I am excited to say that we have been in our new house for two nights now. It is definitely a change from the temp housing that we had here on base. And there are a few things that we are already having to get use to.
For example, natures cuckoo clocks. In temp house and in the states, we have alarms that we pick the time of and set...here, the church bells start chiming at 7:00am and the roosters start their business at sunrise. We love being next to the church. It is beautiful and we feel safe as if God's eyes were really upon us and we ALWAYS know what time it is. We will get use to the 7:00am wake up call, so I am not worried. And the roosters will eventually be white noise much like the cows have already become :)
Another adjustment we have made is to our driving. On base, most of the driving rules we have in the states are obeyed...unless your Portuguese and then they are only obeyed if some one is watching...however OFF base...DUDE...it is crazy. They have round-a-bouts instead of stop lights, which keep traffic flowing pretty well. We have had a couple of moments like that in European Vacation with Chevy Chase...oh, look kids there's Big Ben and Parliment...but so far we manage them well. The traffic jams that would frustrate us back in the states are made of cows here...no kidding...we have cow traffic jams instead of cars. I have heard that if they surround you, you could lose a rearview mirror, but so far that hasn't happened to us. Wish us luck! The most intriguing driving difference thus far is how people just stop their cars WHERE EVER to stop and talk with someone, park, you name it they will stop in the middle of the street and you go around them. The funny thing, is that nobody gets mad! It is such common practice, you just go around them as if you knew that was going to happen! Back in the states, an act like that would be followed by the finger, cussing or honking if not all three. But here, it is what it is and you move on. The other funny thing is that people just stand in the road. They are not worried that a car is going to come by and kill them, they are just talking with each other. No big deal. The best was this weekend when we saw a drunk guy stumbling his way home walking in the middle of the street...he could have cared less that there were cars behind him and in front of him and that he was holding up traffic...again, no honking, no fingers...just some good laughs and we all moved on! Nao Faz Mal (No problem). We are learning to live by this phrase!
As in most European places the showers are little water pressure, the washer and dryer are small (at least we have them...most local nationals just hang their clothes out to dry...but the humidity makes that take FOREVER), and the streets are tiny. We have had to get use to how cold having all tile floors make the house, but again...Nao Faz Mal. This is all part of the adventure.
Well, I need to run. We are going to a Pink Tie Gala for breast cancer on Saturday and we have to find and purchase local and formal attire. Wish me luck finding shoes for my GIGANTIC feet...the women are short with small feet here...no size 12's I'm sure. So maybe I will go barefoot...anything goes here and that is part of it's charm! We really do love it here! Best adventure by far!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
2 Weeks on the Island
Wow! I can't believe that we have been here two weeks! So much has happened in that time. Since our arrival, we have gotten to know and love Jill and Patrick. Jill is the OT that I am working with here and Patrick is her hubby. She and Patrick, besides being super cool, have gone out of their way to introduce us to all the beauty of this island and much of the Portuguese culture. The Air Force does an 8 hour island tour...Jill and Patrick did a 3 day tour! It was fantastic. They took us to places that those assigned here 3 months to 2 years haven't discovered or visited yet. My favorite spot so far is the castle playground in Angra (the capital). Not only is it a fantastic playground for the kiddos, it overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and Split Rock and is at the bottom of Monte Brasil which is an old castle itself. I also love Biscoitos (pronounced bish-coit-ish) which is a Rock Beach. The waves come crashing down on the rocks and the ocean spray from it looks like white fireworks. It is beautiful! When looking at our photos my BFF Aaron said it looks like the Irish countryside meets Meditteranian villages...that's about right! We just love it here!
One of my "jobs" in the first few weeks here has been to find a house. Check...it is done! We got keys on Sunday, cooked our first dinner there Monday and will be sleeping in it from this point on tonight (Tuesday). It is exactly what I wanted. It is so European and in the middle of a village amoungst the Azorean community. The house is hard to describe, but it is covered with tile and marble. It is next to a Catholic Church in the middle of the village. The view from our backyard is countryside and ocean. I think we are going to be very happy there. I hope to post pictures on FB later so folks can see.
Another job was to find transportation. People refer to available cars as island bombs. They have basically been driven by a number of people stationed here and nobody knows when they are going to explode from overuse. Automatics are very hard to come by but highly desired as the hills and narrow streets make it a challenge to drive a stick. We got very lucky and found an automatic...it is a burgandy, Honda Accord 1991...we paid more for it than we got for Matt's Honda Accord 1999 (not by much though), but it will get us from home to base and back again. The funny thing is we aren't driving that car yet. The soldier selling it to us doesn't PCS (that means leave for her next assignment) until Nov. 11th, so we were potentially without a car until the 11th. Step in one of the many fabulous and generous people here, Glynn a DoDDs school teacher who just gave us his wife's car to have for a week. They carpool to work, so they said they don't really need it that much. We just met them, and they just handed it over. It is awesome. The trust and sense of sharing here is amazing. Our van and our household goods get into port November 24th. So we are also without a bed in the house and our temp housing time is up. Step in our new landlord who left us a complete full bed and an additional full size top mattress. They also left a ton of beautiful antique furniture in the house for us to just use while we live there! It is crazy! This place and it's people and the military/civilian personnel are amazing!! I guess they know it is an island and small enough that everybody knows everybody else's business so if something happened to the car or the furniture...chances are they would know before you told them.
