Getting into a car accident in Portugal

August 18, 2023May 11, 2024 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Unfortunately we have been learning all about what to do when you get into an accident in Portugal. Kyle was leaving the mall and there is an awkward area where two lanes come together from different levels. There is a mirror so that they can (theoretically) see each other. Kyle left the parking garage and was waiting to turn onto the street when another driver came down the ramp. He didn’t see Kyle and side swiped him pretty good. Luckily there were no injuries and the cars are drivable. It looks worse in person because the bumper is coming off a bit.

We really should have looked into things more before we started driving. When you get into an accident in the EU you have to fill out some forms detailing what happened. Each driver signs it and then sends it to the insurance companies. From what I understand the police are not typically called in Portugal unless the drivers are in disagreement, although I’m not completely sure on that. The other driver was at fault and he admitted it.

He was driving a work van and Kyle didn’t have the paperwork, so the guy’s boss met with Kyle the next day to fill out the paperwork. It was a little scary for a while because the boss didn’t bring the paperwork and thought Kyle was at fault and the other driver should have called the police. For a second it seemed like he was trying to set Kyle up to take the fall. Kyle showed him where the accident took place and explained what happened. The other guy had a stop sign and Kyle didn’t, so it’s pretty obvious…So the guy admitted his driver was at fault and said so in the forms.

After Kyle and the guy each filled out identical forms and signed them, we then had to get them to our insurance company. From my understanding each person takes a copy of the incident report and sends it to their insurance company. Kyle just got off the phone with our insurance company and he is emailing them the forms. The next step will be for them to send an adjuster out to our house to inspect the damage. From there they will send us a list of authorized repair shops. We take it to get estimates and let our insurance company know. They approve the repairs and we go get them done. At least this is all according to Google, lol. I’ll update as we go, but for now we will wait to hear back from the insurance company.

Here’s a picture of the blank accident report. It’s easy to find online. I guess they also have copies of them in government buildings and those ones have carbon copies. We’re going to go on the hunt to find some later, but for now we just printed some online and will put them in the car. It looks like this is standard in all of the EU and you can easily find the forms translated into various languages.

In expat groups people always ask if they can get by in Portugal without knowing the language. Kyle and I can finally have basic conversations in Portuguese (super basic, lol) but we have gotten really luckily when it comes to bigger things. The two people involved in the accident spoke some English and the insurance agent Kyle talked to spoke great English. We have made it almost 2 year so far with English, google translator, and some basic Portuguese. We found a tutor we like on italki who does classes with the both of us together and we have been learning a ton from her. Maybe we will have to have a class that focuses on driving and words to know in accidents or when we get pulled over.

Road-trip to Nazare in our car!!

April 5, 2023August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Our car is here! We were approved for the loan and one night the dealer let us know the car was ready for pick up. They had given us an insurance quote and we decided to go with the company they used since it would be easier. They gave us 3 quotes. I don’t remember the exact amounts but the most expensive was 750+ per year and the cheapest was around 300. We decided to go with the expensive one for our first year because it’s similar to full coverage insurance.

Buying a car in Portugal wasn’t any better or worse than in the US- both places require hours of waiting and lots of paperwork. I am really grateful that the dealership did a lot of the hard stuff for us. They got us the loan, registered the car, and got us insurance. We also have warranties and roadside assistance that works anywhere in the EU.

Unfortunately I had to work a ton the first few days we had the car and I didn’t get to use it much. Finally I have a day off today and we decided to head to Nazare. We went there once last year and have been meaning to go back. We let Sofia ditch a day of preschool so that she could come with us. It feels nice driving again! It was nerve wracking at first, but I’m adjusting. The roads here are great.

For now we’re having to avoid the toll roads since we don’t have our transponder yet. There is a company called Via Verde and they have an awesome app. You can create an account there and use it to pay for all kinds of car related things including parking and tolls. Once we get the transponder it will make driving easier since we can use the toll roads. We can probably use the roads anyway and pay either a person or get a bill in the mail, but I’m not entirely sure.

We were only in Nazare for a few hours. Finding parking was a bit harder than we thought given that it’s Wednesday and not summer. There were still plenty of people out and tons of cars looking for parking spots. We finally found a spot and headed to the beach. Last time was super foggy and we couldn’t see anything. The skies were clear today.

