite" for "good night" or "good evening".  You can say "olá" (hello) along with these greetings, and even ask "Tudo bem?" (Everything is well?).  The reply is generally "tudo bem" as a statement (Everything is well.).  A group getting together can sound like a chorus of "Tudo bem?,  Tudo bem!" as greetings go around.

By popular demand (from Ron, anyway), here is a little run-down on the ways Christmas is celebrated in Portugal:

• Like everywhere, they have Christmas trees, lights, and nativity scenes (presépio), incessant Christmas songs on background music, and they exchange gifts.
• They are a strongly Catholic country, so church and Christmas mass are important.
• Some houses are decorated with lights, but not so much as in public areas, towns, and the streets leading into them.
• The common greeting is Boas Festas! (Happy Holidays)
• The Christmas season starts off with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec 8.  It is a major holiday, a quiet time at home with families, a little like Thanksgiving.
• Christmas markets are becoming more popular, where gifts, treats, and Christmas trappings are sold from little barraquinhas (market stalls) in a sort of farmer's market setting.
• Kids put out shoes for Santa, not stockings.  Also, Santa was only adopted in Portugal about 30 years ago!
• Many places, including churches and towns, celebrate with big Christmas bonfires.  Sometimes they are huge.
• Of course there are special Christmas pastries and sweets.
• The traditional Christmas Eve dinner in northern Portugal is called consoada.  It consists of prepared bacalhau (dried salt cod) with potatoes, cabbage, and hard boiled eggs.
• 
  In parts of northern Portugal young men called caretos dress in wild colorful costumes to celebrate the solstice (photo Rosino from flickr).  They throw water and hay on bystanders, strut around the town accompanied by rattles, pipes, and drums, and "squash" the girls.
• The “Bananeiro” comes from a store in the city of Braga called “Casa das Bananas” (House of Bananas), which used to be a banana warehouse. The owner had a small counter where he served Moscatel, a sweet Portuguese wine, as a way of attracting customers. When they requested something to eat, he would offer them a banana.  His son then started a tradition with his friends to have a glass of Moscatel and a banana before Christmas Eve dinner. It quickly became popular and is now celebrated by thousands.
• Christmas Eve is usually the height of celebrations, when gift-giving and family togetherness rule the day.

(As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it, scroll through them all, and click outside a photo when you're done.  Also, you can click on the bold underlined phrases to play the audio.)

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Family Fun & Food for Thought

On Monday Nov 24 we met with our friend Bernardo for lunch in Porto before his girlfriend Carolina's final showing for her master's degree in art.  The restaurant was a charming old style nook with much wood and stone, and we all had delicious spiced chicken over rice (which we again forgot to photograph for you). 

 

The exhibition subject was exploring the theme of trauma in art, inspired by a terrifying 8 m (24 foot) fall from a waterfall and a broken back which Carolina experienced in Brazil years ago.  She is primarily a ceramics and mixed media artist.  She had explanatory cards in English next to each of her many works, and the overall experience was truly moving.  She invited people to release their own traumas by writing them on cards and burning them in a ceremonial pot.  She had shattered some illustrated ceramic works of hers and invited people to take any pieces which spoke to them.  A video loop rolled, describing her experience (in English text) in poetic and evocative terms.  Speeches were made, including from her professors, little of which we understood, but the flowing sound of Portuguese was soothing and good for us to be immersed in.  A little jarring too, when everyone suddenly laughed at a joke you entirely missed.

One piece

And its description

The walkway from our pool had been a little hurriedly finished up a few weeks ago, so the contractor offered to replace it at no charge.  The masons did a very nice job this time, and their craftsmanship and honorable conduct was appreciated.  (See below for the way to properly handle this, which Gerrit accidentally maneuvered.)

Tuesday Nov 25 through Friday Nov 28 Pat worked on her Portuguese Thanksgiving feast.  She roasted some turkey breasts and legs, made stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, a sweet potato and spinach bake, appetizers, a Portuguese orange square dessert (Quadradinhos de Laranja, or "little squares of orange"), and pumpkin pie.  She is making vegetarian variations of some dishes too.

