Christmas Morning...Or FedEx

An ex-pat move is quite a big one and most companies have ex-pat personnel that handle all the logistics that go into moving someone out of the country.  Well WireCo is new to the ex-pat world, so we have been jumping through hoop after hoop to get this move finalized and us settled in.  Needless to say one of the main things involved is the VISA, of which we still don't have.  We have all this stuff in storage and at my parents awaiting to be released, but cannot until we have the VISA.  Therefore we moved over here with very little and needed some help from the home front.

Our bed is super uncomfortable.  We have spent numerous trips to the mall in search of a featherbed, soft sheets, anything to make it better and we had no luck.  So we called in backup and had my mom run out and get a list of a bunch of "staples" to get us through until our shipment can be released.  She then took all the stuff to WireCo where Suzanne arranged to have it shipped over to us.  Not knowing how long it would take, we were anxiously awaiting its arrival.  We received the tracking number Monday and noticed a big red exclamation point that said, "In customs observation".  Tuesday Andy received a phone call from customs asking what the "food items" were for.  We knew those might be an issue but wanted to see what we could get through.  He told them through the cryptic conversation that the peanut butter was special protein for our daughter and not sure what else he pulled out.  They told him that they would have to confiscate them because you cannot import food into the country?

Needless to say, Wednesday afternoon when Annabelle and I arrived home from the beach and saw the 3 FedEx boxes on our doorstep, I was the happiest I've been yet.  It felt like Christmas morning going through the boxes. And of course my mom had thrown in a couple surprises, so it was SO fun going through them.  I would open one box, just wait and an hour later open another one.  I didn't want it to end.  Every item reminded me so much of home, that I wanted it to last.

Thank you Mom, Sharon and Suzanne for making things, well...a little better for a few days :)

 The food made it through!!!  Candy corn, ranch dressing, peanut butter, skittles!!

Another Weekend

Friday could not come soon enough this past week.  I think week 2 was much harder than the first and things were starting to become more real.  The loneliness was settling in and the reality of our move felt less of a vacation and more of a permanent everyday life.  Fortunately it was the weekend and we were able to spend time as a family and had a really good time.

Friday night we went to a little sushi restaurant on the beach down the street from us and sat and had beers and sushi.  It was a happening place, so great distractions for Annabelle.  We sat down around 6:30 and wanted to order sushi, but had to wait until 7:30 for when they started serving sushi.  They do things so much later here.
Saturday morning we walked forever and went to a new bakery I had found earlier in the week and it was heavenly (pics below).  Saturday afternoon we ate at a cute place on the water and both got cheeseburgers.  Wish I would have taken a picture of them, but a normal cheeseburger was a hamburger patty, cheese, fried egg, tomato, and slice of ham.  Andy enjoyed the extra fixings, but I would have preferred them to have stuck with the patty and the cheese for me.

Sunday we spent the day with the Pintos.  Carla asked me to join her at a "program" for posh baby clothes and Andy thought I could use the hour of "me" time.  She and I went to the Sheraton hotel where they were having a holiday mart type event, but for kid and mom clothes.  This place was packed with people buying things left and right.  It was really fun to see the different styles and what the mom's were gravitating towards.  I bought Annabelle a cute top, that seemed to be the most "traditional" item they were selling.  I saw a lot of corduroy one piece outfits, lots of fringe, fabric, pleats, jump suits.  As I have mentioned before they don't wear much cotton over here, so even at the park the kids are dressed very nice.  I think the parents think we are bums b/c I'm in workout clothes and Annabelle is always under dressed comparatively.  After the "program" we went down to old-town for lunch, a 2- hour lunch (they dine forever), and went to the American grocery store.  I was excited to check it out and see what items we would be able to get there but it was quite the disappointment.  The store itself was very small and half of it was candy and sweets.  The sweets in Portugal are the best I've ever had and for the most part they sell normal candy in the big supermarkets.  As expected the prices were super high, but they did have applesauce, so was thrilled for Annabelle. We did walk away with two jars of applesauce and a box of Raisin Bran Crunch (impulse buy) for $15 USD.  Ekkk.  We ended our Sunday listening to the Chiefs game on the radio...definitely not the same as watching it on TV with a big bowel of queso and something delicious in the crockpot, but we'll take what we can get...go Chiefs!!

Annabelle is saying "Cheeezzz" in this picture, hence her funny face :)

Dinner Friday night.

Our breakfast Saturday morning and some pictures of the yumminess this bakery was offering.

Saturday morning at the Foz market.

Andy and Annabelle looking at the sailboats on our way home from the market.

 Saturday afternoon after lunch, I stopped some non-English speaking man and asked him to take our picture...fortunately he got it on the first try.

