The past few days have seen S return to work and me take to the streets of Lisbon alone for the first time since my arrival. This is only partly true as by 'take to the streets' I generally mean do my daily walk to S's work at lunch time and at home time. It's the walk I've done most frequently in the months I've been visiting Lisbon and there's something new I discover every time I walk the streets. I change the route from time to time so that I fully know the grid of streets that surrounds our apartment and every time I make the journey it reminds me what a wonderful area, in a wonderful city that I live in.
What hasn't been wonderful at the moment though is the weather. I'm really not one to whinge about the weather (I come from Manchester, I have partly developed gills) but the recurring theme of the past few days has been the intense cold in the flat. Anyone reading this back in the UK will probably be chuckling now when I say that it's got as low as 8 degrees but these flats are freezing, everything is marble or tile and most places are still single glazed. It's quite funny to be shuffling round the flat here with 3 jumpers on thinking of myself at my mum's where I'd have to run around turning the heating off.
So that was the end of last week, Thursday and Friday
Saturday meant classes for S who is returning to her MA course after the Christmas break. I think she had enjoyed this break probably more than the break from work as the MA has been quite a big disappointment for her.
When I met her one of the main reasons why it was infinitely more practical for me to come to Lisbon rather than for her to join me in the UK was the fact that she was about to embark on an MA in Political Science at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. It was something she was really looking forward to because of a deep personal interest in politics and international relations as well as being a great opportunity to advance her career
The problem was that when she started the course she very quickly realised that the faculty and the course were not what she was expecting. The standard of both the teaching and the facilities were much much lower than she was lead to believe they would be. It was all rather depressing, and got to the point where she was spending 15 hours a week (after a full working week) in a mustard coloured lecture theatre being droned at by professors who didn't even know their subjects particularly well and who certainly couldn't present them well.
But that's enough of the negativity because yesterday was S's birthday and a time for celebration. I'm a gentleman so I won't mention which birthday and all photographs that show the total number of candles on the cake have been appropriately censored (Photoshop is a wonderful thing). Suffice it to say that S is a number of years older than me and wasn't entirely thrilled about spending the day dwelling on this. Unfortunately for her though she is Portuguese and as such there are certain obligations she has to fulfill. One of the most important of these is having a fuss made of you by family and friends, eating lots of food and generally being polite to people when all you want to do is stay in bed and weep for your lost youth.
The preparation of the party was something akin to a military campaign, watches were synchronised, the (future) parents-in-law were mobilised, the flat was scrubbed and tidied and we prepared to have every item of crockery dirtied.
We were expecting maybe 20 people over which isn't a huge number but then again we don't have a massive apartment so it was always going to be a little cosy. Seating was going to be at a premium and we had had to call in reinforcements for plates and cutlery. These duly arrived with the parents-in-law at about 17:00 along with enough food to feed an army. How they managed to get all the stuff in their tiny car along with Aunty T I will never know but we were well stocked with rissóis, croquetes, bacalhau, pork, feijoada, cake, other desserts, wine, water, juice, fruit, flowers... S's father and I knew that so much preparation had gone into this that our presence there would only have been a hindrance so as another stepping stone on my ongoing immersion into Portuguese culture we did that most typical of Portuguese things and left the women to it whilst we went and had a beer and watched Benfica.
I do still have some of that inbuilt Englishness in me and I did make at least the effort to protest and offer my services but under the strict and organised direction of S's mother things looked more than under control so me and the father went to Campo Pequeno, bought some black beers and settle down to watch the football. It was a very manly experience which I thoroughly enjoyed, this is a very macho culture and something which I am not really at all accustomed to. Whenever I have participated in these kind of rituals in the UK it has always been almost as someone playing a part, and it was no different here really but I do think it is an important part of assimilating and I really do enjoy spending time with S's father who is a very interesting man.
We strolled back at half time with Benfica being held 0-0 but after a stern phone call from S letting us know that people had started to arrive and out continued absence wasn't appreciated. (Although I think we were both enjoying playing roles there, me the delinquent man, she the nagging woman).
People had indeed begun to arrive, so many in fact that my usual habit of referring to initials would get extremely confusing but it is enough to say that all the usual suspects were there, it was a good turn out. Food was eaten, drinks drunk, I was perched awkwardly on the edge of the television table and the football scores were monitored, all in all it was a typical gathering of family and friends.
It was a good haul of presents for S (although she hates me using such terms), lots of vouchers for clothes shops, perfume and other girly stuff but the highlight was a weekend away in a hotel somewhere in Portugal. There are about 20 to chose from spread from the Algarve to Trás-os-Montes so we will have to look in detail at where we would really like to visit. Best of all it's valid for I think 6 months and so will provide a welcome retreat after the pressure of the academic year and me settling down. I also managed to replenish my whiskey supplies after S & R bought me a lovely bottle for my birthday which we promptly christened after the party.
