Since my last post, Tim and I have been pushing the boundaries of our experiences a tiny bit each day. Yesterday, in the mistaken belief that we had to register in person with local immigration authorities, we walked to the far side of town to their offices. The trip was much longer than it needed to be as the GPS misguided us up hills, down stairs, and through a warren of narrow alleys in ancient neighborhoods. My knees got a workout, but we saw some cool places. A very nice lady at the immigration office said that we merely needed to schedule an appointment online for our residency card interview. We took a more direct route back home along the busy waterfront, passing upscale hotels and pricey seafood restaurants along the way. I guess that’s the tourist area of our working-class host city.
Back in our neighborhood we arranged to meet some American expats we had spoken with before coming here. It was great to spend an hour or so with Ken and Jo. They seem fully acclimated to life in Portugal after only 14 months here, which gave me a great deal of encouragement that we won’t always feel like aliens. The pointers they shared will prove invaluable in the coming days and weeks. After our talk with K & J, we walked a little further from home to a large grocery store they’d told us about. We bought as much food as we could carry and went home to cook another meal in. (Mom would never believe me if I told her that!) At Jo’s brilliant suggestion, we will buy a handy little pull-cart to tote groceries at our earliest opportunity. I never would have believed I’d be scoping out other pedestrians today as they passed by with their handy folding carts. I’ve got my eye on a sweet tri-wheeled design that can climb stairs!
Tim made our immigration interview appointments online last evening. May 29 were the first available ones! I guarantee, we’ll find a shorter route to the immigration office next time.
Today we made our first local train trip to a little place about half way to Lisbon, called Foguetiero. The purpose of the trip was to deliver some items that a young couple had asked us to bring from the States. They have a new baby and wanted matching Christmas pajamas and stockings for their first holiday as a family. The meeting was friendly, but brief, and we headed back to our place for a late lunch. It was fun to see some more of the countryside between here and the capital city. We passed tiny villages filled with houses the color of Easter eggs; saw meadows of lush green sod where horses and sheep grazed; and noticed several backyard vineyards and opulent vegetable gardens (In December!). I was surprised how quickly the cityscape yielded to rural as we pulled out of Setubal.
As I began this post, Tim decided to check out a neighborhood we skirted past a few days ago, but had to abandon to avoid a downpour. He has just returned with a bag of delicious chocolates and some intriguing photos of Old Setubal. Enjoy!
