Reading this made my stomach clench. I dread having to call anyone for anything vital. The closest I have come in Portugal thus far was when Vodafone came to wire our apartment for internet service. The technician arrived at the first hour of the appointment window. As I was told would happen, a call was made to me on my cell. I thought “Showtime!” After I emitted a timorous “Ola” a disembodied male voice loudly said “Voodphone!” to which I asked “Vo-da-phone?” as that was the only pronunciation I knew and had no idea what was said to me. After he said “Voodphone”, “Voodphone”, “Voodphone” and hung up, it occurred to me there as more than one way to say the company name. The rest of the appointment was done in pantomime and through DeepL, broken English and Portuguese. We parted amicably. No blood was shed.
I think 10pm is still part of the workday in southern European and Latin American countries, since dinner is so late. You've been in Portugal almost a year now and have accomplished a lot, and it's all interesting. I'm looking forward to the time when you can actually become an in-country tourist and do travelogues around all of Portugal and its islands. In the meantime, keep those wonderful posts coming! Makes me feel better about some of the bureaucratic difficulties in the US
I can understand the love for power showers. Especially with the rising heat in Lisbon, staying without water is a bummer! I’m happy all is moving along pretty quickly for you. Don’t worry, MEO and Vodafone and all the others are always on the slow side even with natives! If you need some powerful internet in the meantime, the lovely Delta coffee store on Avenida Liberdade is quite a nice place to hang out (outside the lunch rush hour, is laptop friendly!)
Thanks for sharing!! We just went through utility changes in the last month here in Madeira. Meo was easy! Our property manager set it up for us before we left the US. All we had to do was add 2 cell phones when we arrived, which we did in person at a meo store with super pleasant English speaking clerks. Electric and water also done in person (funchal is pretty small). Electricity, we went to the electric company directly and, after finally figuring out the correct button for the waiting number machine, all went smoothly. We did get the one clerk who told us that no one there spoke English, yet, before we left, at least 3 of her colleagues jumped in with perfect English to help. Water was super easy once we found the right building. Funchal seems to be more prepared for clueless foreigners to feign our way through the process.
Another great post! Thank you! This made me wonder how someone who moved here who couldn’t speak English would manage! You two had some great serendipity on this one.
Reading this made my stomach clench. I dread having to call anyone for anything vital. The closest I have come in Portugal thus far was when Vodafone came to wire our apartment for internet service. The technician arrived at the first hour of the appointment window. As I was told would happen, a call was made to me on my cell. I thought “Showtime!” After I emitted a timorous “Ola” a disembodied male voice loudly said “Voodphone!” to which I asked “Vo-da-phone?” as that was the only pronunciation I knew and had no idea what was said to me. After he said “Voodphone”, “Voodphone”, “Voodphone” and hung up, it occurred to me there as more than one way to say the company name. The rest of the appointment was done in pantomime and through DeepL, broken English and Portuguese. We parted amicably. No blood was shed.
I think 10pm is still part of the workday in southern European and Latin American countries, since dinner is so late. You've been in Portugal almost a year now and have accomplished a lot, and it's all interesting. I'm looking forward to the time when you can actually become an in-country tourist and do travelogues around all of Portugal and its islands. In the meantime, keep those wonderful posts coming! Makes me feel better about some of the bureaucratic difficulties in the US
I can understand the love for power showers. Especially with the rising heat in Lisbon, staying without water is a bummer! I’m happy all is moving along pretty quickly for you. Don’t worry, MEO and Vodafone and all the others are always on the slow side even with natives! If you need some powerful internet in the meantime, the lovely Delta coffee store on Avenida Liberdade is quite a nice place to hang out (outside the lunch rush hour, is laptop friendly!)
Thanks for sharing!! We just went through utility changes in the last month here in Madeira. Meo was easy! Our property manager set it up for us before we left the US. All we had to do was add 2 cell phones when we arrived, which we did in person at a meo store with super pleasant English speaking clerks. Electric and water also done in person (funchal is pretty small). Electricity, we went to the electric company directly and, after finally figuring out the correct button for the waiting number machine, all went smoothly. We did get the one clerk who told us that no one there spoke English, yet, before we left, at least 3 of her colleagues jumped in with perfect English to help. Water was super easy once we found the right building. Funchal seems to be more prepared for clueless foreigners to feign our way through the process.
Another great post! Thank you! This made me wonder how someone who moved here who couldn’t speak English would manage! You two had some great serendipity on this one.