Six week check-in

10

Today marks six weeks since we landed in Lisbon for the first time ever. 

We've now been here long enough that we're past the initial adrenaline rush and problem-solving jag required by both our particular lost-luggage arrival scenario and the generally complicated process of uprooting lives and moving someplace we've never been before. 

It's also been longer than any vacation we've ever taken; it's starting to feel real now.

This seems a good time to take stock of where things stand.

In keeping with our desire to not sugar coat our experiences for you, this won't all be rainbows and unicorns.

Rainbows and Unicorns (and peacocks)

We've had some big victories here, to be sure.

• Our apartment, while a touch small compared to what we're used to, continues to be amazing. We love the location, the building, the way the breeze flows through, and the soundproofing. It's also quite energy-efficient, which is an unexpected bonus. We've talked to a number of other recent immigrants who don't have climate control and/or who live in noisy, expensive housing and we count ourselves very fortunate.

• We're learning our way around and enjoying the exploration. Lisbon feels very safe. We've both had experiences where we've walked alone late at night through parts of town that are new to us and never felt a drop of fear. For the female of us, that is particularly astonishing.

• There's no lack of things to do. As befitting one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe and a thriving capital with a metro-area population of nearly three million people, there are multiple options to get out on nearly any given night.

• Josie loves it here. Simply put, she's a star. When she's out on a walk, tail up and wagging, trotting ahead of us, she's an attention magnet. People smile at her as they pass, make kissy noises to attract her attention and reward her approach with petting (and even, on one memorable occasion, with a couple of pieces of sandwich). 

• We’ve learned to look up as well as down when we’re out and about. You never know what you’ll see around here

• We're starting to meet people. Between a couple of outings with the amazing Lisbon Social & Cultural Club Facebook group and a very successful board game night at a local café on Tuesday, we are on track to see some of the same faces more than once. 

Not Rainbows and Unicorns 

We're also struggling in some pretty important ways.

• We've spent a lot of money so far. Granted, much of it was somewhat expected as we needed to replace some of what we chose not to bring with us. Still, it's a bit of a shock to the system to see the debit card statements. And while we've been eating reasonably inexpensively so far, that's in large part due to our over-reliance on the Too Good To Go app. While that app has been an unqualified success for us, when we start exploring actual restaurants and ordering food we want off of menus, our expenses in this category will rise considerably. 

  We officially began tracking our monthly expenses on August 1 (June and July are too laden with one-time startup costs to be accurate indicators of how much we'll need here) and look forward to seeing (and sharing with you) those numbers down the road.

• We've both had moments of, "ok this was fun but it's time to go home now." Some of those "moments" have lasted a fairly long time. While it's often just one of us, there have been a couple of occasions where we've both been ready to pack it in at the same time.

  We've agreed to revisit in February the idea of returning permanently to the US. Setting a specific, future date for this conversation frees us from having to re-litigate our reasons for and against being here every few days.

  We know things will be different in six months; we don't know what that will look like.

• It's becoming too easy to surround ourselves with expats. While the people we're meeting are from all over the world - which is terrific and fascinating - they're not, by and large, from Portugal. Our intent was (and remains) to learn the Portuguese language and culture. We're drifting from that. It actually comes as a bit of a shock now when we run into someone who doesn't speak English. 

• As nice as the apartment is, it's not OUR apartment. We're very aware that we're living in someone else's space. 

• The late-night lifestyle may not be for us. It's a major adjustment that we're having trouble making. Our sleeping patterns are a mess and that's taking a toll both physically and mentally.

• We're hearing about challenges faced by friends in St. Louis, which has seen unprecedented amounts of rain and flooding in recent days. It's hard to be so far away when we want to help the people we love.

On balance, we'd say the positives still outweigh the negatives. And there are certainly some encouraging signs. There are also some things we need to be careful of and look out for. 

Our goals for August include finding a better daily schedule and each of us starting formal study programs in Portuguese.

We haven't been here long; we may be hitting the point where it starts to get really hard. And/or it could get better. Stay tuned.

That's all for now.

Love from Lisbon,

Scott and Amy