My new home in Portugal - September 2012

These are some of my initial impressions from a whirlwind three weeks. Still trying to catch my breath after packing everything up, renting out my house in Galway, leaving Ireland, staying in temporary accommodation (a seminary with 12 ancient priests who reminded anonymous for my entire stay of 10 days - little bit creepy coming home at night), uncertainty about the job, where I would end up, moving into an apartment, etc.  Of course I brought all of the wrong things and only half of the right stuff....I'll never learn.

....the inside of the beautiful train station in Porto

After a wonderful first five days when I swanned around Porto with not a care in the world (the school was totally disorganised so I decided to play the tourist until they sorted things out). Porto is great. It has a mixture of all the ingredients that make up a wonderful place to visit. If you haven't been, I highly recommend it for a long weekend at least. The city sits on the Douro river. They make great use of their river, with lots of activity on either side of it.

....government building in the centre of Porto

On the Gaia side there are all the well-known Port cellars.....the Sandman sign looms on the skyline. On the Porto side, lots of very old buildings  - some extremely shabby and others with great charm........

There's always a great buzz about the place

Like this marathon along the banks of the river
The bridge is one of seven spanning the  Douro river

The weather has been incredibly good. I'm not sure it's always this good at this time of the year - I think I have been lucky. I've experienced two downpour days and believe me, the rain in Ireland is in the halfpenny place. 

But other than that, it has been fantastic - either very warm/hot days and now we're heading into their Autumn and the mornings are a bit cooler but it always heats up during the day. I'm based in Espinho which is 18kms south of Porto, beside the sea.

And the sea...what can I say?! It has been my saviour. When it is wild, it is wonderful to watch and when it is calm, it is great to swim in.

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The sunsets are incredible, and while the sun sinks fairly rapidly - the flaming hallelujah skies linger for a long time. I managed to secure a small (very small!) 1-bedroom apartment which is 5 minutes from the beach. I'm not sure if that will be an advantage next summer when all the hurdy gurdy stuff (and the swarms of people) arrive, but for now it is great. I lucked out.

Carolina on her terrace

And now to one of my best experiences so far - the people. The Portuguese people are definitely the most HELPFUL of any country I have visited or lived in. Unbelievable some of the examples. And the best one is my fantastic landlady, Dona Carolina.

I casually asked in the tourist office how one found an apartment (no Daft.ie here!). She remembered she had a name and number tucked away from a year ago - called the number and we arranged an appointment. 

Enjoying a coffee on the beach on 30 September
23 deg....unusual apparently but we'll take it

Carolina has turned out to be an angel....Unbelivablely helpful, sweet, fun, etc., and I am now ensconced in a cute apartment - not perfect but does the job and is 5 mins from beach (did I already mention that?!!), the train and 10 mins from the school.

Outside Lancaster College in Espinho

So, first there was fun, sun, exploring....and then I landed back to reality with a big, fat bang. I was told on Saturday 15th September that I was going to be based in Espinho and that the following week I would have: 12 classes, 5 different levels and 8 sets of students!!! Panic, anxiety, sweat pouring off me like it was going out of fashion....my first week was a nightmare, compounded by the fact that the text books had not arrived. So I rolled totally by the seat of my pants.

With Fernanda - the very helpful school secretary

My class preparation takes longer than the classes, which are either 1.5 or 2hrs long! Week two was a little bit better (although still no text books) and although still only feeling my way and will be until Christmas at least....I could breathe again. Students are all pretty much teenagers and for the most part are good kids. The language school is very small - only 4 English language teachers and we pass like ships in the night, coming and going to our classes.



Ok, that's it for now.............lots more to follow in a couple of weeks, when hopefully I can survive the week without being in a blind panic....lots of learning!

Ciao.........Hel