As I said our things and van come in at the end of the month. It will be nice to set up our house with our things and have two cars. So far having only one car hasn't been inconveniencing as we are in temp housing on base and I just walk to work. But as of tomorrow when we are in the house, we shall see. I have loved walking on base. Although there are a ton of hills, you can't help but love being outside here. You can almost always see the ocean no matter what building you step out of! And there is something so calming about that. The weather is fickle! They say they have all the seasons in a day and it is true. It will start out rainy in the morning much like your spring showers, turn into a beautiful summer day, change to a windy fall day and then end with a chilly winter evening. You never know what you are going to get. So I take my umbrella everywhere. It is coming up on the rainy season, and apparently it rains sideways here because of the wind, so we have that to look forward to.
Matt, the kids and I are slowly learning Portuguese. It is such an interesting language. It looks like Spanish if you read it and I have been lucky to that I retained more of my Spanish learning that I would have thought...it has some French sounding words thrown in there...but then it sounds very Russian. Matt and I are looking forward to taking the language class offered on base in the new year. The kids already know how to say hello, good day, good afternoon, good evening, good-bye, thank you and your welcome, so they are well on their way. I am evening thinking about putting them in a Portuguese preschool in Jan. We will see.
I started working last Monday. Jill kept me busy with learning all things associated with the company, the base and the military. This week she has gone to a conference so I am on my own. I kept busy the first two days with paperwork and red tape, but things have slowed slowed down considerable and my work has consisted more of shopping online (the shopping is very limited here), writing up program ideas for the families on base, and a field trip to the shopette with a buddy to get coffee. I am not able to see kiddos yet due to a hiccup with paperwork (not my error thankfully) and I don't have computer access from my office. So I am filling my time as best I can and looking forward to the time when I can work with kiddos and their families.
Well, that's it for now! This has been an awesome first two weeks! In some ways I feel as though I have been here forever with how comfortable everything is. We are so glad that we made this leap of faith to experience the world and acquaint ourselves with folks serving in the military. There are truly some impressive people here! We are having fun! Carpe Diem in the Azores (that's for you Elizabeth!)
One of my "jobs" in the first few weeks here has been to find a house. Check...it is done! We got keys on Sunday, cooked our first dinner there Monday and will be sleeping in it from this point on tonight (Tuesday). It is exactly what I wanted. It is so European and in the middle of a village amoungst the Azorean community. The house is hard to describe, but it is covered with tile and marble. It is next to a Catholic Church in the middle of the village. The view from our backyard is countryside and ocean. I think we are going to be very happy there. I hope to post pictures on FB later so folks can see.
Another job was to find transportation. People refer to available cars as island bombs. They have basically been driven by a number of people stationed here and nobody knows when they are going to explode from overuse. Automatics are very hard to come by but highly desired as the hills and narrow streets make it a challenge to drive a stick. We got very lucky and found an automatic...it is a burgandy, Honda Accord 1991...we paid more for it than we got for Matt's Honda Accord 1999 (not by much though), but it will get us from home to base and back again. The funny thing is we aren't driving that car yet. The soldier selling it to us doesn't PCS (that means leave for her next assignment) until Nov. 11th, so we were potentially without a car until the 11th. Step in one of the many fabulous and generous people here, Glynn a DoDDs school teacher who just gave us his wife's car to have for a week. They carpool to work, so they said they don't really need it that much. We just met them, and they just handed it over. It is awesome. The trust and sense of sharing here is amazing. Our van and our household goods get into port November 24th. So we are also without a bed in the house and our temp housing time is up. Step in our new landlord who left us a complete full bed and an additional full size top mattress. They also left a ton of beautiful antique furniture in the house for us to just use while we live there! It is crazy! This place and it's people and the military/civilian personnel are amazing!! I guess they know it is an island and small enough that everybody knows everybody else's business so if something happened to the car or the furniture...chances are they would know before you told them.
As I said our things and van come in at the end of the month. It will be nice to set up our house with our things and have two cars. So far having only one car hasn't been inconveniencing as we are in temp housing on base and I just walk to work. But as of tomorrow when we are in the house, we shall see. I have loved walking on base. Although there are a ton of hills, you can't help but love being outside here. You can almost always see the ocean no matter what building you step out of! And there is something so calming about that. The weather is fickle! They say they have all the seasons in a day and it is true. It will start out rainy in the morning much like your spring showers, turn into a beautiful summer day, change to a windy fall day and then end with a chilly winter evening. You never know what you are going to get. So I take my umbrella everywhere. It is coming up on the rainy season, and apparently it rains sideways here because of the wind, so we have that to look forward to.
Matt, the kids and I are slowly learning Portuguese. It is such an interesting language. It looks like Spanish if you read it and I have been lucky to that I retained more of my Spanish learning that I would have thought...it has some French sounding words thrown in there...but then it sounds very Russian. Matt and I are looking forward to taking the language class offered on base in the new year. The kids already know how to say hello, good day, good afternoon, good evening, good-bye, thank you and your welcome, so they are well on their way. I am evening thinking about putting them in a Portuguese preschool in Jan. We will see.
I started working last Monday. Jill kept me busy with learning all things associated with the company, the base and the military. This week she has gone to a conference so I am on my own. I kept busy the first two days with paperwork and red tape, but things have slowed slowed down considerable and my work has consisted more of shopping online (the shopping is very limited here), writing up program ideas for the families on base, and a field trip to the shopette with a buddy to get coffee. I am not able to see kiddos yet due to a hiccup with paperwork (not my error thankfully) and I don't have computer access from my office. So I am filling my time as best I can and looking forward to the time when I can work with kiddos and their families.
Well, that's it for now! This has been an awesome first two weeks! In some ways I feel as though I have been here forever with how comfortable everything is. We are so glad that we made this leap of faith to experience the world and acquaint ourselves with folks serving in the military. There are truly some impressive people here! We are having fun! Carpe Diem in the Azores (that's for you Elizabeth!)
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