I recently discovered that I had 90 days from the time I received my Portuguese residency permit to obtain a local driving license. This according to the Citizens Services information on the US Embassy website.

Since I received my residency permit in mid-June, I realized I’d better hurry up or risk falling foul of the law.

Actually, my British neighbors said the chances of getting in trouble were slim. Given how scary it can be to drive on the winding, narrow Portuguese roads where local motorists are constantly passing me, I thought I’d better comply anyway.

I checked this Expat information website to get instructions, however, the easiest route, my neighbors said, was to go to a driving school (Escola de conducao)in Tomar, our nearest town. They kindly showed me where to go. The receptionist told me the “doctor” would be in at 3 p.m. You first have to get a medical certificate. The “exam” consisted of answering a few routine questions like, are you on any medication, etc. The doc spoke good English. He gave me my paperwork and I paid 25 Euros.

Next stop Santarem, a large town about an hour’s drive away where I had to go to the IMT office, Instituto da Mobilidade e do Transporte. I wasn’t sure if they would accept my old UK license, which until Brexit, is still an EU license. I got the license in 1976 and it said it was good till I turn 70. Amazingly, the very nice IMT lady accepted it, filled out some paperwork, gave me my temporary Portugese license and charged me 30 Euros. She said I should watch my mailbox for the permanent license which should arrive in a couple of months.

it’s official, the little stray dog who showed up on my doorstep a few days after I moved in, now has her own doggy passport.
Yes, Divina, has been microchipped, vaccinated and spayed. She also has a “Boletim sanitario de caes e gatos”, or official health card, in her name and she’s registered in the Portuguese doggy database. And I’m a bit poorer. Actually, not bad. The vaccination and microchip by the municipal vet cost 19 euros, spaying, 170 euros and paperwork 7.50 euros at my local Junta de Freguesia, or parish office.

September 5 marked four months since I arrived in Portugal to live. I still look up at the brilliant blue sky each morning and marvel that this is where I LIVE, not just a vacation.

My day starts with a powerful cup of coffee made in my Italian style percolator. I think this low-tech device makes a much better brew than those fancy machines that beep and grind. By the time I’ve downed coffee my dog Divina, is nearly wiggling her little tail off eager for a walk. We set off at a brisk pace down the dirt road that passes an old ruin, eucalyptus trees and heads for a tiny hamlet.

This week marked a milestone as I finally got Internet service installed. My frustration with the phone company, MEO, had been an ongoing topic of conversation with my expat neighbors who all had their horror stories to tell. Internet connectivity can be a challenge in rural Portugal.

MEO is the phone company that provides a lot of Internet service in this country. The folks in the MEO store happily sold me on a contract for TV, Internet and a landline for 34 Euros a month back in mid-July when I moved in. Weeks went by with no service, every time I’d have to drive into town to find out why no technician showed up on the appointed day. This because the shop staff rarely answered the phone. Every week they gave me a different excuse.

I had to rely on my mobile phone which eventually ran out of data. I then had to buy a SIM card especially for Internet service and perform card swap surgery on my phone multiple times a day because I couldn’t make or receive calls if the data card was in the phone.

I finally went to a small electrical shop, Comfort Electro, in my nearby town of Tomar, where the owner said he could hook me up the next day with a different provider, NOS, same price.

I called MEO and canceled my contract. This required persistence because the person I was put through to kept trying to sell me on their service. The wonderful guy from Comfort Electro arrived on time the next day put up a satellite for TV, a router for Internet and, hey presto, finally I’m connected.

Now I can talk to friends via WhatsApp, watch some Netflix movies and don’t have to do surgery on my phone five times a day.

In the month since I moved into the tiny Cental Portuguese village of Cumes, I’ve met all my expat neighbors. They’ve been friendly, welcoming and helpful. I’ve now got a storage shed for my bikes, thanks to the muscle and woodworking skills of James, Pat and Ahmad, three British expats.

My Italian neighbor, Rossana brought me a sprig of oregano that grows wild everywhere here.

I’m enjoying adding it to dishes I cook.

Almost every Portuguese village has its bread man, the guy who drives by each morning, tooting his horn to alert you to the arrival of fresh rolls and loaves.

I’d seen this four years ago when I walked the Camino de Santiago route through the Spanish countryside. In Spain, where the word for bread is ‘pan’ we’d nicknamed him, “the pan man.” It doesn’t have the same ring in Portugal where the word for bread is ‘pao”, which sounds like “pow”, if you pinch your nose as you’re saying it.

