Episode 11: All the People in Portugal Who Have Helped Us

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to another episode of As the Dinoson's Turn. I thought one of the maybe interesting things to talk about is how we seem to find exactly what we need when we need it, and we get help from people all the time, and things just kind of fall into place. So we've talked about the processes involved, the paperwork and so forth. We get here, but you don't once you're here and you're living here every day, you have to figure out how to be a part of this world. And so things like getting utilities set up. Our landlord helped us with that. Thank goodness for George.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

George is more than landlord, his family. Um, George, like I have to say that um him and Carla have been absolutely amazing. They they did, they did not have to take us to set up our utilities, um, electric and water. Um, they also helped us set up internet and our phone plans and refused to let us be swindled um by having to pay, you know, I forget how many more euro a month. But anyway, it wound up being like a total of like a thousand more a year, and they were horrified that anybody would ever have to pay that much. So I think that they're all kinds of like they are definitely a godsend to us.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

So to get utilities set up, George took us to the city hall in our town. And like almost everywhere that you walk into, you don't just walk in and talk to someone at the counter like you would at the local municipal utility in Iowa or something. You go in a lot of times, there's a guard standing there, and either you have to tell a machine what you're there for, or you tell the guard what you're there for. And they decide. And they put something in and you're given a number, and you have to watch the screen. This is true almost everywhere you go. Honestly, it's been true the bank, it's been true at the cell phone company, um, the doctor's offices like this. You don't just walk in and start talking to someone, you wait and watch a screen, and it'll show your number and tell you where to go. So either a like a kiosk number, like a window number or room number. So we had to do that. We got our number from the guard, and then they were having computer problems, which is like a well, you know, it's a recurring theme in the US too. So they were having computer problems, so it's like an hour-long wait.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Well, and the person, actually, the person ahead of us was having a lot of issues. Also, they had a dispute, and so like you never know, it's the person ahead of you in line that will determine on how quickly things go. Sometimes it'll be fast and sometimes it was, yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

It wasn't computer problems, it was some issue with the person in front of us. We get called back, get that set up, then we had to drive. So that was the water, that was water, then we had to get our electric set up, so you drive 20 minutes to Braga, which is the big city nearby, which is also the I would do it as like kind of like the county seat, yeah, um, equivalent, because we live in Povoa de well, we live in Oliveira, which is part of Povoa de Lonoso, which is actually part of the Braga area.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

And so it's kind of like the district hub. You have to go there to set up your electric. Again, you walk up to the guard, the guard like says, okay, and they gives you a number and he tells you where to go when you go upstairs because the entire second floor of this building has got like gazillions of offices, including that's where we went for a Ceph appointment. Right. And that was very fast. And then it was the cell phones after that.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Yeah, then we walk a couple of blocks to the cell phone company, and that's just like Verizon or US Cellular or the US, except again, you don't walk in and get accosted by someone in the store like you do in the US, where they like descend on you like wolves. Um, you walk in and you have to get a ticket from the kiosk, even if even if there's no one else in the store, there wasn't anyone else in the store, I don't think, when we were maybe there was one other person, but there was an open spot, but you have to go and get your ticket and wait until you get called up. So we did, and that's where George did the negotiating with them. And I don't know, I always like when Portuguese people talk to each other because there's gesturing and raised voices, and I'm not sure if they're yelling, I don't think they're always yelling at each other, it's just the way they talk.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Very passionate. I I appreciate that. No, and and that actually went really well. And you know, I I at that time didn't understand as much Portuguese. I mean, I was trying really hard, um, but it took a little while. It was that was that was the first time we really interacted with people outside of the grocery store. Um, our grocery store clerk, I love this. We go to the same grocery store quite a bit because they have the best fuel saver card. Like it's ridiculous the amount of money you can save on fuel. Um and like I've I've saved like 18 euro on a tink of gas, like, which is impressive. But um we get in line with her and she gets us the card and she talks to us all about it, and like trying to help us with our English and all of those things because she's trying to get better at English. But then we have the same kinds of conversations and work on all of those pieces. And there's always somebody there who wants to have those conversations with you and is going to be very patient. We found our people in that respect.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

And one of the first things that we had an experience with was going to the parade in town, and we were driving, trying to find a parking spot, and we were driving a rental car at that time, and it didn't have a lot of oomph, and we were on a slope, and it just went. And trying to back up the slope, it wouldn't go. It just it was just rolling down until finally we kind of got wedged in on this.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

We did. One of our wheels went over the side of the berm, and I was like, okay, well, let's just get out. We're going to the parade. Um, and we went, and I love how it was like, What? What? What? I was like, it'll be fine. There'll be people around next time. Everybody, right now, we're going, we're going to the parade. Um, and we're talking parade like as a religious processional because it was the celebration of Saint Joseph, who was also the patron saint of uh so we went and everybody was there, every single child and the entire area was involved in this, either because of their church or because they were scouts. I mean, it was impressive. They were all there. And so we hung out there and we watched all these things and we learned all of this story of Joseph himself and uh through the actual parade. Um, and there's no candy throwing or anything like that, you know, no floats of people waving high. It's literally religious processional. Um, but at the same time, that was a great cultural experience too. We found a great spot to stand. And then as things were starting to kind of be done, we just went back to the car and I literally leaned on the hood and crossed my arms, and somebody was there within 30 seconds because they realized, like, are you stopped? Or do you need help? I'm like, Yes, we need help.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

