# What surprised you when you first started living in Portugal.?



## Verinia (Apr 6, 2012)

I thought it might be fun to share some of the things that you gradually find out when you come to live in Portugal...sometimes the hard way. here are some of mine to get started...

I didn't understand why in rural areas of the Algarve we kept getting stopped aired lights in small villages for no reason...and then I realised it was speed control.

I didn't know that in many supermarkets you still have to take things to be weighed and that in many rural petrol stations it's not self service.

I didn't know there were so many public holidays!

I didn't know it's against the law to park against oncoming traffic.

I didn't know what a carob was and how important they are to the farmers as a cash crop.

What about yours?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Best one newly arrived friends didn't know Post Offices here don't have UK Passport application forms.
me
Ok to stop in car and have a chat with someone and block traffic but not ok to be 1 seconds late starting when lights go from Red to Green

Amanhã does not mean tomorrow


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## wink (Aug 23, 2011)

That the Portuguese are more than happy to offer help and advice without expecting anything in return


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## notlongnow (May 21, 2009)

That it can get really cold in the Algarve in Winter

That just because "fresh" chicken is in date, it doesn't mean it's not rotten

That sunshine day after day after day does (very occasionally) make you wish it would rain "just for a change."


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

I have to admit I didn't know it was illegal to park against oncoming traffic or what a carob was. 

Nicest surprises for me were the incredible friendliness & generosity of the locals & (compared to Africa) the lack of crime & cleanliness & efficiency of Government offices.

Mot much of any great import on the downside for me except perhaps the difficulty of finding businesses because they don't seem to feel it necessary to advertise & perhaps the supermarkets here but we've learned to get over that with online shopping.


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## Maggy Crawford (Sep 18, 2010)

Travelling Man, I am surprised you did not know about parking facing oncoming traffic because it is certainly an offence in South Africa.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Maggy,

Yes. I knew about it in RSA but wasn't aware it was an offence here. I even asked someone else about it and was told it's not illegal here but the guy who told me didn't speak very good English so I guess one of us misunderstood. 

BTW, did you know the local Mayor of Campelo & surrounds who worked at the Millennium bank in Casta died a couple of months ago? - He's was only in his early 50s!


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## Maggy Crawford (Sep 18, 2010)

Yes, I heard it too. Very sad, apparently he was working in his garden and had a heart atttack. He was always very approachable and friendly and will be missed although we don't need to go to the bank very often. Did you sort out your certificated documents in the end?


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

A bit scary when I realise he was younger than I am! 

Yes, thanks. I took my documents to the Junta do Freguesia in Figueiro Dos Vinhos (in the cobbled high street) & had them do it for me..... I think cost was about E4 or E5..... Then I sent the docs to the UK by CTT (registered) & they got there within 24 hours. So I had a double whammy!

I've been here about a year now & am STILL constantly surprised at how easy & quick it is to get what you need from Govt offices etc when compared to RSA.


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## LizzyC (Sep 10, 2012)

Hi all!

Things I found out when I went to live there! (stayed 15 years then moved back to UK)

1) If you need a doctors appointment (their own health system not private) then you need to queue from about 5am at the front door to try and get one, tried it once, gave up and had to pay expensive private doctors from then on...even having an appointment booked for 10am means you'd better take the whole day off work because you won't be seen till 2pm...

2) any legal advice you need is paid for, no-one gives you free advice unless you know their hourly rate up-front or your a member of DECO

3) the legal system is completely corrupt...and sooooooooo sloooooowwww

4) forget customer service...they've never heard of it, THEY are right, you the customer is wrong...

5) Not to mention what they think of the British...I speak fluently and I've heard a LOT...

Now I'm Portuguese by blood, so it might sound strange that I'm not too positive about Portugal but I just had to come back for my children's benefit...my son was very sickly from the age of 6 months and I spent hundreds of euros every month in private doctors because national health ones said there was nothing wrong with him, he ended up needing an operation! and later when he was in primary school (apart from having to pay for all the school material he needed) the schooling was awful...then I had a baby daughter and couldn't face it all again...and came back to England...I don't care what anyone says about the UK...we have a very good health system and schooling system...people in other countries would give a lot to have the benefit of these systems...