As soon as I settled in my tiny village of Cumes, Central Portugal, my neighbors told me to watch out for the bread man. He’ll come by some time between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. If you catch him, you can see what kind of bread and rolls he has and make your choice. Once he knows you, just hang a shopping bag on your gate and put a note in it showing the number of rolls you want, and the coins. Plain white rolls cost 14 Euro cents, brown or seeded rolls and loaves cost a bit more.

What I didn’t know, was that Cumes has not one, but TWO, bread vans that come round. I dutifully hung my bag out, weighted down with money, a note and a small stone because of the habitual breeze, but no one stopped.

Next morning, I waited for the sound of a vehicle passing in the narrow street. I rushed out and met a rather grumpy middle aged guy who charged me 23 cents each for the brown rolls I chose.

The next morning I rushed out again and came upon a different van with a smiling young man who showed me his selection. His bakery is called “Pequeno Divino”, a little divine. I loved the sound of that.
“Don’t worry about a bag,” he said, “When I come by, I’ll just go peep peep to let you know I’m here.” (He said all this in Portuguese. My language skills are improving.)

Now, every morning, it’s “peep peep” and I’m out the door with money in hand for my lovely fresh rolls.

Life continues to be full of delightul surprises in the tiny village of Cumes, my new Portuguese home.

A few days ago some of my new neighbors, Pat and Steph, a British couple, dropped by to introduce themselves. They had with them their own dog and a delightful little tan stray. I told them I used to be a dog person but I’ve owned cats for the past 12 years and I’ve become a convert to the feline species. I was devastated when I had to find an adoptive home for Chatsie and Bodie before I left Albuquerque because I knew they couldn’t make the journey. But no more dogs for me.

Well, a couple of mornings later, I saw the little tan dog in the street outside my house and greeted her. She came running and was so happy and excited. I gave her some milk to drink. Next morning she was there again, same routine. I also gave her some of my breakfast bread roll. She hung around while I got ready to go do errands and followed my car as I drove out of tiny Cumes. Worried, I stopped at the edge of the village and pondered whether I should take her with me. However, she seemed more interested in investigating some interesting smells on the other side of the street.

I went on my way but when I returned, I didn’t see her. I kept thinking about that little tan dog and how joyful she was. I mentally called her “Girl Dog.” In the evening, I walked around the village looking, but didn’t see her. Next morning, I went looking again, a little down-hearted thinking that I might never see her again.

Lo and behold, when I got to the corner at the edge of the village where I’d last seen her, there she was. Long story short, she’s had her bowl of milk, a bread roll, played with one of my Crocs and the LaCrosse ball I bought for rolling out tight muscles, and hung out at my place all morning. Not sure where this is going. I have plans to travel etc. But she sure is cute!

Previously on my blog, I recounted my encounter with my Belgian neighbors and their ferocious Chihuahua who sank his tiny teeth into my right calf. Although the wound didn’t look serious they urged me to have it checked by a doctor.

In my last blog post I recounted my trip to the local hospital in Tomar, Central Portugal. The doc checked the bite, had it re-dressed, wrote me a prescription for antibiotics and recommended I get a tetanus injection. Total cost for the visit: about $15.50

Today, a British neighbor drove me to a Farmacia in a nearby town where the pharmacist speaks good English. The antibiotics prescription cost me 4.50 Euros (about $5.)

The pharmacist told me I had to get the tetanus shot at the health clinic in Ferreira do Zezere, a sizable town where local government offices for my village are located. It’s about a 20 minute drive from my new home, on mostly narrow winding roads.

Unfortunately, the receptionist at F. do Z. told me I couldn’t get the shot there. I would have to go to the clinic in the village next to mine, which rejoices under the name: Chaos. (This really is the name, though in Portuguese it is pronounced Shah-osh.)

However, the receptionist in F. Do Z. and a couple of her assistants helped input some of my basic information into the Portuguese system: my Numero de Contribuinte (NIF) which is like a Social Security number, my residency permit and my Irish passport details. They had some confusion whether to classify me as a foreign immigrant or a resident but decided on the latter because I had the residency permit.

They told me I would have to apply for a European Health Card.  I’d applied for one shortly before leaving the US but with all my traveling, I haven’t managed to provide the follow-up information they requested. Now, I need to hurry up and get this done!

Next, I headed to Chaos to find the Centro Saude. (Chaos is a pretty small village but marginally bigger than Cumes, the next door village where I now live.) Chaos boasts a church, an ATM machine a dodgy-looking cafe a health center which is open a couple days a week, and a cemetery. (The latter s not a reflection on the health center.)

A very nice young nurse, who spoke English, gave me the tetanus shot and when I asked what I had to pay, she said NOTHING. The shot was free!