Nazare was fine for playing in the sand, but definitely not a beach to let the kids wade in the water or swim. The waves were pretty big and the tide looked strong. Luckily the kids were happy just playing in the sand.

We didn’t walk around town much today. It was more of a let the kids play kind of a day. Next time I want to go while the kids are in school so that we can look at some of the shops and go to the lighthouse. Given how tough it was to find parking I don’t think we will go again until late this year. I have been really wanting to see the big waves, so hopefully we can make it in November or December to see them.

Tomorrow the kids are back in school and Kyle and I are going to Tomar! I’m excited. I have been wanting to see Tomar for a long time.

I think we bought a car sight unseen

March 14, 2023August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

We moved to Portugal sight unseen. Moved to Leiria sight unseen. Signed a 3 year lease for the apartment sight unseen. So we might as well buy a car sight unseen too, right?

We have been talking about buying a car for the past few weeks now. I have been pretty sick the past 2.5 weeks. Bad cough, lots of congestion, a fever on and off. I lost a lot of sleep because laying down would make me cough too much. During that time Kyle had to do pretty much everything because I had to save the little bit of strength I had for work. We had already wanted a car, but me being out of commission sealed the deal. We looked at leasing options, but just like in the states I have never been able to see the benefit of leasing over buying.

In the US when I buy a car I do tons of research. I like SUVs and I like Honda and Nissan, so I tend to start there. I look at gas mileage, safety, features. We wanted to get a hybrid here, but it’s out of our price range so we looked into diesel. We decided that we prefer diesel over gasoline because it seems like it will be more efficient and better on the car over time. So for us buying a car in Portugal meant walking into a dealership and asking if they have any automatic diesel vehicles. They had one. We bought it, lol. Maybe…

Unfortunately this is not the car we bought

The process is both similar and different than in the US. There is no test drive. They plug some numbers into a computer and show a list of monthly payment options. I forget all of the options, but they had some really long term ones, like 8+ years. We added a few warranties, which were cheap. We paid half of the down payment right up front. Then they wanted all of our info to see if we would get approved for a loan. It’s a little nerve wracking paying so much without even knowing if we will be approved. We didn’t bring any paperwork with us today, so we made do using our phone apps and screen shots. When we got home I spent over an hour getting some things together to email. I emailed bank statements and payments stubs. It would be easier if you have Portuguese income or have paid taxes in Portugal, but I am paid in USD and we haven’t paid taxes here yet, so we had to do it the harder way.

We spent just over 3 hours at the dealership and then I spent another hour or two getting everything together at home. When we left the dealership we still had no idea if we had been approved. I still don’t know right now. I figure it will probably take a few days at least. So fingers crossed that we get approved for financing! Since they don’t do credit scores over here I’m not really sure how they decide who to lend to or what the risk factors may be.

The car we (hopefully) bought is in the shop getting fixed up. They are painting it and replacing two of the tires. It’s a 2014 with 84000 kilometers. I don’t even know the make and model and I don’t even care. A car is going to give us so much freedom. We have made it work for an entire year and a half and we did it and it was fine. But we are both so excited at the thought of having a car again. It definitely brings a lot more cost, but hopefully it will be worth the trade off.

They did have a car in stock that’s just like ours (but not automatic or diesel) but a few years newer so they showed it to us. They said that all of the features will be the same. I really love the one they showed us. I was very adament about not getting a car when we moved here, but we’ve been here for a whole year and a half now and I think we’re ready. Having an automatic will make it easier. I can kind of drive stick, but only do it every decade or two, so my skills are pretty rusty. We keep talking about all the places we will go when we get a car. High on the list is Tomar because the bus schedule from Leiria doesn’t work, so we haven’t been able to go.

The newer model of our (hopefully) future car

I’m not too sure of the next steps. Hopefully we get a happy call or email soon. We still owe half the down payment. We transferred the first half to them, so we will probably do the same if we get approved. They said that they will drop the car off at our house, which would be awesome. Next up is shopping for car seats, and then some road trips! I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. We still have to wait to see if we even get approved. Oh, and we need to figure out how to buy car insurance. And figure out the tolls. Well, plenty to keep us busy while we wait.

2023 Travel Plans

January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 / bashleyf / 1 Comment

Brrrr, it has been really cold in Portugal. It’s been an extra rainy year and we finally have a break from the rain, but it has been freezing. Literally! In the mornings when we walk the kids to school it has been 30 degrees (farenheight because I still don’t quite know celcius yet). It heats up to about 50 or so during the day, but the mornings are so cold!

