Bem-vindo! O segundo ano começa

I have failed to adequately maintain this blog. Mainly because I keep having this feeling - who cares? Who wants to hear about it, really? Who wants to hear about my privileged-ass experience living in Europe? Nobody. But I know that whether or not anyone reads it, I’m enjoying tracking the experience here, and enjoying writing. I guess I also had this vision that Adaline’s excitement about keeping a blog would not be fleeting like a normal eight year old, but it is, and that’s okay.

We are well into year two, and I still have these moments of thinking - are we really here? Did we really make this happen? Year one was a lot of figuring things out and exploring. Year two, so far, has been making new connections and saying goodbye to some of our first connections. One thing about the ex-pat life is it is very fluid. People seem to come and go regularly, which will take some getting used to. I suppose they are people like us, because we are always the ones that tend to come and then go.

I wouldn’t say it has been easy, life, as always, presents new curves in the road that sometimes feel like a rollercoaster. But, all in all, we are happy where we are. We LOVE our apartment, the more we are here the more we appreciate it. We want more space for visitors, but it is hard to give up this little gem. So, for now we will stay put.

Year two brings more Portuguese lessons. Adaline has started making some Portuguese friends and thankfully is finally excited to learn the language. Year two also brings lots of creativity - singing and baking and spending lots of time together as a family. Jason is branching out and meeting friends to hike, bike and climb with. We are learning the region, finding our favorite neighborhood spots to eat, and drinking lots of good coffee - uma bica por favor!

Christmas is around the corner and we are excited to see some family, hang with good friends and do a bit of travel.

Here’s hoping you and yours are heading into the holidays ready to relax and cozy up wherever you are.