The Quadrinhos dessert she actually made years ago in Seattle, not realizing that it was a Portuguese recipe.  She got a little choked up here when she realized that, at how we are completing some kind of circle or continuity here.

Friday Nov 28 Gerrit had to get another blood test to make up for one on Tuesday which was incomplete.  He went to the clinic and did the whole transaction in Portuguese, saying things like "I want a blood test, no prescription, no insurance, I pay directly", providing information, and even making small talk with the nurse.  He says this is really getting fun, and he often makes up imaginary dialogs in Portuguese.  With his imaginary friends, Pat assumes.

We have some new rotating composting bins outside the back door so we can compost kitchen waste.  Pat adds ground up cardboard to the waste, which reduces smell and provides a better compost.  Gerrit has been cranking out the cardboard for this, tearing it and using the wood chipper.

Saturday morning Nov 29 we both got ready for our pseudo-Thanksgiving.  There was plenty of work to do to make desserts, make the potato dishes, and reheat food already prepared.  Everyone arrived at 1 PM, we chatted and had appetizers until 2:00, then sat for the feast.  And once again, we forgot photos.  You should find a blog on Instagram with young people photo-documenting their lives; we just can't seem to get the hang of it.  The feast was all delicious and well appreciated.  Then we had a stimulating, wide ranging conversation until 5:30 or so.  It was great fun, and we good friends became even closer.

On Monday Dec 1 Gerrit's son Elliott and his family passed through Ponte de Lima on their way back from Andorra to Porto and their flight home.  They had spent Thanksgiving there with Gerrit's other son Ian and his family.  We had two days and a night with them, playing at our favorite Ponte de Lima playground and at home here.  Gerrit made the traditional Portuguese Bacalhau à Brás for dinner and Pat made a squash, broccoli, and grape casserole.  On Tuesday the kids were on their own for a few hours while we went to a doctor appointment, and they did some shopping and walking around historic Ponte de Lima.  It was a fun, brief goodbye till next time.

The cousins meet for the first time in Andorra	Andorra dad & daughter on the left, Colorado on the right
Colorado kids in Braga with us	Meeting some goats across the street from our home

Rasslin' with Dad

Granddaughter Avie in the statue's basket

Wednesday Dec 3 we met our new family doctor in Viana do Castelo.  Our old doctor was in Porto, convenient when we lived in the apartment in Vila Nova de Gaia but not so much now.  We gave our new doctor our current medical information and learned a little about the system here.  They don't have video doctor appointments in Viana and there isn't a way to transmit documents electronically, so the standard method is the old-fashioned visit to your doctor with printed documents.  We will be doing that regularly to report medical procedures and to provide her with blood tests, etc.  It sounds like a nuisance, but it's kind of sweet and personal too.

Pat found an interesting essay about the differences between Anglo and Portuguese work cultures.  It was written by an American who has been here for five years.  He sums up the Portuguese culture this way:

• Honor-based shame avoidance
• High-context indirectness
• Hierarchical authority preservation
• Liability-averse bureaucratic instinct
• A cultural tradition where fixing the problem IS the apology

Anglos feel that admitting fault and making a public apology shows good faith and honesty, but that runs counter to the Portuguese way.  Apology and directness are considered undignified and a source of shame here.  Instead, indirectness, formality, context sensitivity, and a lack of apology are the rule.  When a problem arises a vague and dissembling reason is given, and instead of an apology the problem is simply fixed (you hope).

There isn't a right or wrong about this, it's just the way the different cultures are.  There is more to it than the bit we've related here, too, so see the whole essay here if you're interested.  It's pretty long, but thoughtful and insightful.  We think understanding all this will be helpful in our dealings with Portuguese services and our understanding of the culture.

(As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it, scroll through them all, and click outside a photo when you're done.  Also, you can click on the bold underlined phrases to play the audio.)

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