UPDATES, BENAGIL and SITA
- groovyrlm
- May 28
- 5 min read
Our Stuff: We still don’t have our stuff! Waaaaa! I haven’t asked what’s going on because what good would it do? Although, if it doesn’t arrive in Lisbon on May 30 – the current target date, geez, I don’t know what may happen. We haven’t seen what we shippd since just before Thanksgiving. I only have one pair of shorts! It’s trying to be summer here now. Gggggrrrrrrrrr
Learning Portuguese: Scott is being a real trooper! He doesn’t skip his class and he dutifully does his homework and he IS improving. Me: gosh I wish that Spanish were the language here. It turns out I remember way more from school that I thought I did. It serves to confuse me every day. I learned to count in Spanish in 3rd grade. It’s ingrained.
Spanish | Portuguese |
Uno | Um |
Dos | Dois |
Tres | Três |
Cuatro | Quatro |
Cinco | Cinco |
Seis | Seis |
Siete | Sete |
Ocho | Oito |
Nueve | Nove |
Diez | Dez |
Once | Onze |
Doce | Doze |
Trece | Treze |
Catorce | Catorze |
Quince | Quinze |
Three and four are pronounced close enough to the same way to be ok, but the rest, even the ones spelled the same, are not pronounced the same way. AAARRRRGGG. My brain goes blank almost everytime I start to say something more than “good morning” or “thank you”. It’s kinda freaking me out. Then, of course, if I manage to say something, I don’t understand what is said in response. So I have a mental block and also am still trying to deal with various paper work issues. Next up--- drivers’ license exchange (ugh). If we ever want to drive, even rental cars, this has to be done. And because we’re over 60, it has to be sooner rather than later or we could have to take a test… in Portuguese! YIKES.
Scott’s Project (aka THE Project): Scott has also been quite diligent in going out and meeting people and looking for ways to connect to others who might have an interest. He has been talking to some folks at the University of the Algarve in the Entrepreneurship department. I hope he’ll blog about it, but he’s busy writing materials and emails and things. You really should give him a call. Please use WhatsApp to do so. It’s easy and free for everyone. He has the same US phone number. If you don’t have it, just let me know.
BTW, he did get the batteries for the tricycle. They had to be sent separately from our other stuff as they are “hazardous materials”. Oh, heh, ask him about his business cards!
Lola and Bitsy: We are within walking distance of the veterinarian. It’s a regular vet office and also a 24-hour emergency hospital. I feel so fortunate! I’ve been very impressed with how thorough and caring they are. The last time we were there, a few weeks ago, we were there for over 2 hours (with the 2 of them). They did some tests, including an x-ray of Lola’s spine and hips, gave some shots and we talked about a lot of things. Then she gave us some new medications for pain and inflammation. I held my breath, waiting for €1000 bill. Nope. €260. So they are both doing better, but are clearly having issues with their back legs. They have both lost most of their hearing as well. It’s hell getting old, no matter what you are.
My back: It’s been quite a few weeks since I had an MRI on my back. I was a little surprised that it took so long for them to send me the report. I still haven’t spoken with the doctor about it. Appointment to do so is this coming Monday. I did run the report through Google Translate and then ChatGPT. Here’s the summary part:
"At the L4-L5 level of your lower spine, there is a mild forward slip of one vertebra over another. The disc between them is bulging backward and pressing on the sac that holds the spinal nerves. Additionally, joint thickening is narrowing the space even more, causing the nerve roots to be crowded together inside the spinal canal. These findings may be associated with symptoms like lower back pain, sciatica, numbness, or weakness in the legs, depending on severity.
If you have symptoms, these findings could explain them, and you should discuss this with a spine specialist for proper management."
I am eager to find out what she, the doctor, will suggest for dealing with this.
Friends: I think I’ve gone on about “What is friendship? What do other people define a “friend” as?” So I won’t do down that path again now. It’s enough to say that I feel like we have a few friends here. I also think I had mentioned Celina before. We “met” initially in one of the FB groups for people living in or moving to Portugal. Then we met IRL in December or January. She was born in the Azores, but mostly lived in California. She and her husband Lance moved here from CA in September. They live in a town a bit west of us, but not far. Also, they have a car. I’ll talk about them more in a minute.
Our friend, John, who showed us around the Algarve and found us this apartment was in town last week. He took us to a vegetarian restaurant that we didn’t know about. They are only open for lunch. It’s really a terrific little place!
Also last week, we met another woman who is taking Portuguese lessons from the same teacher we are. She and her husband (who has Parkinson’s Disease) live in Tavira. She, Felicia, also has a car. She came over to meet us and have lunch. We took her to the same vegetarian restaurant and she liked it, too!
Our teacher is a friend, too. She lives in Santarem which is 3 hours north of here. So we only see her on Microsoft Teams.
Saturday a week ago (May 17) Celina and Lance decided they wanted to go on a boat tour of the Benagil Caves. They graciously invited us to come and offered to come get us.
This is part of a series of sea caves and cliffs along the coast from Lagos to Albufeira (~35 miles). We just went from Carvoeiro to Marinha Beach (~5 miles).
We were on a boat for a couple of hours (I think) and we covered a 7km stretch of this amazing cliff and cave system. We went in and out of several caves as it was low tide, or close to it. Some of them would not have been accessible at high tide. We also learned at high tide here, it goes up 3 meters. That didn't mean much to me, but Scott said it's considerably higher than at NC beaches. There was one guy driving the boat and another guy who was telling about everything. He was great and really funny. 10 passengers including Scott, Celina and Lance. We went and ate Mexican food afterwards. We pretty much had a blast.
Then this past Sunday (May 25), Celina and Lance heard about this event and again invited us to go.
We all thought it sounded pretty awesome and looked forward to the music. Unfortunately, we all misread/misunderstood what was happening on Sunday and at what time there would be music. So we missed the soul music part. We did see the parade. I took pictures, but they are essentially the same as what you see on the website. Very similar to the smaller parades at Mardi Gras, but without the plastic beads and stuff being thrown at you. All in all it wasn’t what any of us thought it would be and was kind of a bust. Alvor was a very cool town, though. It may need another visit at a calmer time. Also, at the restaurant where we ate, Scott ordered a veggie burger. It was REALLY good. I may now be brave enough to order this elsewhere.
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