Springtime in Portugal

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to As the Dinoson's Turn, where we chronicle the adventures of the Dinoson family, a seemingly ordinary family from Iowa who decided, hey, you only live once. So let's move to Portugal. And now your hosts, Jason and Tracy Dinason.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Welcome to another episode of As the Dinoson's Turn. It is springtime now. And so we're gonna talk about spring and summer plans in Portugal.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

So our um the big festival here in town has just ended. So that's for Saint Jose, which is the patron Saint Saint Joseph of our town. But there'll be a lot of other festivals that will come up. Um I love springtime because we are finally entering into a phase where the torrential rain is gonna stop being consistent. Woohoo! Thank you. End of hurricane season. Um but also we're gonna get into the upper 60s again, and it's gonna be pretty consistent every day, and the sun will be out. Oh, what's your favorite thing about the springtime sunshine?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Just the sunshine is the big thing for me. You go out every day, don't you? I just go out and sit in the sun for a while. Vitamin D time.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Yes, he does call it his vitamin D time, and the dogs join him.

unknown 1:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Yes, the dogs like that too.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

So lots of walks, great walks for dogs and all of those things. Hanging out in the patio and planting flowers. Um, because we didn't do that last year. So got some of that. We need to plant some grass out on our patios for uh the cats. Ironically, they like the grass better. So what else? Let's see. I am looking forward to Easter break. So in the states, you all have spring break. We have carnival break, which is three days for us anyway. There are a couple of schools that I know of that are usually private schools that have the full week. We do not. And so Easter break is coming up. I'm very excited. We have two weeks, two full weeks, and then we have two weeks of break. I'm so excited. So springtime, Easter time is a good time to come to Portugal. There'll be all kinds of events and things going on, right? Tons of stuff. I'm looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

There's Easter and then Well, there's there's lots of different holidays in Portugal too. You have the April 25th, May 1st.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Yeah, so April 25th is Dia de Libertad. And so Day of Liberty of the 25th of April, end of uh dictatorship, beginning of democracy, a peaceful transition to democracy that is still in full spring. So um, and that is symbolized by a red carnation because in Lisbon the police were out on the street, and a woman in her cafe had red carnations on the tables, and she took the carnations out and gave them to police officers, and they put them inside their guns. And so the red carnation is a very important symbol here. May 1st is Labor Day here, and so Labor Day here is very important. Um, it's definitely a time to celebrate, um, make sure that you know, I think the unions here are still going pretty strong, but the importance of work and respecting people who work. Um you know, we've got um June 10th is another national holiday. Um there'll be all kinds of um Saint Anthony events in town. So the St. Anthony is June 13th, my birthday. So St. Anthony is there are all kinds of festivities going on there, and then there's a big festival and several big festivals in Braga.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

So school goes a little later here though. So once springtime gets into full swing, it's a little different from the US in that school doesn't end around US Memorial Day. It's actually more like mid-June, even June 20th. I think your last day is like June 25th at your school, so it is so um, which I've had lots of conversations about.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

So um the we have two weeks left. Um, Portugal's on a trimester program. So we're at the end of second term, ends in two weeks, the second term, and then there'll be a term after Easter, and that will start um the first day is April 22nd, and then that will go until June, the until June. And depending on your age, your kids could be done June 8th because they've got national exams to prepare for. Um, our children are done June 13th. Um, the institute's last classes are June 18th, but then we have meetings and open parent meetings and things that end on the 25th. So, um, and if you are taking national exams, national exams will end that last week, full week of June. Um, those exams will be graded by then, uh beginning of July, and you'll find out if you have to take those exams again, and those exam dates would be in July. But also professional programs. Jackson's in a professional program, and so his program will have some of his classes will be done like May. They'll have finished all of their required hours in that in May. Some of his classes might go all the way through the end of June. Um, they have to have all of their hours done by July 15. So I think that's interesting to look at too. Um, this year, because there aren't internships for him to do, um it's all class time. Uh, next year we'll include their internship hours so they can even be done earlier if they get their internship hours done. I have a student who um is in a professional program for information technology and information systems, and so he does a lot of computer programming. They went to Brussels for two weeks of work, and that's counted as part of their work time, their class time. And so he says he's gonna be done by like May 20th because he spent two weeks there. But of course, in June he's going back and he'll be in Brussels again for at least another three or four weeks. So I don't know. It's I'm excited to see what happens over this next year. Um, but yeah, we haven't planned our summer vacation yet. Definitely road trip someplace, Spain. We talked about we haven't gotten all of our final plans done.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

We kind of there's gonna be an early July, I guess, kind of a working vacation for Portugal Chronicle things. We'll be going to some sustainable farms and doing some interviews with the the farmers and the owners of those facilities, and then doing a uh story about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Which is fascinating. I'm interested because it's not even just farming, it's just entire sustainable communities.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

So right, not just sustainable farming, but sustainable communities.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

So that will be interesting to go and see and to get to know what's going on. I know the kids are really excited for Easter break and they're glad that the year will be over before too long. Um, but you know, this last time has been difficult because the time change in the United States has already happened, but the springtime change has not happened here yet. So um we are our work schedules are a little wonky. But the time change here will officially happen March 30th. So that will be done. So probably this will air that last week. Might have happened that week when this was done. But I have to say that I am not looking forward to that time change in some respects, but it means the sun will be shining all of the time. And this is the first time. So in the last week, maybe week and a half, when I get out of classes at 6:57 p.m., it's the first time that the I the lights are just coming on in the street for a while. So this is it. Like the lights are just now starting to come on because the sun is just setting, and so I am looking forward to the really long days. Um, and this the sunshine is just so invigorating, and everybody is out, you see it, like the whole um rhythm of the community changes because everybody is out. Like you can tell when it's a dreary or it's been dreary and rainy, everybody's inside, but the moment the sunshine comes out, it doesn't matter how cold people bundle themselves up and then go and sit in the middle of a plaza just to absorb the sunshine. And it's like the social event and go and sit on the bench in the middle of the park and just absorb it and be like, oh yes. It's great. I just I think that um people then kind of it's like you hibernate and you come out of hibernation. So I'm really looking forward to things coming to life. It's just started with our social safe festival and it will continue now.

unknown 9:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Well, springtime.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

It is springtime.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Glorious.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

All right, join us again next time on As the Dinoson's Turn.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

You've been listening to As the Dinoson's Turn, a podcast presented by Dinoson Media Ventures. Don't forget to like and subscribe and catch us again next time for another episode.