Humble Abode

To provide a visual of where we are living I tried to take some pictures of our place.  As many of you know we feel truly lucky to be in the place we are after seeing what we saw the first day we were out looking for a home to live it.  It is a brand new home and located in the heart of Foz, which I already feel is the absolute best place to live in Porto.
While we continue to wait on Andy's visa and our air shipment to be released it still feels somewhat cold, but know once we have some of our own things it will start to feel more like "home".

Here is our kitchen taken from the hallway.  You will notice they have large windows with no coverings, because each window has these electronic black out metal shades that come down and completely darken the room and moderate temperature levels.

 Here is our living room.  The furniture and decor is what was provided by the housing company for our stay.  When we initially toured the place was decorated to a "T", but once we moved in, there was much less included in the house.

Living room again.  And yes that is our clothes hanger in the corner that we use to dry our laundry and a little table we bought for AB.

Picture of the closets.  This is my closet and you will notice that there are very few clothes in there, because we decided that we would ship most of my belongings in the air shipment...that has yet to arrive.  I really don't need more than what is here now considering I only wear workout clothes and PJs these days.  

 Here is a picture of our bedroom...and I should say "all 3 of ours".  Annabelle has been sleeping with us since we arrived due to them not having her crib and once they did get it many days later, she immediately jumped out of it.  We are going to start transitioning her to a big girl bed once we can get some linens for the bed and she gets more settled in and comfortable.

Here is our bathroom.  Every bathroom in the house has full marble from floor to ceiling, so they are very beautiful, but also a safety hazard for a crazy wet toddler!  There are two other bedrooms on the second floor, of which one we will turn into Annabelle's room and the other will be a guest room/ironing room (not sure who is going to do the ironing yet :))!

 This is the outside of the house, very non-European looking.  I tried to get the full house, but there are 4 floors and they are tall for houses over here, so the camera couldn't capture the full thing.

Here is the front entrance to our complex.  

 Here is our garden (backyard as we know it).  We have not spent any time out there yet, but hope to get a couple chairs in the near future so we can hang out when the weather is nice.  The stairs and railing are quite dangerous for Annabelle, so we don't want to encourage the space.

Here is our empty basement.  Don't think we will put any furniture down here or spend any time down here since we have the main floor with the TV and Annabelle's toys.  If we would have known that they were going to remove the furniture we would have shipped some of our couches and made this a comfy sitting area...oh well.

Here is the view from outside our front door of the complex heading towards to the entrance.  There are 15 smaller units on the right side, we are in unit 14 and then on the left are 6 of the larger homes.

Lastly there is a 4th floor, that includes it's own balcony, queen bed, bathroom and office space...perfect for visitors. It's like having your own hotel room, but even better :) So, yes you should all come!!!  Our doors are open.

Week 2

This past week has been relatively busy so feel like the week went by quicker than the first.  We are still definitely getting adjusted and settled in, but feel more at ease with our new living arrangements.  Andy ended up being home with us on Tuesday because he got the flu late Monday night, so it was nice having him with us during the week.  We found a great market last weekend that we have been walking to most days to get fresh flowers and produce.  There is a great bakery down the street from the market, so we can stop there on our way home and pick up fresh bread and cookies as well.  I see food becoming a main focus of our day...thank goodness we have to walk to get around or else we'd be packing on the lbs.

Some of this weeks observations:

Expiration Dates:  They have their expiration dates flopped and put the day first, followed by the month, ending with the year. Not that big of a deal but thought we had purchased old milk, but it was because we were reading the label incorrectly.

COKE - Normal coke is not served in restaurants. Today was the first day that I really wanted a coke, so while we were out to lunch I tried to order one and the only option was Coke Zero, which they have all over the supermarkets.  What I really want is a Dr. Pepper and that will just have to wait until Thanksgiving.

Sweets:  This culture loves sweets, but like LOVES sweets.  While I love them and am indulging in the decadence that is offered on every corner, they too push them for their children.  So every store or restaurant we walk into, Annabelle is offered either a sucker, cookie, or some sort of sugar filled, make my child stay up late item and cannot say no to.  Now everyday she asks for a sucker.  I swear they are putting crack in them.

Children:  This culture is so welcoming of children.  They are so kind to them in all the restaurants and even just out and about.  They are very focused on family life, so accommodate family lifestyles very nicely over here.  In all the supermarkets and malls, they have large family bathrooms that include changing tables, chairs for moms to breastfeed, highchairs, sinks, and toilets for families to use with their young ones.

Rain:  We are in rainy season and it's definitely been rainy.  While some days have not been all day long rain, most days we have had a good down pour or two.  Seeing that we only have one car in the family and Andy takes it to work, Annabelle and I only get out by foot.  Staying put inside a house all day long with a toddler is a recipe to make me go 'crazy' so we have headed out despite the weather and get rained on almost every day.  Most of the time the showers are very light and the stroller protects AB, but think I need to invest in a raincoat.