The whole affair was very relaxed and the more of these things I attend the more I feel part of the family. We didn't get to bed too late as everyone had work the next day and today was back to the routine really. I'm starting to get butterflies now as I start work on Wednesday and I really don't know what to expect but I'm also very excited and I really can't wait to settle into my own routine here.
What hasn't been wonderful at the moment though is the weather. I'm really not one to whinge about the weather (I come from Manchester, I have partly developed gills) but the recurring theme of the past few days has been the intense cold in the flat. Anyone reading this back in the UK will probably be chuckling now when I say that it's got as low as 8 degrees but these flats are freezing, everything is marble or tile and most places are still single glazed. It's quite funny to be shuffling round the flat here with 3 jumpers on thinking of myself at my mum's where I'd have to run around turning the heating off.
So that was the end of last week, Thursday and Friday
Saturday meant classes for S who is returning to her MA course after the Christmas break. I think she had enjoyed this break probably more than the break from work as the MA has been quite a big disappointment for her.
When I met her one of the main reasons why it was infinitely more practical for me to come to Lisbon rather than for her to join me in the UK was the fact that she was about to embark on an MA in Political Science at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. It was something she was really looking forward to because of a deep personal interest in politics and international relations as well as being a great opportunity to advance her career
The problem was that when she started the course she very quickly realised that the faculty and the course were not what she was expecting. The standard of both the teaching and the facilities were much much lower than she was lead to believe they would be. It was all rather depressing, and got to the point where she was spending 15 hours a week (after a full working week) in a mustard coloured lecture theatre being droned at by professors who didn't even know their subjects particularly well and who certainly couldn't present them well.
But that's enough of the negativity because yesterday was S's birthday and a time for celebration. I'm a gentleman so I won't mention which birthday and all photographs that show the total number of candles on the cake have been appropriately censored (Photoshop is a wonderful thing). Suffice it to say that S is a number of years older than me and wasn't entirely thrilled about spending the day dwelling on this. Unfortunately for her though she is Portuguese and as such there are certain obligations she has to fulfill. One of the most important of these is having a fuss made of you by family and friends, eating lots of food and generally being polite to people when all you want to do is stay in bed and weep for your lost youth.
The preparation of the party was something akin to a military campaign, watches were synchronised, the (future) parents-in-law were mobilised, the flat was scrubbed and tidied and we prepared to have every item of crockery dirtied.
We were expecting maybe 20 people over which isn't a huge number but then again we don't have a massive apartment so it was always going to be a little cosy. Seating was going to be at a premium and we had had to call in reinforcements for plates and cutlery. These duly arrived with the parents-in-law at about 17:00 along with enough food to feed an army. How they managed to get all the stuff in their tiny car along with Aunty T I will never know but we were well stocked with rissóis, croquetes, bacalhau, pork, feijoada, cake, other desserts, wine, water, juice, fruit, flowers... S's father and I knew that so much preparation had gone into this that our presence there would only have been a hindrance so as another stepping stone on my ongoing immersion into Portuguese culture we did that most typical of Portuguese things and left the women to it whilst we went and had a beer and watched Benfica.
I do still have some of that inbuilt Englishness in me and I did make at least the effort to protest and offer my services but under the strict and organised direction of S's mother things looked more than under control so me and the father went to Campo Pequeno, bought some black beers and settle down to watch the football. It was a very manly experience which I thoroughly enjoyed, this is a very macho culture and something which I am not really at all accustomed to. Whenever I have participated in these kind of rituals in the UK it has always been almost as someone playing a part, and it was no different here really but I do think it is an important part of assimilating and I really do enjoy spending time with S's father who is a very interesting man.
We strolled back at half time with Benfica being held 0-0 but after a stern phone call from S letting us know that people had started to arrive and out continued absence wasn't appreciated. (Although I think we were both enjoying playing roles there, me the delinquent man, she the nagging woman).
People had indeed begun to arrive, so many in fact that my usual habit of referring to initials would get extremely confusing but it is enough to say that all the usual suspects were there, it was a good turn out. Food was eaten, drinks drunk, I was perched awkwardly on the edge of the television table and the football scores were monitored, all in all it was a typical gathering of family and friends.
It was a good haul of presents for S (although she hates me using such terms), lots of vouchers for clothes shops, perfume and other girly stuff but the highlight was a weekend away in a hotel somewhere in Portugal. There are about 20 to chose from spread from the Algarve to Trás-os-Montes so we will have to look in detail at where we would really like to visit. Best of all it's valid for I think 6 months and so will provide a welcome retreat after the pressure of the academic year and me settling down. I also managed to replenish my whiskey supplies after S & R bought me a lovely bottle for my birthday which we promptly christened after the party.
The whole affair was very relaxed and the more of these things I attend the more I feel part of the family. We didn't get to bed too late as everyone had work the next day and today was back to the routine really. I'm starting to get butterflies now as I start work on Wednesday and I really don't know what to expect but I'm also very excited and I really can't wait to settle into my own routine here.
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