And so then I don't know, there were there were two other there was this guy and some other guy, and they were, I don't know, they were moving stones around trying to get grip.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Some loose asphalt, they moved it so they actually created a ramp to get the tire back.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Yeah. And then this bus driver, well, guy who was a bus driver, he was off duty. That he said, Oh, I drive a bus, let me take care of it. So he put it in gear and he somehow got it in reverse all the way up this steep hill. I'm telling you, and turned around and pulled back out into the into the road for us.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Well, exactly. And what I love is I've seen them in town and they still would say. But yes, we needed somebody then, and that worked out great.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

And we that seems to happen to us in our travels a lot, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

I think that's always happened to me in my travels. I've never gotten into a situation where there was a problem that absolutely I needed help with that somebody wasn't right there that that could swoop in and help me. But one of the things I have noticed is that this is very unique to or to the Portuguese culture of where we are. Everybody is highly in tune and making sure that if you need help, you get it. Um, there's no somebody looks like they might be in distress and people walk by. It is a you stop and you help and you take the time. Just like if you when you go in and you use the machine and you get your number, it might look like there's nobody there and they should be waiting on you, but they could be doing something else that's really important. And so you need to wait until they're done with their task and they're available for you.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

We saw this wasn't us, it was someone we were behind in one of the parking lots where you have to put the ticket into the machine and then wait for the arm to open, and they couldn't something wasn't working right. So one person just got it. There was no horn honking or like gesturing. Someone just went up and was helping them, and I don't know how what they did, but they got the arm to open for this person.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Fine, and then like everybody else went on their way, and this is one of the things I really appreciated. I mean, we see this everywhere. Um, you know, we had a flat tire.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Yes, we had a flat tire, and we thought we could drive it from where the flat tire was to where the tire store is. And I don't know, there were I lost count of the number of people, just people walking on the sidewalk who would suddenly start gesturing and pointing at our at our tire.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

And a piece of grass stuck in the rim of our tire, because we live in a rural area and you park along, and sometimes there's grass, and then people will be like, I'm like, oh shit, there's something wrong with my tire. No, it was a piece of grass, but you know, it's got it taken care of. And so I think that that that is like highly aware. They're making sure that you know, and there's always the idea of you know, um, being constantly and cognizant of the people around you, not because you're expected to interact with all of them, but that you're expected to react and act if something is needed. So just like when you're driving a car and you're coming up to a crosswalk and you see somebody on the sidewalk and they might not be that close, you better go ahead and stop because they know a sidewalk, a crosswalk is right there for you in that crosswalk. Um, they might just jump out in front of you and you're expected to stop. Like jaywalking is a whole I forgot about jaywalking in this part of the country, but um I you're expected to stop. If if you are on a bus or you're on the subway um or you are in line um and you are an able-bodied adult, um, you are expected to give um your space and your spot to somebody who is elderly or who might be pregnant or might have kids or might have be special needs in some way. You're expected to give up your position in line to make sure that they are taken care of. Um, that is something that I truly appreciate. It's you know, you would always get up and make sure that they get their seat on the bus and all of those things. Like um, it's just a cultural value here. But you always get help when you need it.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

You always do. We'll do a podcast too about driving. I think oh god. Driving driving is its own. I think we need probably 15 minutes just to talk about driving. But um, crosswalks are a big deal here.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Oh, absolutely. But I'd say crosswalks, figuring out the roundabouts, all of those things. Um, but there's also an idea of and thinking about making sure that you're taken care of. Okay. For those of you who have children who wear glasses, you know that kids' glasses and gym are just not good combinations of things. Jack had his glasses broken and they were very concerned about it. The school called and I thought, oh my God, you know, and then Jack called and said, You need to be here. So we went and waited and waited for him and his teacher. Um, turns out that if your glasses or some part of your property is damaged, then you actually, the school has insurance to protect or pay for all of those things, and the school will pay for it. It's not like one of those things where you just hope your glasses are insurance or whatever. That was a no, no, no, no, take these to town. We go around, you need to go to the three um ophthalmologists or you know, optometric places, like within the next, like, and they're all on the corners. So literally it's like a two-minute walk between all three of them and figure out which one will give you the best price, and then bring that receipt to us, and we will pay for everything in full. Um, it was time for Jack to get new glasses anyway. So, I mean, we went ahead and did that the second time they broke. And his teachers are still appalled that we haven't just made the school pay for these new glasses because you know they were broke, his glasses were broken in gym. Um, so I think that that's another piece of it too, is making sure that if something happens that it's all taken care of.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

So it's a culture of helping people, and we've certainly always found the things that we need when we need them. Always all right, join us again on another episode of As the Dinoson's Turn.com and join us again next time for another episode.