Oh how I’m loving living in Portugal!

No picture today but an interesting story.

This morning I wandered over to my neighbors in the village of Cumes, near Tomar, Portugal. I moved in this week. My neighbors, a Belgian couple named Dominique and Dominique (seriously) live a couple of houses down my tiny street, Rua Nossa Senhora da Encarnação. (I kid you not.)

I went over to visit and as I walked through the gate two dogs rushed toward me, barking. Their daughter assured me that the little one, a chihuahua, the fiercest barker, didn’t bite. Wrong! As soon as she said it, I quickly felt the sharp stab of tiny teeth in the back of my calf. (You can tell I’ve had this experience before, from my neighbor’s dog in Albuquerque.)

They apologized, cleaned the small wound and put a bandage over it. They insisted I should go to the hospital in Tomar to have it checked and to get a tetanus shot.

So, I drove to Tomar, about 15 minutes away and ventured into the local hospital. I’d been advised to take my residency document and my proof of NIF (the Portuguese equivalent of a Social Security number.) I told the receptionists that I had an Irish Passport and she asked if I had a European Health card. I’d applied for one months ago but so far hadn’t received it. I’m also not yet registered in the local system. (Once you’re a resident, you’re supposed to register with a local doctor.) Nevertheless, she took my details and told me to wait.

I was called in about five minutes later and another woman took my details, gave me a wristband and told me to wait outside. About 45 minutes later, I was called in to see the doctor. Speaking in English, he asked me general health questions, looked at the wound, prescribed me antibiotics and told me to get a tetanus shot on Monday at the nearest health clinic. He asked some nurses to re-dress the wound and then I was sent back out to reception.

What did I have to pay for this????? 14 Euros ($15.69)

I’m loving this Portuguese life!!!!

I’m feeling on top of the world right now as I look forward to spending my first night in the house I’ve bought in Central Portugal.

My shipment of furniture and personal effects arrived on Monday. It was picked up at my home in Albuquerque on April 12. I’ve been living out of two suitcases ever since. The two guys who delivered it worked incredibly hard. They went out of their way to drag the wooden shipping crate into my yard so I can use it as a shed for my bikes and tools instead of having to buy one.

I’ve been busy all week unpacking and setting up everything, but I have a long way to go and lots of essentials to buy.

One of the main things that persuaded me to buy this house was the view from the kitchen and dining room area across a valley.

After two months in Portugal depending on all kinds of public transport plus a friends’s scooter and a bicycle, I finally took the plunge. I bought a car!

Friends who know me might remember how much I said I hated having to drive everywhere in Albuquerque. That’s still true. But, the house I’m buying is about 12 miles from the nearest big town, abit further out in the country than I’d planned, so I decided a bike/scooter might not hack it for regular shopping trips.

In my search for a suitable, affordable used car, I used the OLX.pt website. It’s like Craigslist. People can list all kinds of stuff they want to sell. You can search it and communicate with sellers through the site until you feel comfortable revealing personal information like phone numbers etc.

You can also try searching Standvirtual.com, but the searches I did through that website always seemed to show more expensive cars.

I did my search on the OLX website, found the type of car I was looking for at the price I”d decided I could afford, then contacted the owner through the site. We arranged to meet outside one of Lisbon’s main train stations. I liked the car and we agreed on a price after a brief negotiation. He was asking 5,250 Euros, I offered, 4,750 E. We agreed on 5K.

The car is a 2003 VW Golf, diesel with manual transmission. Diesel cars are popular here in Portugal because the fuel is slightly less expensive than gasoline. Virtually all cars have stick shift.

When buying the car, the owner, Miguel and I went to a branch of my bank, Millenium, and a bank associate did the transfer for us online. The maximum you can withdraw in cash each day or transfer on the mobile app is 2,500, but you can do transactions for much higher value on the bank website. The bank charged 6.24 Euros for the transfer.

Then we had to go to transfer the title. In small towns you can go to the local “Conservatoria”. In Lisbon we went to the Edificio Registro in the Campus de Justica near the Vasco da Gama bridge. The office does all kinds of registrations: divorce, immigration etc. So, it was like a going to the MVD experience, take a number and wait, a long time.

The seller has to provide identification, his/her Numero de Contribuente (NIF) like a Social Security number, and proof of address. I showed my passport and provided my address in Portugal.

I am working through Seguro Directo to get car insurance. Millenium bank offers it as well but their quote was much higher. For basic liability plus coverage for the driver, I’m looking at 140 Euros per year ($157), providing I can supply evidence that I have had car insurance in my name for 8 years.

Anyway, I’ve now got wheels, the world is my oyster!