Beginnings

For me it wasn't the beginning I expected to have at Moses as the sickness persisted until the end of the first week. We all seemed to let it all absorb rather than run around like headless chickens taking it all in. It was strange getting used to the stillness couple with the outstanding beauty forever on your doorstep. Getting up in the mornings jumped wildly and it is now stabilizing towards 8.00 as Monday 13th (beginning of school) approaches.

We have had plenty of trips into the local town, Oleiros. We were relieved to discover that the municipal swimming pool would stay open until 15th September, leaving under two weeks for the girls to enjoy swimming in the sun and us to soak up more rays. The weather has fluctuated a bit. Hot most of the time but in the last two days milder with cloud. It is hotting up from today (9th) and will rise to 31 tomorrow and possibly higher into the weekend. We took the long trip to Ikea in Lisbon to furnish the house. We stayed in Lisbon into the evening and had a meal in a street restaurant, allowing us to take in the ambience of the city. It was quite a relief to get this done and be able to relax properly with chairs, rugs, makeshift sofa, lamps etc in place.

Sometimes it doesn't feel real being here. There are trips that we go on that are straight out of a film. On Monday we went to Ovalho to a huge hardware store. It had everything from garden gnomes to 15 types of chainsaw. I bought a big axe amongst other things, ready for wood-chopping. Backwater Louisiana it isn't but it is an example of the layers of rural economy and cultural exchange that exist here when you dig below the surface. This will be explained in more detail later on.

Tuesday 7th was the most culturally rewarding day we have had since arriving here. We drove into town to visit the Market they hold there every Tuesday. It was quite sparse, partly down to the rain. We bought a few rugs (my haggling didn't work here!) and dashed into a restaurant for lunch. Three courses, half a bottle of wine and coffee later and some chatting to locals added up to lunchtime we could all get used to (not to mention 16 euros all in!). After other shops, anther meeting in the town square bank to finalise our account and accessing it online we headed off to visit a private nursery near the town square. We had learned earlier in the day that Violet could not apply to the School nursery until May hence going private. That was a good but difficult experience as the Director spoke no English and her daughter only a little ( albeit with the aid of a dictionary!) After an hour including a tour of the vast premises that only had 11 children on its books at the time we finalised Violet starting. When shown the tarif - from 25 to 65 Euros - we resigned ourselves to paying 400 euros plus a month that would eat hugely into our savings. Imagine our surprise when they exclaimed that it was 25 euros a month for those on the lowest income!! This would include the use of a translator too for no extra cost! We headed home elated at Violet having a place to go with new friends to make and that we had done it all ourselves! As soon as we got home I got to work on starting the fire in the forno for cooking the pizza. First proper handslap!!

Yesterday was chilled with a long lunch and chess into the afternoon. In the evening we went into town for the school prize-giving. Andy and Vonnie's children Josh (13) and Ellie (11) were both down to receive prizes for overall achievement. We met a number of parents as all milled around before sitting in outdoor seating under a canopy before a stage. It all seemed so different from what I was used to at Welling. Very formal mind and over in an hour. Straight after was a lavish buffet with cake and champagne. We introduced ourselves to May's preospective teacher and the headteacher of the school. We spent time talking to Pedro and Bernita, teachers at the school (Pedro teaches Art and DT, Bernita English) who will be coming for dinner at Andy's house on Friday night. The phrase book go worked overtime as I struggled to bat across badly pronounced Portuguese phrases.