Spring is in the Air

It is only February, but the yard is in bloom, it was 70ish degrees today (and not a cloud in the sky). While this kind of amazing weather may not hold, it is still a lot better than facing another couple of months of winter in Vermont. I took these pictures in our yard on January 27th, and more bushes have started flowering since. Not to make anyone jealous or anything.

Meet Tuga!

Tuga is the new bundle of fur that has joined our family in the last week. We were told that Tuga is a nickname the Brazilians have for someone Portuguese (Portugal), originally with derogatory intent but no longer considered offensive. He is a four-month old kitten that is very sweet and cuddly, and of course can get very playful at times. He loves to sleep on laps, and can be very loud when we leave him alone. He was a bit anxious of the larger furballs at first, but as you can see, he and Tazzy have become fast friends, and though he keeps trying to befriend Blaze, Blaze is not yet convinced he won't be getting his nose swiped at any minute. As with all change, we think Blaze will come around, eventually.

Thoughts on New Year

An interesting part of our return to Portugal was the onset of the New Year. The coming of a new year in the U.S. always seems to exemplify hope and the idea that one can wipe away past mistakes and setbacks and prepare to take advantage of the boundless opportunities available in the future that is now the present. We show that by making resolutions to better ourselves, and looking forward to the fresh start that the new year always offers. We have started to wonder if that sense of optimism is unique to Americans. Here in Portugal, the country famous for saudade (melancholy/forlornness/homesickness), as is apparent in the cultural music known as fado, the changing of the calendar is more a symbol of getting further into the future, which is looked at with some sadness as it is one year further removed from the glorious past (to which the future can never live up to). There is, of course, a sense of a new beginning, but with more of a hint of nostalgia than of optimism. More like "oh no, I just accepted how things were last year, and now I have to start all over again."

Home from the Holidays

Hi again, everyone! Sorry we’ve been out of touch for a bit, though we were lucky enough to catch up with some of you back in the U.S. Things got a little busy as we headed back to the States for the holidays. It was a wonderful visit and thanks to a packed travel schedule we got to see lots of family and friends. Christmas Eve in Oregon with Katrin’s family, Christmas Day in New York with my extended family, and New Year’s Eve in Vermont with everyone else on the planet. And still we were able to find time to enjoy the snow (which we’re told has since disappeared) at Mad River Glen with Vanessa and on the Prickly sledding run with Deb, Val, Bryan, Brian, and Kira. Sorry we didn't get to see everyone, but that just means some of you have to get over here now!

After two weeks overseas it was time to come home. The weather gods were smiling on us as it was 16 degrees below zero the morning we left Vermont, which helped make us eager to get back to Portugal, but unfortunately the airline gods were not on our side, as we ended up spending an extra night at a hotel in Burlington and then flying to Chicago in order to get to Newark. So we ended up getting home a day later than expected, which meant I got to take a shower and head straight to the office. But before that we went to pick up Blaze and Tazzy from our friend Sofia’s house, who took good care of them while we were gone. There was lots of excitement as we had our family reunion in Sofia’s yard. Though as Sofia said, Tazzy was lucky enough to “earn” a few kilos while we were gone.

An interesting part of our holiday travel was the sentiments we had coming back to Portugal. It actually felt like we were returning home, which is what I was hoping for. It certainly helped that our dogs were here waiting for us, but we also had friends that we were looking forward to seeing again, work to get back to, and events to look forward to. (One such event was Sao Goncalinho Day, which celebrates a saint at a local church. The festivities included fireworks and the traditional throwing of small hard cakes off the top of the church to the crowds below in the street. I failed to catch any, but was sort of out-manned by the locals who attached their fishing nets to 20-foot poles to catch them before they even came close to ground level.) It was a much different feeling than when we were back in the States in October for Al’s wedding. On that trip it felt like we had just left the US and had been away for a long trip. This time when we were in the States it felt like we were visiting before returning home to Portugal.

The Language

As a native English speaker, learning Portuguese is not easy. One thing we hear from the locals a lot is how easy English is to learn. We had never thought of it that way, of course, but they’re right. Here’s a quick comparison of English to Portuguese:

* Portuguese has masculine and feminine nouns
* There are 5 possible accents (instead of none)
* There are also 5 possible verb conjugations (instead of 2)
* There are both formal and informal means of address

Here’s an example of the variety using the simple sentence, the white dog is old, o branco cão é velho. But if it is a female dog, a branca cadela é velha. And if it is multiple white dogs that are old, os brancos caês são velhos. Lastly, multiple white female dogs that are old, as brancas cadelas são velhas. Now you can begin to see why my brain hurts after class.

Multiply this by all of the nouns we’re learning and it gets confusing. Plus you have to change the adjectives depending on if your noun is masculine or feminine. Then throw in the various verbs, present and past and future tense, unusual pronunciations, and it isn’t easy. In addition, Portuguese is a very situational language. For example, the verb “to be” is “ser” if you’re referring to a permanent situation (like I am American) but it is “estar” if you are referring to a temporary situation (like I am cold). Don’t get us wrong, we’re not complaining, we’re just recognizing the challenge. Having (mostly) learned French when I was younger I have a great advantage because the language structures are very similar, but Katrin has no such advantage. So learning Portuguese as a native English speaker who is learning a romance language for the first time is very difficult. What it all comes down to is learning a little bit, practicing…learning a little, practicing…and repeat. We’re making good progress on understanding what we read and a little bit of what we hear, but speaking is still a ways off.

Party Time

More thoughts on our party from Dan...It can be a little nerve-wracking to host a party in a foreign land where you don’t know the customs or the people very well. But we figured it’s like everywhere else – provide food, drink, music and a relaxed atmosphere and people will have a good time. The biggest question was whether or not they would come. Thankfully, they did. We invited a lot of my colleagues and their significant others, our landlord’s family, our neighbors who don’t speak a word of English, and our language professor and her husband. We weren’t sure how many to expect, but we guessed that about 50 people showed up. So with that kind of crowd it was actually a very lively party. The guests ranged in age from 1 to 75 and nationalities included French, Hungarian, Canadian, Polish, Australian, Turkish, German, and of course a lot of Portuguese and two Americans. It made for a great evening and helped make us feel a part of the local community. Now we will turn our hosting attentions to smaller dinner parties as a way to socialize and get to know people.

Home, Sweet Home

So last Saturday, November 24, was the big house warming party, and with close to 50 people in attendance, and plenty of food and beverages disappearing, we think it was quite well received. Plus the house is now decked out with 3 poinsettias, a little purple flowering plant, and a beautiful orchid that will probably not survive long now that I am in charge of it. Not to mention the bottles of wine, port, and single malt scotch...our guests were quite generous with unexpected gifts. For me, it was also a great chance to meet some of Dan's colleagues and their families, and to start what will hopefully develop into some good friendships.

So now that we have opened our house to our new friends here, we also thought it was time to share it with you all back home, so rather than upload them all here, click here to go see the photos online.