Leo started preschool. He is just going 2 days a week so far. It has been really nice to have that break and be able to get some things done or just relax without being needed constantly. And we end up really missing them, so we really appreciate picking them up and seeing them again. Leo is in the baby room since he is 2. Once he turns 3 next week he will move to Sofia’s room. I think they will both like it more when they’re in the same room together.

In 6 days we leave for Paris! Well, more like passing through Paris. We’re going to Disneyland Paris, which is about 45 minutes outside of Paris. We want this trip to be easy, so we won’t really be venturing into Paris. It’s definitely on our list to visit one day. I’m really excited for Disneyland. Sofia is 4 and Leo will be turning 3. I know they probably won’t remember this trip, but I do think that they’re at the age where they will really love and appreciate it. Leo doesn’t cry anymore when he see’s people dressed up. He will be so excited to see Mickey.

We have a few confirmed trips this year and a few I’m still figuring out. There’s probably one or two that I don’t even know about yet. Before we had kids Kyle and I went on a few cruises. It was a good compromise because Kyle likes to relax on vacation and I like to sightsee. Sightseeing is a bit too stressful with the kids, so I have been trying to figure out how to travel easier and smarter. We decided to try a cruise with the kids. They’ll both be old enough for the cruise daycare program and they will be in the same room because their ages are so close.

We have been talking about a cruise for years, but we wanted to wait until the kids qualify for onboard daycare and until we felt a little safer. I know they will both be cautious around the railings, although we will obviously still watch them really closely. The cruise will be with MSC and it goes to France, Spain, and Italy. I picked it more for the ship than the itinerary. The ship has a water park for the kids that looks like fun. The cruise is a week long and leaves from Barcelona, so we will be in Barcelona for a night again. One of these days we’ll actually stay and see the city. I couldn’t find any flights home that worked, so we decided to take the train to Valencia and stay there for a few nights after the cruise. It will be a huge trip and we will be gone for almost 2 weeks. That trip is already booked and we’re definitely going.

Rufino cuddling with Bailey to stay warm

At some point before the cruise we will head up north to visit Viana do Castelo, Portugal. We also want to go to Viseu at some point because we know some people there and want to check out the city. We’re hoping to move to northern Portugal this year- ideally around the summer. We’ve been keeping an eye on apartments in Braga and Guimaraes but haven’t seen any that work for us yet.

In December we’re planning on going to Vienna, Austria. Kyle’s sister will be living there, so that’s the original reason we started planning the trip. I saw that Vienna has a great Christmas Market, so now I’m even more excited to go. At least we learned from our Belgium trip. I bought long underwear and scarves for everyone. We will really get to test it out next week because it’s going to be cold in France. I’m excited! Ever since we got back from Belgium I have been really antsy and wanting to travel somewhere again.

Pediatrician and Vaccines

November 20, 2022June 22, 2024 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

We finally took the kids to the pediatrician and to get vaccines. It’s definitely different than in the US, but now that we know the process we know what to do next time.

Kyle made an appointment to take Leo to a pediatrician that takes our insurance. As luck would have it, the doctor did speak some English. He looked over Leo’s records from the US and said that Leo needs one vaccine. He wrote a prescription and told Kyle to take it to the pharmacy.

Kyle went to the pharmacy and they gave him the vaccine in a bottle. They said to refrigerate it and take it and Leo to the Centro Saude. They said that we don’t need an appointment. That turned out not to be accurate. A few days later Kyle took Leo to get the shot but they were not particularly pleased that he didn’t have an appointment. After he waited for a while they scheduled an appointment for a few days later and told him that he needs the prescription paper. Which he lost. So when you get a vaccine filled, keep the prescription paper.

Luckily we happened to have an appointment at the same pediatrician scheduled for Sofia the day before Leo’s newly scheduled vaccine appointment. He was able to get a copy of the vaccine sheet from the doctor. The next day he went to Leo’s appointment at Centro Saude and while he was there he made an appointment for Sofia. Then he went to the pharmacy to get Sofia’s vaccines.

It all sounds more complicated than it is, though there are quite a few more steps than we’re used to. It will of course be significantly easier when things are closer together or we have a car.

