Catch up Day and Random Things

Thursday, August 23

We woke this morning with nothing pressing or on the schedule.  It was a good feeling.  We spent a good deal of the day studying and catching up on things.  Merl made French toast for breakfast which was yummy – I love the bread here.

We have been working on memorizing the missionary purpose statement in Preach My Gospel.  We are adding to that the mission scripture found in D&C 24:12:

“E em todos o tempos e em todos os locais abrirá a boca e anunciará meu evangelho como com a voz de uma trombeta, tanto de dia como à noite.  E dar-lhe-ei uma força que não é conhecida entre os homens.”

One major thing we accomplished today was organizing most of the “things” left here in the apartment by previous missionaries.  We sorted through papers, pamphlets, and miscellaneous items that had cluttered shelves and drawers.  We even found some information on the stove top and microwave. . . maybe we will be able to understand better how they function. 

The next big project is to organize boxes and bags of tools and fix-it items.  We put a big tool box in the car that also needs to be organized.  One step at a time.  We actually didn’t leave the apartment until 7:00 p.m. when we thought we needed to take a walk and get some fresh (and yes, hot) air. 

We found a new street to walk today which took us to Parochial Center.  Many trees were wearing sweaters (which an internet search revealed is called yarn bombing - a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk).  

We found a neighborhood futebol field with some young boys playing soccer.  A little further up the street, we found a larger stadium where two teams of older boys were practicing.  We stopped to watch for a bit – they are amazing.  The drills the players were running showed how serious this sport is at a young age.  

After watching for a while and deciding there wasn’t going to be an official game, I asked a mom when the next game would be played there.  She didn’t know and referred me to a man in a “vermelho” shirt by the fence.  In my best Portuguese, I asked the question.  The next game is at 11:00 next Saturday – Loulé against Faro.  Sometimes conversations go jut as planned, and basic Portuguese is getting easier.  Should be a good game. . . and if isn’t too hot, we just might watch it.

We had a late dinner of lasagna, salad, steamed vegetables, and crusty bread.  Then back to some computer work and then bed. 

Friday, August 24, 

Nothing special planned for today.  It has been good to have a couple of days to get things in order and take care of “housekeeping” items.  Even when you live in a beautiful country across the ocean, there are still the every day things to do:  laundry, dishes, sweeping, dusting, sorting and taking out the garbage (everything has to be sorted and put in four different collection containers out on the street). 

We take time to read scriptures in Portuguese and memorizing different missionary assignments.  We watched a BYU Devotional  (Michael Goodman, July 12, 2016) that we would highly recommend about the ability to know truth.

I am in search of a crockpot (almost don’t exist here – the few that can be purchased in one store or on Amazon-ES are €80-130.  What I would really like is some type of Instapot (multi-purpose pressure cooker)  but they are expensive here, too.  I think that would help with our meal preparations because we oft times don’t know what are schedule is going to be – just throw something in and it will be ready whenever you get home.  

One good find in our search for a crockpot – a dry cleaning establishment inside of a little shopping center.  It will be about $10 to dry clean a suit.

We filled the car with gas which cost about €45 – that is the equivalent of about $7 per gallon.  It is a good think that the majority of cars the church purchases here are small Toyota hybrids.  (This is the price per liter, and the top two prices are for diesel.)

A couple of observations here:

Due to very limited parking and very narrow streets in the cities, cars actually park on the sidewalks all over town.  If that doesn’t work, double parking is common.  Sometimes we will see a car stopped in a lane of traffic with the blinkers on and no driver.  (narrow main street with two way traffic and cars parked on sidewalk)     

Pedestrians (at least here in Loulé) have the right of way so you have to be very alert when driving.  Almost every corner is a round-about.  I have an international driver’s license, but I don’t plan to ever drive here.

Grocery shopping is interesting.  All the carts are chained together with a mechanism that can be released with a $.50 coin or a plastic plug.  The coin/plug stays in the cart handle until you release it by hooking the chain back up when you are finished using it.  

You either bring your own reusable bags or purchase bags at the checkout stand. People bring boxes and all sorts of containers to take their groceries home in.  All cashiers sit to do their job (wise), and customers stand in a long line waiting to hear the box number over a loud speaker – then one by one, you can approach a check out stand.  The smaller neighborhood stores are not quite so formal.

I have been fascinated by small 

structures atop almost every house and/or building herethat  look like miniature lighthouses.  I found out recently that they are actually chimney toppers – and the design and architecture is a carryover from the Moors. 

When Spain and the Algarve were conquered by Muslims over a thousand years ago many new technologies and plants were brought to the region. Castles were built to defend against invaders of all sorts, whether marauding Vikings or Crusaders en route to the Holy Land to save Christianity from Islam. Housing and public buildings were built in a style more familiar to North Africa. Citrus trees, almonds and other plants were introduced to the area. And ornate chimneys topped homes.

The Algarve still retains citrus trees, ancient castles, almond trees and the beloved Moorish chimneys. Some are rustic with layers of old paint. Others are pristine white highlighted by blues, yellows and occasionally reds to match house trims.

If you would like to see some really cool chimneys, check out this website: 

https://portugalupclose.com/2016/10/15/algarvian-chimneys/