I'm a Legal Alien: An American in Portugal

You may be wondering, of all the places in the wide, wild, world, how did we end-up in Braga? While Portugal tops the list of international destinations for U.S. retirees and digital nomads, Braga is not usually the first Portuguese city mentioned. Years ago, Jack and I were both attracted to Portugal for a mix of sentimental and practical reasons. Finding the right city for us took a bit more time and soul-searching. You might call it the most enjoyable research project ever. Jack and I first visited Portugal in the year 2000. Then in our early 30s, we were drawn by my family roots and the relaxed, healthy, Mediterranean lifestyle. As a travel destination, it seemed relatively undiscovered by American travelers (none of our well-traveled friends had been to the Azores or even Lisbon) and it felt special and remote. We dreamed of living there one day when were less consumed by career and family responsibilities.   When we vacationed in Portugal more than twenty years later, we had ...

Once fall arrived, so did thoughts of returning to school. My focus shifted from bureaucratic tasks to one of my main goals in moving to Portugal. I hope to—no, I will-- become a competent Portuguese speaker. As a retiree with plenty of free time these days, I see language learning almost as a job. Despite many humbling moments, I enjoy it enough to regard it as a hobby, too. To get a head start, I played with apps and signed up for online tutoring well before moving. It didn't take long to realize that learning a foreign language in my late 50s would be no easy feat. Popular language apps like Duolingo and Babbel use only Brazilian Portuguese which has fundamental vocabulary, grammatical, and pronunciation differences from European Portuguese. Most movies and TV shows I found in the language were geared toward Brazilians and until very recently, the mobile version of Google Translate used only Brazilian Portuguese. My mistake in investing time in mainstream language learning too...

In December, the weather in Braga turned notably chillier and rainier. Although we enjoyed quite few lovely white Christmases during the years we spent living in Idaho, I grew up in coastal northern California, where this time of year usually brought gray skies and drizzle. Despite the snowy scenes we know so well from movies, rain is the type weather I most associate with Christmastime. Now in northern Portugal, I was ready to embrace a wet Christmas, once again. As it turned out, Christmas week brought clear blue skies and windless days, pleasant weather for strolling the holiday markets. An Iberian Christmas Braga has historically been the religious capitol of Portugal. In fact, some travel guides call it the “Rome of Portugal.” Even if that sounds lik e hyperbole, the number of ancient cathedrals and Catholic churches means they take Christmas pretty seriously around here.     For our first holiday season in Portugal, we planned a toned-down celebration. Jack meets with...