Hey There Stranger! Highlights From The Last 4 Months!

The American in Portugal has been busy and tied up with things in the past 4 months, but now that things are starting to smooth out again, she has ventured back to try again!

It's not that I haven't had anything to talk about, life goes on here as usual and thankfully every day gets better as my surroundings become more familiar and more at home for me. And that's what it's got to be for me since I am still "stuck" here for almost 2 years now and continue to wait for the residency approval that will allow me to leave the country without penalty to go back HOME to visit family and friends and FINALLY allow me to go tour some of these other lovely European countries around me!

Since it's been so long then, I thought I would give some little snippets of the most interesting things that have been going on for me here:


Evora and Some Interesting College Traditions:
I took my first visit to the town of Evora back in June for a graduation dinner of a friend of my boyfriend's. Evora is right smack in the middle of the country-like Alentejo and in June of course it's already SWELTERING HOTTTTT. I didn't stop sweating from the time I got out of the car there until nightfall. Fortunately though this beautiful old town's sights and monuments made it more bearable to walk around and explore and then dinner was thankfully in a well-air conditioned restaurant. The dinner was definitely the highlight of my visit, it was a full, 4 course traditional Alentejo meal complete with tons of appetizer plates to start off with which included pickled pigs ears mmmmm hahaha :p And of course there was plenty of good, STRONG Alentejo wine to go around, which can put you to bed quite quickly if you know what I mean ;) We were entertained during the meal by the college graduates themselves, who also happened to be in the school's tuna so there was lots of music and singing and chanting, with the most amazing musician and singer being a blind graduate! All college students have a traditional student's uniform (same as the Tuna uniform, see past article) that they dress in for important ceremonies like graduation and this particular Evora college went even further with some interesting looking "staffs" that students carry around that are hung with tons of little "congrats" ribbons given by friends and family. But the oddest tradition that this college has is the late-night ceremony after everyone has dined where they gather in the school's plaza where there is a wading pool set up in the middle and each graduate is ceremonially carried by his family and friends up to the pool and thrown in! Once all the graduates from each major had been dunked, they huddle together in a circle and do this primitive-like chanting and dance. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before! Glad that wasn't my school's tradition haha :D


Caramulo Vacation:


In July, my boyfriend and I took a 3 day trip up to the Caramulo mountains, about a 3hr drive north of Lisbon and an hour off the coast. We stayed at the only real hotel up on the mountain in the actual town of Caramulo, called Hotel do Caramulo which is a 4 star hotel and spa with the most SPECTACULAR VIEWS of from the mountain overlooking the valley. Knowing this, we reserved a suite which had a balcony overlooking the valley and I must say, I could have spent my whole time out there just enjoying the view :) There's not much in the town or surrounding towns but it's a great area just to drive around and admire the beautiful views and tiny picturesque villages. But if you drive a little further, you can check out the city if Viseu, which was nice. The crisp mountain air is also the best, the place actually used to be the center for pulmonary lung disease treatment so you know that's some good air. By far, it was the most relaxing vacation I've had :)

Clams in Alcochete:

We frequented the little town of Alcochete this past summer as it is right across the river from Lisbon (on the side where the Vasco Da Gama bridge is) and is known to most people as where the huge outlet mall is located. We decided to explore the actual town one day and liked the cuteness of its old part and nice views of the river which has made us return a couple more times.
But the best discovery in this town was a cafe we went to in one of their squares that had THE BEST clams you could get for your money. Yes, 12 euros is a bit expensive for a plate of clams but these were completely worth it at they were drenched in fresh garlic, butter, lemon and parsely, with fresh bread to mop it all up after! They were so good, we had to order another plate of them :p And now, we'll definitely have a reason to come back to Alcochete!