Admitedly, I go back every summer for a holiday and to visit my portuguese family, I love the sun and the beaches (I go to Nazare and Sao Martinho a lot) but that's it!!

Sorry if I'm going on and on but I was so tired of what I went through in Portugal that I'm just glad to be back


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Shame I would say our experiences exactly opposite
1 Doctors appointment easier than our UK GP surgery, where reception staff consider themselves related to God, found diagnosis, tests, treatment, speed and after care superior to UK 
2 Advise we've needed has been free, bills never quite estimate
3 Can't comment
4 Good and bad everywhere but generally we find better here
5 Not in my experience but then I've had to listen to what expats say at times about Portuguese not thinking or caring who might understand English


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## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

In reply to LizzyC.

Perhaps the grass is always better on the other side, frankly though I am tired of living in the UK and am looking forward to relocating permanently to Portugal. 

Of all my aunties and uncles the ones that stayed behind in Portugal have done better financially than any of the others who left for England and Ireland during the 50's and 60's.

For decent schooling in the UK I believe parents have to choose schools carefully, which may mean moving to be in another school's catchment area. It may be the same in certain regions of Portugal but all of my cousins have done okay by the Portuguese State Education system and so far the same goes for all their children, some of whom have gone on to University. So you have to buy your children their books for schooling there, well I dare say that they take care of their text and work books that they have. In some English schools they have to share defaced books and do not have a copy that they can take home as the text books need to be used for different class groups on other days.

I cannot say anything about the Portuguese national health service as I am not familiar with it but I do see what happens to ours here in the UK....They put you on a list for a specialist appointment weeks and sometimes months ahead, they sometimes alter the dates just before the appointment that you have been waiting for...is it hoping that you give up? I have a late fourty year old friend who had a knee problem, he waited over 12 months to get to see the specialist and had surgery to clean the joint. 3 months later he was back in the same position with no answers or explanation as to why...he was offered to be put on the list again! Another friend, in his late thirties has arthritis in one of his knee joints and is in constant pain....after seeing his doctor he was told that they would not replace his knee joint as he was too young! (Sadly the effects of high impact sports.)

The UK have hard working employees in the health sector but not enough money to run it as it should...If you are old and frail it's best if you have private health care as it is a postcode lottery as to when you will be seen, some believe that it is a ploy hoping that the old and infirm give up or pass away so they don't need to be treated and thus save money....who knows the truth. 

Why do I want to move to Portugal, for better weather and milder winters, a better working environment and a more relaxed pace of life, without crappy neighbours shouting and swearing until the early hours of the morning, police sirens wailing from dusk until dawn and ferrel youths with no desire to better themselves, drinking and causing disruption to other peoples lives, possibly as they cannot see a decent future for themselves in the UK 

Yeah, there are some things that I am looking forward to leaving behind!


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## RoystonB (Jan 18, 2012)

Some very Odd Bureaucracy. Very Bad Driving. Some Hilarious Driving. Poor Manners. How pleasant most Portuguese are.:clap2:


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## jerryceltner (May 15, 2012)

We bought our villa 4 years ago and when I did this our 11 year old daughter was inconsolable crying and saying that she would loose all her friends. When we returned to the UK she spoke to me and said "dad you have already had your life and I have got all mine still to go" Pretty chilling really but off we went to Portugal.
She could not speak a word of Portuguese and we dreaded her 1st day at the Portuguese school expecting tears but the reverse and smiling. She had made friends and was happy.
4 years later and does she want to go back to the UK.....No Way......she loves it here so in the end we made the right decision for her and ourselves.
She has still got most of her school friends in the UK which she keeps in touch with via Facebook etc and when we go back she meets up with them and has lots of friends here.
She is now 15 and loves it. She is fluent in Portuguese and in the top third of her class getting better grades than most of her peers. Thank God.


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## rolacris (Sep 9, 2012)

I read all this ....and I hope I will be able to adopt myself living in Portugal soon.... Thank you guys for the input....


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## Dennis (Sep 29, 2008)

That we weren`t living in Italy, as that is where we planned to be.
But we love it here.:clap2:


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## kw60 (May 12, 2012)

What surprised me is why I didnt do it sooner !! Been here 4 weeks and loving every minute.
Kim


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