Happy New Year!

I celebrated this new year the same way I did for the last two years – watching fireworks from my kitchen window! This year, some were being set off in a parking lot near my apartment. But there was absolute chaos coming from the distance – all along the horizon, people shooting off big sparkly fireworks, for a solid 5 minutes.

When I first arrived in Lisbon 2 years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. My new landlord was an older man who wanted to be helpful – offering suggestions for where to go to shop, mentioning cafes nearby, and so on.

And he warned me to not expect anything to be open on New Year’s Day.

I was glad to have the warning to get my groceries in advance. And, just to be safe, I bought a small jar of instant coffee, which I still have somewhere in my kitchen!

Thankfully, when I took Mocha out for her morning walk, I found a couple of cafes open, so I was able to get something good for my morning fix.

Now that I’ve been here long enough to have a sense of the normal rhythms of this neighborhood, it was almost eerie how much was closed today. As before, a couple of cafes were open, but the vast majority of businesses were closed – including restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, and so on. The only other days I can think of with so much closed are Christmas and Easter.

Looking back through my photos from my first full week in Lisbon, one of the things that stands out is just how enamored I was with the ready availability of fresh produce. Now, I’m looking at these photos, and too embarrassed to post them, because they look pretty sad. Like, just a plate with olives and dates and a banana peel, as if that’s anything particularly special 😂

I also have several photos from my first week in Lisbon of the local corner stores.

Now, for context, there were a couple of corner stores in the neighborhood I lived in in Atlanta.

They did not carry a single fresh anything.

One day, I needed milk for a recipe – just like 1/3 cup – so I walked over to Reggie’s to see if they had single-serving bottles of milk. Nope! Not even that!

Cigarettes, chips, soda, or beer, sure, but anything with a shelf life of less than 6 months? Nope.

So living in a place where the local corner stores look like this still feels absolutely magical.

I haven’t looked for milk at any of the local corner stores, though I have gotten butter at the one on the right… But milk is processed differently here, so that it’s shelf stable for a lot longer, and doesn’t need to be refrigerated until you open the container. So that wouldn’t really be a fair comparison, anyway!

I also filled up my camera with photos and videos of a park nearby. The first photos are from the day after I arrived, but I honestly have a ridiculous number of photos and videos from that park! I’ll have to do a separate post just about it.

Another big thing from this time two years ago was that I finally gave in and bought myself a couch and dining table. I had gone to Ikea at some point between arriving and 1 Jan to try all of their couches and get a few essentials. And then went home and ordered the cheapest of the acceptable couches and a table to be delivered.

I think I mentioned this last time, but one of the themes of these first couple of months in Lisbon was low-key anxiety about my visa. I was scared of going out and buying a whole bunch of stuff and then being rejected. So I made to with as little as I could until my long-stay visa got approved.

My mattress had been delivered a day after scheduled, on 29 Jan – I’m just realizing I left that detail hanging, because I thought I’d post more often for a little while! But I had that just laying on the floor until sometime in mid Feb.

Honestly, the apartment is still really sparsely furnished compared to a lot of people’s homes, because I just got used to the super minimalist vibe. But now, at least it’s just because of inertia, rather than fear of not being allowed to stay here in Lisbon!