Driving:  The people here drive like bats out of hell.  I mean the culture here is very mild paced, kind-hearted, so the fact that they drive like the world is ending blows my mind.  And the street structure is filled with roundabouts, so you have cars flying around the roundabouts, swerving into your lane and street signs that are so small you barely know they are there. No right turn on red and you can drive over 100 miles per hour on the motorway (aka highway).

 Yes this is the normal fish section in the supermarkets.  The one with the beady eyes in the middle threw me for a loop.

Lunch with Annabelle on Thursday.  Got her another hot dog sandwich and tried this rustic chicken sandwich which was their version of chicken salad but rather than a mayo based it was almost a shrimp cocktail base.  Interesting.

Birds

Annabelle is obsessed with birds and loves to chase after them.  Not quite sure why she likes them, but it's a new thing and will keep her entertained for more than 5 minutes.  We went down to the beach to build some sand castles, but quickly got distracted by the birds.  And when I say birds, I mean like 100 seagulls or whatever the native beach bird is here, all resting down the beach from us.  Once Annabelle caught sight of them, she was off and bound and determined to get the birds.  There I was running after her with my camera out and pushing the stroller through sand.  Yes we are the foreigners.

A weekend in Porto

Our first official weekend in Porto was forecasted to rain the entire time, but lucked out and got some great weather Saturday.  Friday night we found ourselves at the mall because it was raining and wanted to give Annabelle some new distractions and scenery outside our home's four walls.  Saturday morning we woke up to rain but ventured out anyway to find some great new places.  We dined at an adorable bakery called Tavi, where we indulged in pastries filled with all sorts of goodness.  It's amazing how their breakfast consists of pastries and bread, not eggs, bacon and pancakes. We walked around for hours, found an adorable market where I got a beautiful  bouquet of sunflowers (trying to find things that remind us of home) for 3 Euro and some cookies for later.

Saturday afternoon was Porto's Color Run and unlike at home where it's a 5K run, this consisted of more families, young children in strollers and a 5K walk.  Living on the main drag from the beach, our street was shut down for 5 hours to accommodate the race, so we thought we should participate and go watch the run.  They do their races right.  They had speakers that lined the entire course playing American music.  Andy could not get over that they play all their music in English, although they don't speak English.  It looked like such a fun time and enjoyed watching the participants get covered in paint.  Maybe next year we'll participate as a fam!

Saturday night we walked to a restaurant down the street from us and decided to order a Portuguese favorite.  They have a signature sandwich over here called the Francesinha, so we thought since we are now living here, we need to embrace the culture.  Well let's just say I'm glad we tried it, but don't think I'll ever order one again.  It's more for people that LOVE meat and are really, really, really hungry!  It's layers and layers of meat in between two pieces of bread covered in cheese, with an egg inside, topped with spicy tomato soup, all served in a bowl.  Oh and french fries on the side.  

Friday night at the grocery store where there are pallets of frozen, salted codfish throughout the fish section.  I think Annabelle was like, what the heck is that stinky smell.

Saturday morning at the market.

The infamous Francesinha!!

Andy and Annabelle watching the Color Run.  Annabelle was fascinated with all the people and loud music.

During our stroll Saturday we walked down to the pier where the sea meets the river.  There is a long walkway that goes out into the ocean to a lighthouse that you can walk on.  We walked down to the lighthouse and got soaked from some waves.  Views below.

ExPat Get-Together

Monday night we attended an Ex-Pat gathering that was...well, let's say interesting.  I had joined this community earlier this summer when we found out we were moving in hopes to start networking and finding other Americans that were/are currently living in Porto.  Through my network I had communicated with one girl in particular over the past couple months and knew she was going, so was looking forward to meeting her in person.  Andy, Annabelle and I went down and walked in to a completely empty bar only filled with 7 people sitting around this U-shaped table.  Knowing that was "the group" we approached the table to find people from all over the world.  As the time went on, more "ex-pats" filed in and United States was still not a place of origin for anyone :)  Not only were we the only Americans, we were also the only ones that had their spouse along and of course the only ones that brought their child along.

We socialized for about an hour, met some interesting folks, just decided that the topic of conversation around the longitude and latitude of the caves where port is created, how I should never compare the gas prices of the United States to Europe and god knows what else, we parted our ways.  I can't say I walked away with any new friends, or really anyone I would like to hang out with per say, but it was an experience alright.  I did get invited to go grape picking with Christian from Germany and Bettina from Denmark and their families this weekend.  I think we are going to pass :)!!

 Family Selfie - after leaving the event.

Had to capture part of the evening.  Not a good photo but gives an idea of what we were working with.