Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Best of both worlds

I have some friends, and im sure there are more of them out there which 'commute' between london and the algarve. They work there in London, monday to thursday or friday and then come here for the weekends. I found this quite strange at first, I mean I have heard of people moving to norfolk or such and commuting to london but to a different country, hmm. But they have the best of both worlds, they carry of doing what they do with their salary levels and have the good 'foreign life'. I would find it very tiring to do this and you must start to feel like you speand all your time in airports, no matter how quick you can travel (without hand baggage etc). But good luck to them, I hope it works in the long run.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Why we come here

Hi

So if anyone out there is reading this and thinking about coming out here and if it is the right things to do. These are the reasons we come, firstly climate, closely followed by a better lifestyle and friendlier people, and the last major reason less crime. Now going back to better lifestyle, do not expect to come here and make money, it rarely happens, wages are very low and things are not that much cheaper than england, in fact some things are more expensive, such as electricity, but you can live with that for the other factors. Work is not too easy to find and unless you speak good portuguese, you may have to take a much lesser role that you had in england. I have to say, i find it very frustrating that people think they can arrive here and because there is a big english community, they dont need to speak the language and a job will be relatively easy to find. Maybe in the past that may have been the case but not in these days.

Monday, March 22, 2010

New roads

Hi

So after a long and hard time, my husband has a new job and so we are on the move, north to Lisbon and surroundings. A new place to adjust to, a new life to create.....and so much packing, urgh. But time to move on.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Children!

Why do children have to follow you and be with you all the time! As I sit on the worlds smallest chair, my 4 yr old has to sit with me, so Im holding on by one bum cheek. Luckily she decides watching tv is more attractive than watching mummy typing ;-P

Monday, March 15, 2010

Where I live

Hi

We live in the Algarve, on the east side about 25 miles from the Spanish border in a village outside Tavira. We are about a mile from the sea, except we have the Ria Formosa, which is a natural reserve of small islands and sandbars before the open ocean. It is quite a small, quiet place, although there is quite a lot of holiday accommodation and new builds. Although it is a village, it is very near one of the main roads so not too isolated. Very few people speak english, although there are a few expats in the area.

If you drive just a few minutes inland, you are into the hills, which is the hidden beauty of the algarve, which I never realised were there before I lived here. You turn a corner and you are in another world, where the tourism and seasonal life of the algarve has no effect. It's like going back in time, where people dress conservative and do things 'the old way', things are done by hand, not by machine. The ladies dress in long sleeves and dark colours, even in the heat of the summer. The views are amazing, and everywhere you find these houses dotted around, on the top of every peak almost, some new. mostly old. Ruins lay victim to the hands of time, but you can imagine, the life these people used to live, some probably still do! Sometimes its seems such a shame to see these beautiful old farmhouses (or quintas as they call them here) going to ruin. I really must take some pics one day. Xau for now!

Mothers Day

Hi

Happy Belated Mothers Day - to all of you whose day was yesterday. Hope you were treated well and given a break x

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Never enough time

Hi

Why is there never enough time in the day. HAving two children makes time disappear, I just dont know where my day goes, especially the days when my daughter goes to pre-school or jardim de infancia as they call it here, by the time I get home, have breakfast, give my baby daughter some breakfast, have a bath and do some tidying, it is noon. I can never really beleive it but it happens like that almost everyday. Then the day just continues to fly by, until its time to pick up my daughter again at 4.30 and then we are pretty much into the evening routine of dinner, bath, story, bed. I choose to put my children to bed separately as my youngest, only being 7 months old gets tired much earlier than my 4 year old and I find it easier but it means I have 2 bedtime routines to do but it also gives me time to have dinner without a tired baby and with my husband and daughter. Giving my older some quality time, as there never seems to be time for her. I can say, probably like most mums I do find it very hard to have enough time for both children and the vast majority of my time goes to my youngest, which I do feel guilty about, parenting is full of guilt!! I am not working at the moment but have my hands full looking after the house, the children, my husband etc and always seem to be chasing myself. Its very frustrating, and as hard as I can try I can not keep up. Unfortuantely for me, I am not the most organised person which really doesnt help my cause, but I have days where I ust feel like I did nothing. But of course, the most important thing is to look after the kids and everything else falls in behind, far, far behind in my case! I think my ironing is going to take a life of its own and grow legs it is getting so tall. Now some days I can let this frustration pass, other days not so much. If Im feeling really determined, sometimes I make a list, but after 3 days of trying to achieve even half of it, it goes in the bin and Im left feeling even more frustrated as I can clearly see where I have failed. But life goes on, one day it will all get done and until then I try not to worry too much, life is full of much more worrying things than ironing! Xau

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I've arrived

Hi

I have been thinking about doing this for a while, creating a blog. Why? So I can share my insight of this new life with others. I have been here almost two years, my husband is portuguese, but I still struggle to understand this new country and its people. Dont get me wrong, I like living here most of the time, but I am always looking for other people's experiences and views of this life and advice. I would have been grateful for a blog, such as this to give some guidance and I hope it my help other expat into this new life. But I couldnt find one. So here I am, I've arrived. And I hope others may find some help in my words.