Day Trips to Nazaré and Tomar:
Sundays are usually our only complete FREE days here right now, so to quench our adventurous spirits, we've been picking a new place on the map to drive to for the day where we have lunch, walk around exploring the area and see what interesting things we can find! So far, we've been to the beautiful coastal town of Nazaré, about a 1.5hr drive north up the coast where they have the COOLEST funicular I have found that goes straight up the mountain there! And of course the view at the top is incredible :) We also went to Tomar, a 1.5hr drive northeast; it's a World Heritage site as it was the home of the Templar Knights.
The old part of the town is a bit small but just got up the hill to visit the Convento do Cristo and we easily spent 2 hours in there exploring this huge Templar monastery with some fascinating tilework and art.


BBQ!!!!
We finally decided now was the time to organize a BBQ that we had all been saying we wanted to do. So last weekend, 10 of us gathered at Parque de Campismo Fort do Cavalo, just up the hill from the town of Sesimbra where we found a grill with built-in picnic tables to party on :) We grilled homemade burgers by me, some chicken, small, Portuguese sausage called linguiça, the fatty pork parts called entremeadas and febras as well as some fresh sardinhas brought from the docks down below mmmmmmmmm :)
At the end, I introduced all our Portuguese friends to the American campfire treat of s'mores! Yea, can you believe that most Portuguese have never tried or even heard of marshmallows, let alone s'mores?? So I demonstrated how to roast the marshmallows perfectly then put the s'more together and they loved it! I think everyone had at least 4-5 s'mores on their own :D It was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for them, as you can't find marshmallows or graham crackers in any supermarket here! Thanks to my mother, I had had them shipped to me ahead of time :)

"Writings On The Wall"- Lisbon Graffiti In Style

When I first came to this country, I was surprised at how much graffiti there is around Lisbon and most cities. To most people who aren't affiliated with graffiti in some way, it usually is a symbol of a poor or rough neighborhood and shameful that they are vandalizing and defacing public or private property. But as I've passed by a lot of graffiti here many times and began to look at it more closely, there is a significant amount that is not bad at all and actually quite artistic. When you think about it, there are so many extremely old buildings and walls here that are brown and gray and disgusting with age that they really could benefit from some color!

Take this one long wall near my neighborhood in Lisbon, that starts right after Amoreiras Mall and winds up into Campolide; this wall is where it seems the "Style Wars" take place. Or at least that's what I've come to conclude from what I've observed over time. Every year the wall is painted over and various graffiti artists or groups come and take a large section of the wall which they do up an impressive work to "represent" their people. Each one is like a puzzle, trying to figure out the hidden message or symbol of their words and illustrations with what is going on in their world. Some seem to have references to world issues while others represent loved ones that were lost or something completely abstract in itself. As I strolled down the sidewalk along the wall checking out each section and taking photos of some of my faves, it was like walking through an art gallery....with the best part of it being free! Below are some of the most memorable from this year's wall, some are a bit silly while others are quite moving:

Cool Dragon



Not sure what these little guys represent but I found it funny that the railing hit just the right spot from where I was standing to take the photo to censor a certain part on one :p
Somehow I believe they meant "humor", which is common to find misspellings here when people try to write in English..... though I could be wrong since the face does resemble a bit of a known Simpsons character (but with 3 eyes?)

The Shell gasoline sign caught my eye in this one
I like the bright colors and the shininess of this one.

"Poison" This was the largest mural on the wall, an obvious memorial to a member of this team who died....

“Even far away, you continue to be present, you woke up who was sleeping, to see the future that was in front. You drank from your own name and raised it so high that you have become impossible to reach….”

“Down here we continue to wait, we scream really loud that I wish you could be here! But what is time after all? Small fragments of life, at any moment everything could end. You lived it well, to everyone you touched, your magic lasts, your voice won’t shut up!! Thank you Miguel”


Well done and well written guys.

Fun Times Around Town and Country!