So to get vaccines for your kids: 1. Make an appointment with the pediatrician 2. Go to pediatrician, they will write a prescription for the vaccine(s) your kid needs 3. Go to pharmacy. They will fill prescription by giving you the actual vaccines in bottles (the bottles may need to be refrigerated- ours did) 4. Make appointment at Centro Saude 5. Bring kid, vaccine(s), and prescription paper to Centro Saude. They will administer the shots

You’re done! 🎉

1 year in Portugal!

October 19, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Today is the 1 year anniversary of our arrival in Portugal. I can’t believe it has been a year already. And what a year! We have seen a lot of Portugal and even a tiny bit of Spain. It has also been an entire year since I have driven a car, which feels so weird. Also a year of walking at least 100% more than before, so my heart is probably healthier now than a year ago.

Thinking back to everything that it took to get here is kind of overwhelming but definitely worth it. The first few days arriving in Portugal were probably the hardest because we were super sleep deprived and didn’t know anything yet. We didn’t know how to say anything in Portuguese, how to order coffee, or even how the get groceries. I’ll always remember our first grocery trip in Lisbon.

Kyle and I constantly remind ourselves that just the first time is hard. The first time grocery shopping was hard because I didn’t know the questions they ask at checkout or even how to use the bank card yet. But the second time I did know. And now it’s easy. The first time eating out was hard (mostly because we hadn’t slept in 30+ hours), the first time withdrawing cash at the ATM was hard, the first time using multibanco to pay a bill- all of those were just hard the first time but now they’re easy. There are still firsts that we go through, but it gets easier and obviously the firsts aren’t as frequent as they were a year ago.

We have met some great people and had a lot of fun the past year. We still plan to move to Braga (or Guimaraes) next year, but it gets harder to leave Leiria as we meet more people here. We just found an amazing vet who speaks English. Our neighbor genuinely loves our daughter and vice versa. Even though we will end up in Braga (where I wanted to move) I will never regret living in Leiria.

Living here we have gotten to explore so much of the Silver Coast. We will go to the Christmas Market in Obidos this year, which I’m super excited about. We couldn’t go last year because of Covid restrictions. I also want to go to Nazare next month to see the huge waves. I have been to Batalha a few times and I love it there. We still need to go to Tomar and Fatima. We wouldn’t have done any of this if we had moved straight to Braga.

My favorite time of the year is coming up. Last year we were still pretty new and trying to figure things out, but this year we plan on seeing tons of Christmas lights and Christmas markets. For sure Obidos, Lisbon, and Belgium (Brussels and Bruges). I’m so excited to see all the lights and Christmas decorations! I’m excited to spend another year here. I wonder what the next year will bring. Definitely more adventures.

Budgeting Part 2

August 16, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Our weekly trips have been put on hold because we got sick again. It has been weeks and I’m finally starting to feel better. It was a bizarre sickness with pretty much every symptom I can think of, including what seemed to be pink eye. It started with Sofia waking up at 2AM to throw up one morning weeks ago. Leo was next a few days later. They were so sad and pitiful, I’m glad that part is over. Luckily by the time I got sick the kids were already feeling better.

I have done a better job of tracking our expenses and can break them down a bit more than my first budget post. We have added a few things to our lives that up the monthly budget. I’m trying to list most of our expenses because it was really helpful for us when deciding which country to live in.

Our neighbor has a friend who cleans her house and she recommended her to us. She only charges 6 euro an hour. She’s usually here for about 4 hours and we usually just give her 30 a visit. She does an amazing job and doesn’t mind our kids trying to follow her around.

Sofia’s preschool was 275 a month but they just raised it to 285. We think it’s a great deal since it includes breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack! They also keep Sofia entertained, which we really appreciate. We will probably start sending Leo sometime next year, after his third birthday.

I always struggle with food costs. We have gotten a lot better with eating at home, so our eating out costs are down to about 200 or less per month. Groceries and other essentials (cleaning supplies, etc) are probably around 600-800 each month. So 800-1000 euro for food/ grocery store supplies per month. I feel like that’s probably high, but that’s where we’re at.

We found a babysitter for 10 euro an hour. We haven’t used her yet, but if anyone is wondering how much childcare would be, that’s the cost for the babysitter to come watch our kids in our apartment.

Here is our monthly budget (keep in mind we’re a family of 4, including two toddlers. We also have an 80 pound dog).

