Episode 19: 5 Things, Part 2

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to another episode of As the Dinoson's Turn. On this episode, Jason and Tracy continue their discussion of the things that they wish they knew before they moved to Portugal and the things they've discovered that are wonderful about living in Portugal. So we're up to three things now. Three things we wish we knew before we moved, and three things that we have discovered that we're glad for. So we have wish we knew about traffic. I would add to that that you need to drive manual transmissions here because there's very few automatics, but that would go along with the traffic and just the the way that people drive here. Two, second thing we wish we had known, the bureaucracy, the red tape involved in everything that you do. Three, the cost of living is not necessarily less than in the United States.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Right, and and we didn't mention taxes and all of those things as a part of that, but I would say tax is a is a big piece of that. Granted, that every purchase you make is tied to your tax ID or can be. Most things are taxed at a 23%. You're expected to pay so much of a tax every year based on your income scale. And it's anywhere from 28% to 50% of your income. It just depends on where you are. So I'd say costs are not all it's meant to be, but at the same time, you know, it's it's worth it.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

So then the three things that we're glad of or that we've discovered are good things, pace of life, the people, and then three, you know, the costs may not be much less, but the quality seems to be a lot better. So we've got three things. If we're gonna do a top five list, I guess we have two more to go on each.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

All right. So what is something you wish you knew before you got here that's not on that that's on that list?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

I would add the things that I wish I knew or not be naive about language and the as I think some of the stuff you read is oh everybody speaks English, which is true in Lisbon and the Algarve and or Porto. If you're in the big cities and the big tourist areas, but if you're doing what we do, which is out in the countryside, no one speaks English. Or I don't know, they say this about French people that that they know they just choose not to.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Well, and I think that they know, but they're they know ish. Like it's it's kind of like you know, in the US, we say, Oh, I took this language when I was in high school and I don't really remember it. I think it's that type of no. Um, so yeah, I would say that um making sure that you've done some type of a study um I think would be good. But more than that, I think that knowing that there are also resources for you here when you get here. But yeah, I think the naivete of you can just kind of get by and and all of those things, I think is important.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

And I think you'll find too that people are willing to be patient with you if you show you're trying. The thing that does, I think, annoy Portuguese people, based on what I've heard just from my instructor and such, is when people come here and they don't even try and they're just the English speaker, it's not just the Americans, it's the Brits also, uh, in some of the tourist areas and such. If they live there, they come in and they start speaking English, and they just expect everybody in Portugal to just speak English back. So make an effort. I think if you make an honest effort, most people will be quite happy with you. And even, you know, like the the odor of the Cyber Cafe is quite pleased when I am able to make orders in Portuguese.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

She is quite impressed, absolutely. Um, so I would say that you know, when we're talking about um language, I think that that's something to just kind of keep in mind. It it is going to be important, um, it is going to be necessary in order to get a lot of the work done that you need to get done. And so if that's not something that you um that you have um or that if you're not connected with it, it's make sure that you have the connections to help you with those things. And so I would say another thing that um that I'm grateful for is a lot of the different services that are available um and that are here to support you as a community member, but also as somebody who is an expat. I think that's one of the things that I'm really grateful for. So um, whether it be the online language learning, which is built around your schedule and ways that you can go ahead and do so you can have your individual lessons or you can work in groups of a class, or whether that be, you know, connections with the the lawyer, I can't imagine doing this without some type of support, um, making sure that you've got translators and and good lawyers for all of these other things. I think that the services and the quality of like the services that are available, I am grateful for because they really have helped our and facilitated our life here in a lot of ways. I mean, um I think that that's one of the things that I I just can't even imagine doing this without all of those services and those elements. And and I know it sounds like, oh, well, you just also talked about people and costs. I think those are different. When you contract somebody to do a job for you or that you're working with, I mean, one, um you you'll be surprised by the cost um in order to help with that. It's much lower than a lot of the times I anticipate, but I'm also very happy with the service and very grateful for it.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

All right, we're up to four. We probably have about four minutes before we hit the 30-minute mark here. All right. So we need one more thing we wish we knew, and one more thing that we've discovered, we're glad for. I think on the list of things I wish we knew. Well, I don't know. I was going to say, and I think we knew this because this is why we chose this area, but the importance of being a part of the community and making friends here. And I mean, we say there's no English speakers here, but there are. There's the pet store owner, there's our landlord. I mean, you find your people and you become friends with them, but I think that that's just we do that, but I think sometimes people maybe would do this and maybe be a little naive, kind of like on the language thing. It's important to try to be a part. I think we said this at a different episode. We're always going to be the cra we're always going to be the crazy Americans. Oh yeah. But we we're trying to actually be a part of the community too.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

So I would go with something completely different. Um, the thing for me is I assumed that, you know, you can buy things anywhere. You can get the stuff that you need, it'll be fine. There are certain things that I absolutely have not been able to get my hands on.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Green onions.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

I miss green onions, you guys. It's crazy. But and you know, chili powder in the US is a mix of all different kinds of things that I can't necessarily get here. And so I was complaining about that. Or I said, Oh, I miss chili powder. It's fall here. It's starting to get cool. We're gonna have rainy days. I want chili. And somebody said, There's a store, you can do an online order here. Let me send it. So, I mean, I'm grateful the community, thank goodness, but the moment I find green onions, those babies are gonna be replanted and repotted, and I'm gonna have to try and propagate. I'm telling you, there are certain things that you just miss, and I think that that's true, you know, um, anywhere, but I just assumed that there would be ways to get things here because of like Amazon um or deliveries. I figured, well, that's not a problem, we can get that online.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

I would add so I'm I'm keeping a list here, and I replaced my be a part of the community with what you can buy. Yeah. And I would add Amazon on that. There is no Amazon Portugal. You can order it from Amazon Spain, or Amazon Germany. But do be aware that delivery here is oddly they have trouble finding you, and it's not just us. If you read about it online, this is like a widespread problem across Portugal where delivery drivers either can't find you or they choose not to deal with trying to find you, and it's hard to get your packages actually delivered to you.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Well, and and that's really hard when you don't have a lot of language. So you absolutely essentially must have WhatsApp because everybody uses WhatsApp for everything. And so if a delivery driver calls you, they'll call you and say, Send me your location. They mean share your location with me with WhatsApp. And wherever you are, I will deliver it to you if you're not at home or you're in the middle of town or whatever it is. Um, but that way they can find your house, particularly when you live in a rural area, and we're it's odd, we're number 54 at the bottom of a hill, but over at the other side of the hill is like number one, and then up at the top is number 20, and then here is like 45, and it doesn't necessarily have any rhyme or reason. Um, and when you live on this tiny little street that nobody really can find, that makes it a little difficult on top of just in general it being hard to find. So, yeah, I mean the things that you can find. I mean, I went to six different stores one time to find jalapenos because I was desperate. So I think that know that there are gonna be things that you can't find and you can't buy, and you um can't necessarily get to you.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

And then we need one more thing that we're glad of that we've discovered since we moved here.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

I uh I just feel like there are so many things. Really, I'm gonna be honest, the thing that I am most grateful for is time. Time with family, time to explore myself, time to, you know, find passions and do additional things. Um it's the adventure piece of it, I guess. I don't know. Like what would you say?

SPEAKER_00 10:10

I think, yeah, that the time, I mean we've already talked about pace of life, but I actually think pace of life and the way that people go about their business here could be mentioned twice, honestly, because it's such a big thing, especially for us as the stressed-out Americans, coming into this environment where I think in a place like Lisbon, people are go, go, go. I've talked to several people in this area who are like, yeah, I don't like Lisbon because it's too busy. People are not nice, they're always in a hurry, they honk their horns and things like that. So I think that we've landed in a spot that's been good for us for what we came from and what we were going through to be here.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Right, and I would say that I don't I don't feel the rush. And so if I run into somebody, I will be able to take the time that I want to take without feeling like I can't. But also time with the kids, time and our I mean, it's just I'm enjoying being here and being f there for them and with them. And even if I'm going back and forth a lot, um, which I'll get to go and do that soon. Um I have to say that for me, time is everything. Um and the importance like the way you spend your time in Portugal, at least in our community, is very different. You're expected to spend your time with people and family and connections and socializing and doing things that you're passionate about with other people. Um, and I don't feel like I felt that in the US as strong of a drive to do that. And here, if I wasn't, I think that people would, even neighbors would be worried about you. They're like, what are you doing?

unknown 11:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yep, and conducting business. Some of the people that I've started conducting business with, it's like you're expected to do things like have a meal with with some wine or whatever and conversation. You might not even really talk business at that, but it's something that connects you so that down the road there's more of a connection. I think that that's that's it's just an important thing in this culture.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah, the time spent on prioritizing health, well-being, and relationships, I would say, are essential.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

So to recap, the five things we wish we knew, this is not five things that are necessarily negatives, they're just five things that we wish we had known before moving here. And these are not in any particular order. This is just the order we talked about them. One is driving and the fact that traffic is chaos. It may be chaos in other countries too. I don't know. Parking too. Oh, parking's car. Traffic, parking, the way people drive, and the fact that you have to know how to drive a manual transmission. Number two, the bureaucracy and red tape in everything that you do. Number three, the cost savings really is not what you think it is. You're not going to save a bunch of money, at least in Portugal, you're not compared to the US. Number four, language skills and the fact that unless you're in a big city or a tourist area, you must learn at least some basic Portuguese and don't be naive about that. And then number five, what you can buy, and the fact that things like green onions or chili powder or finding jalapenos, or that's our that's on our list of things that we sometimes struggle to find. You may struggle to find certain things and get delivery from Amazon, for example, that can be an adventure. The five things we've discovered we're glad for. The pace of life is one. Two, the kindness and just goodness of the people. Number four, the quality. So you may not save a lot of money living here, but it seems like the quality of what you buy is better. You're getting more for your money.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

And the knowledge people have about the things that they're selling is definitely higher. And you go into a store where people are employed. I mean, all of those things are great.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

So number four, the amount of services that are available. And then number five, which is related to number one, really, is time and how people spend their time and what's important here.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Even the idea of the length of a day is is something that, you know, um I'm still starting to kind of wrap my head around, you know, like the idea that you get up around 7, um, but you're not going to bed until around 11:30 or midnight is a shift in day for me. But um, yeah, I have to say, just in general, I am so grateful for having made this move. And I know that um we've had our struggles and we'll continue to have them. But at the same time, uh grateful every day that we get to have those struggles.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

All right. Join us again next time for another episode of As the Dinoson's turn.