So it's been a little bit of time again but I have been out and about more (yay!) for various things so I've decided to recall some of the highlights from the past couple weeks :)

Another Crazy Tuna Night!
It had been awhile since we had gone to one of the tuna gatherings, mainly because of poor weather, but we finally got out late last month for a "Fado Night" hosted by the tuna's university-NOVA. There were actually no tuna performances, supposedly local fado groups, so the tuna went to their usual watering hole hangout- the restaurant across the street from the school, to drink and eat bifanas (pork cutlet sandwiches, typical ballpark food here). We met up with them there and joined in the beer drinking and "box" white wine shots? (first time for me, quite odd but tasty) and by the time we arrived at the NOVA's courtyard, they had already finished the fado and brought in a DJ which turned the whole place into a hoppin' open air club haha. And man, did that place get packed! We continued our beer drinking there while enjoying the music and the cool night breeze and then all I can remember is falling asleep on the way home and collapsing into bed....always the same ending after a night with the tunas :p

Reaching New Heights, with Great Views!
We've been exploring a lot of the cliff areas on the coast here, mainly around Guincho again, up on Serra da Sintra. During the past couple weeks, we found another little restaurant in Azoia with by far, some of the best food and service around! We decided to take Gabriella and Ryan Opaz, my Catavino bosses there while they were visiting Lisbon last week and we had an incredibly delicious lunch :D Afterwards, we took them to another cool place we found, just down the street actually; a Mexican-themed cafe/bar with a funky decorated interior and a beautiful outdoor garden seating area overlooking the ocean. Great place for afternoon coffee, cocktails and scones (yes! another scone place!) which we enjoyed outside in the crisp, mountain air. We also enjoyed an impromptu visit from a local stray dog, looking for love....or maybe food? hahaha :p



Then last weekend, we packed a picnic lunch and drove over to the southern shore to check out the cliffs near Sesimbra, which are a lot more remote than the other, with some pretty rough dirt roads to go up, but once we got to the top it was worth it! We parked near the edge and feasted on homemade pasta, salad and garlic bread with a bottle of wine that we spread out in the back seats of the car (was waaay to cold and windy to dine outside hehehe) while overlooking some spectacular ocean views :D

Cheap Beer Alert!
Last Friday night, I went out with the boys down to Santos, a great Bairro Alto alternative with tons of little bars/clubs to explore. We all had been around there plenty times before but this night, we just so happened to come across a little back alleyway with a couple bars and a jazz/rock club and right at the very end was a sign hanging out of a bar for 50 CENT BEERS! Ok, I'm by no means a beer-chugging hoodlum (but the boys are haha) but during the midst of an economic crisis, this is totally my kind of thing!!! And by beer, we mean draft beer, Portugal's Sagres, Superbock or Tagus straight from the tap into half-pint plastic cups, called "uma(1)Imperial" (plural: duas(2) Imperiais) here in Lisbon (in Porto it's "Fino"). So chilled out there in the alleyway, drinking our 50 cent beers while listening to the quite decent rock band inside the club playing covers from Pearl Jam and other 90's hits. By the way, the 50 cent beer "mini-bar" had an awesome DJ as well :)


Ok, so that's some of the cool stuff that's been happening here in my life lately and glad things are continuing to improve, promise to update this thing more often again, cheers!

TUNAS! And I don't mean fish!

As a former HS band geek from back home, I felt that I had to present Portugal's equivalent to our marching bands. These musical groups are called Tunas, found mainly at universities all over Portugal as well as in Spain (where they first started) and all of Latin America. Their origins seem to date back to between the 10th and 13th century, from medieval troubadours and minstrels who had to sing and perform to make money to live on or upon their return home after a long journey or vacation. The name name "tuna" then supposedly comes from the French roi de Thunes or "King of Tunis" which was the title used for leaders of such vagabond groups. But there are still several other argued theories as to the origin of the name, even specific to the Portuguese tunas. The first Portuguese tunas were organized in the 19th century in the famous university city of Coimbra after a visit from a Spanish tuna of Salamanca. The tradition of traveling university tunas (to raise money for survival) eventually spread to the rest of the country. Virtually every university now has an organized tuna, usually representing a specific major. There are non-university tunas for older members or alumni but they are a lot less common (more predominant in Spain).