•700 rent, •170 gas/electric, •60 water/trash, •157 health insurance, •65 phone/cable/internet, •60 house cleaner, •285 preschool, •50 Bailey (food and toys), •33 Bailey’s grooming, •1000 food (sometimes less, but let’s estimate high).

US expenses: $10 peacock subscription, $8 Disney plus subscription, $10.98 virtual mailbox service, $60 tutoring for me, $30 tutoring for Kyle. We have been using italki for tutoring. Different tutors on the site charge different amounts, but we’re paying about $15 per hour for ours.

There are a few US expenses I didn’t include, like student loans and my professional liability insurance because they won’t apply to most people. Also, I try to put away a few hundred or so each month for savings/traveling, but didn’t put that in the monthly budget since it will be different for everyone.

Apples from the Leiria Medieval Festival

So our grand total is about €2580 and $118.98 plus a bit extra for savings, student loans, and my professional liability insurance. Some months we don’t put any into savings because we’re using the money to travel.

We have some traveling coming up. Sofia’s school is closed next week, so we’re hoping to take the kids some places because they will go stir crazy at home. I definitely want to take them to Nazare. Next month we’re going to Spain for Sofia’s 4th birthday. I’m so excited to go see Spain! We have really loved exploring Portugal and we’re excited to see more of Europe.

Day trips and apartment hunting

June 11, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

For the past month or so we have been settling into a routine. Sofia goes to school Monday through Friday so we take turns walking her to and from school. I have been working Wednesday through Saturday. On one of my days off we go somewhere. Sometimes all 4 of us go on a Sunday, sometimes just me and Leo, and sometimes it’s me, Leo, and Kyle.

There have been tons of day trips to Coimbra and Caldas. Kyle and Sofia went to Sao Martino do Porto and said it’s way different now than when we went a few months ago. That’s on my list to visit soon. Right now we’re on the train headed home from Caldas da Rainha. We’ve never been to Caldas on the weekend. I like it. Lots of people out and about, but without feeling crowded. The market had a lot more stalls today than we see on weekdays. When we move to Braga we’re going to miss Caldas.

A few days ago Kyle, Leo, and I took a trip to Bombarral , which is a small town with a train station. They have some gardens we wanted to see but unfortunately they were closed when we went. We just wandered around town a bit. It was interesting because it seemed like at least half of the buildings there were abandoned.

A few weeks ago Leo and I went to Braga. Kyle and I are hoping to buy an apartment there. Now that the kids are getting older we really don’t want to keep moving around. We want to enroll them in kindergarten and then stay put for at least 10+ years. It seems like renting an apartment is getting more and more difficult, especially with an 80 pound dog. Kyle and I have been slow to settle down and stop moving around, but we’re finally ready.

I went up there to meet a realtor and see a few places. We found an apartment on Idealista yesterday that seems perfect for us, so we messaged the realtor and hopefully one or both of us will be in Braga again this week to see it. We know we want an apartment with 3+ bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an energy rating of C or higher, and a 10 minute or less walk from the city center. We would love a bathtub and a garage too, but those aren’t necessities.

I meant to take pictures of the places I saw to document what it’s like to buy an apartment here, but I couldn’t last time because the residents were home when I toured the apartments and it would have been way too awkward. If I view any empty places I’ll take some pictures. We have been using Trusted House Sitters to find pet sitters for Bailey when we go out of town. It has been working great so far, but these dates are super last minute, so we’ll see if we can find someone to pet sit or not.

Going to the movies in Portugal

May 25, 2022 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

The last time I went to the movie theater was when I was pregnant with Sofia. She’s over 3.5 now, so it has been quite a while since I went. A few months ago we met an expat couple in Batalha. They have a 1-year-old daughter. When we asked them about babysitters or daycare, they offered to watch the kids so that we could go out. I think Kyle and I have literally gone out together 3 or 4 times since Sofia was born. It’s definitely a downside of not having family nearby when you decide to have kids. Anyway, we decided to take the couple up on their offer and see a movie on Sunday night. We’ve been watching the Marvel movies so we decided to go see the new one.

We went to the theater at our local mall. At the theater there are different packages you can get. You can buy just the tickets, or combine it with snacks. I think this theater only had chips and popcorn, I didn’t see any candy. We got a medium popcorn, two drinks, and two tickets for 19 euro. They ask you what area of the theater you want to sit in and they assign seats on your tickets.

In Portugal, the movies are not dubbed. We already knew this because we have had some Portuguese people tell us that the reason they know so much English is from watching movies. Movies and lots of TV shows here are in English with Portuguese subtitles. I think the exceptions are animated and cartoon movies and TV series. Those are dubbed.

After the movie, we got a cab back from the mall and it was interesting to say the least. We gave the driver our address. She got lost and got pretty angry with us. The fact that we speak English seemed to really set her off. We didn’t speak English to her, just to each other. She kept yelling at us in Portuguese. We were trying to give her directions in Portuguese and she was having none of it.

When we got to our house she drove right past it. We told her “stop here please” in Portuguese and she said no and started looking at the house numbers. It was so bizarre – she acted like she knew where we lived but we didn’t. She realized she had passed it and she seemed upset again. We just paid her and got out. People are generally really great, so it always throws me off when they get really upset with us. I know we need to learn Portuguese, but we know enough to communicate how to get to our house. She was swerving a bit and braking at weird times. Kyle thinks she had been drinking and that would definitely explain some of her weird behaviors and why she was so angry and loud.

Numero Utente and updating our financas information

April 27, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

There was tons of stuff we had to do in order to move here and get ready for our SEF appointments in December. Once that stuff was done, we kind of took a break for a while. In March we decided to get the ball rolling on our numero utente/SNS. Those are the numbers that allow us access to the public healthcare system. We primarily need them in order to get our COVID boosters and to start the driver’s licence exchange process.

One day in March we went to our local centro de saude and they gave us a peice of paper with the documents we needed and the email address to send them to. I filled out a single application, and uploaded our residency cards, NIF paperwork for each of us, and a copy of our lease (for proof of address). I emailed it off and heard back the next day. They said they received everything and would process it and get back to me in a week.

A month later, I still hadn’t heard back yet, so I emailed them to ask if I need to do anything else. Three weeks later and still nothing, so Kyle went back into the office. Turns out they forgot to send us the email. So while he was there, they sent it to me and voila, we all have our numbers now. Yay! Next step is on to the driver’s license exchange. Ugh. Luckily that should be just about it with our administrative adventures, but I am really not looking forward to it. All of the paperwork we have for the exchange is over 6 months old now, so I’m wondering if I will have to get it all again. I hope not, but we’ll see.

April 19th marked our 6 month anniversary in Portugal. I think that by 6 months you need to update your address with financas, so about a week before out 6 month mark, we finally headed to financas. We dropped Sofia off at preschool and figured out where the office was. We took a number and waited for a few hours. When it was our turn, no one spoke English, but we used our translator apps and got it done. We had them update our address and remove our fiscal representative. We brought our residency cards and our lease. They didn’t care about the lease though, they just wanted our cards. It took about an hour to get through all 4 of ours.

Random pictures of Leiria to break up the wall of text 😆

It feels great to have almost all of the administrative stuff done. We can finally go get our COVID boosters, which is great since mask mandates are being scaled back. People aren’t wearing them inside anymore, which feels so weird after the past 2 years. We’re sick (again!) at the moment, so we’re going to wait a week or two until we’re better. It still isn’t COVID. Sofia started preschool a few weeks ago and we pretty much got sick immediately. From what I have been reading, we can expect to get sick 8-10 times over the next year. Oh boy. I guess I should cut back on trip planning then.

We have been in Portugal for over 6 months now! It kind of feels like that, but in some ways it feels like more. I’m really happy with all that we have accomplished over the past 6 months. We even have Sofia in preschool already, which is not something I expected to have done by 6 months. We have seen a decent amount of the country, though obviously there is still so much more we want to see.

The longer we’re here, the more frustrating the language barrier gets. I know it’s completely on us. We’re trying, but Portuguese is a hard language to learn. I think it’s extra frustrating because I know a lot of Spanish, and since I have known it for almost 20 years now I don’t really remember the struggle to learn. I can form sentences and conjugate verbs in Spanish, but not at all in Portuguese. There is so much about Portuguese that I just don’t understand, so it’s easy to get discouraged. I want to take another class, but one that moves a lot slower than the last one I took. Actually, I think I should look into a tutor. That might be really helpful.

Our trip to Porto and Braga are coming up in less than two weeks. Braga has been the top spot on my list almost since I started seriously considering moving to Portugal. Porto has been too, though it will be too expensive for us to live in. I’m excited to finally get to see and experience Northern Portugal!