The traditional Tuna "uniform" is definitely more formal than a marching band uniform but can range from very classic medieval attire to a more modern black suit from the 16 and 17th century Iberian students attire. Portuguese tunas mainly use the modern version with a white collared shirt, skinny black tie and long, narrow coat. Instead of pants, girls wear either knee or ankle-length narrow black skirts with black stockings and conservative black pumps. The outfit is always completed with a large, ankle-length black cape wrapped around the entire body like a vampire or folded and slung over the shoulder when warmer out. Others like to proudly display their badges from previous Tuna festivals all over their capes for some added color to their black ensemble.

In Tunas, you won't see any of the musical instruments played in a normal marching band, string instruments are actually the main ones used, consisting of classic acoustic guitars, lutes and bandurrias for most Tunas around the world. However, Portuguese Tunas normally opt to use mandolins and a special Portuguese guitar (used in Fado music) instead of the latter two as well a tall bass. Tuna performances are usually done in an auditorium of the hosting university for the Tuna festivals or competitions scheduled all throughout the year or outside on the streets when raising money for the group. There is no marching involved but the groups will mark time together swaying back and forth to the music in a semi-circle with a someone usually banging on a rope drum or tambourine to keep everyone together. All tunas sing in their performances as well as incorporating flag work and rhythmic tambourine dancing, which makes is easier for students to join with no musical instrument experience.

My boyfriend Miguel happened to be one of these students and did the flag work for his Economics Tuna, called "ForTuna" which was the first Tuna I was introduced to on the first day of my first visit to Portugal 2 1/2 years ago and have been following and learning about them (Tunas)ever since. Now I know what you band geeks are thinking when you read about a "straight" male doing flag work or color guard hahahahaha and trust me, I gave him enough crap for it in the beginning :p But I came to learn that it's not really like color guard at all here, most Tunas only have one flag person (for holding their Tuna flag) and it's normally a male position and they can do some pretty challenging moves performing solo in front of the circle. Girls usually opt to practice the rhythmic tambourine dancing instead along with guys as well and these dances can be quite skillful and impressive to watch! The music Tunas play in general ranges from upbeat classic and modern songs to slow and moving Fado lullabies with vocalist and instrumental solos.


One of the most entertaining part of Tunas is the social celebrating involved before and after festivals and throughout the year and at Tuna dinners hosted at some (unfortunate haha) local restaurant. Though unlike regulated marching bands, drinking is a big part of the Portuguese Tuna culture hahahaha, combined with lots of wild singing and chanting toasts. But it's all in good fun and very rarely are there any problems caused by their celebrating. Beer is the Tuna drinking staple which flows like water at festivals and dinners. Some Tunas are found already half drunk (or worse) by the time they get on stage to perform. This may not make for a very skillful performance but it's certainly an entertaining one! Some "rules" are involved with drinking during Tuna dinners such as "Right Hand is Penalty" meaning one can only hold their drink in the left hand and if caught in the right, they have to chug the whole thing. Members will also be randomly singled out and are chanted on by the group to chug their drink with a traditional "initiation" song for being a part of the group. The drinking continues then after dinner and after the festival is over to celebrate awards and normally goes ALL NIGHT, the stamina that these kids have is incredible hahaha :p

After attending many dinners and festivals of my boyfriend's Tuna over the past year, I've grown to love and appreciate the unique differences these musical groups have compared to my background in marching band. At the same time though, I can also relate in their excitement and anticipation when waiting to perform or waiting to see if they won an award, especially since their Tuna is a smaller one like how my HS band was so I've come to share in their common experiences of triumph as well as loss and/or frustration when judging was believed to be unfair. I recommend to every American, especially you band geeks, to find a Tuna performance to watch if you visit Portugal, as an experience so significant to Portugal's culture is something not to be missed!


You can find a lot more detailed info about the history and traditions of Tunas on Wikipedia or in Portuguese on Wikipedia: