Terceira Island - Azores - Portugal

Terceira Island - Azores - Portugal

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Exploring Praia (PRY-ah)

Bom dia!
It's Sunday morning, 8 Maio, and I'm listening to a YouTube recording/video of Prof. Edgar Nogueira (no-gay-rah), the world's best Portuguese guitarist.  In fact, the instrument he's playing IS a Portuguese guitar.  Here's the link: http://youtu.be/6vat6Y0Vua0  The recording sound is poor.  In person, it sparkles.  
Trish and I were enjoying a girl's night out with Lerena, my Asset Management Flight energy guru.  We went to dinner at Buzius (the restaurant I've frequented more frequently than any other in the two weeks I've been on the island), which is in Porto Martins (mar-teensh), the village where I will reside in my new house.  Lerena, her husband Joel (dju-ell), and their daughter Elise live there, also.  Joel also worked in the energy section until last Thursday.  Sadly, the contract with the company he worked for ended, which is a huge loss to the base's energy program.
View from Buzius
The restaurant, which I mentioned in my previous blog, is on the water at the swimming hole.  The white wall on the left is the edge of the building.  I have also previously posted the photo of our Bananas Foster chef in action.  Last night we didn't indulge, as Trish and I had visited a bakery near the base first thing in the morning and consumed enough sugar to last the rest of the year (at least).  
We were on the way to Praia to see what trouble we could get into in the shops.  It turned out to be a lot!

First we stopped in a fabric store so I could look for upholstery ideas for the love seat that Emma used to create a little nest out of one of the cushions. Using Spanish vs. Portuguese, meters vs. yards, and beds vs. sofas was a hoot.  I did manage to get swatches of two fabrics for when I unroll the rug that will go in the living room.
My tradition when starting a new adventure is to gift myself with a piece of jewelry.  This time I bought earrings of Portuguese filigree and hammered silver and a Portuguese silver ring.  I had fun speaking Spanish to this clerk, also.  But he spoke English, so we compared Spanish words to Portuguese.  
In the next store I bought three cute black roosters,which is the Azorian mascot.  Coincidentally (NOT!) I had bought a rooster before I left Virginia.  [To dispel confusion, these are not LIVING roosters.  Nor are they formerly living roosters.]  I'll post photos to prove that after I unpack the Virginian.  The rooster store (well, they sell lovely items other than roosters) will be a stellar resource for Christmas presents.  
Except for two disappointing discoveries, the Praia experience was wonderful.  1: my new, cute, beaded sandals proved not to be up to the challenge of 15th century cobblestones.  2: the Caprese Salad I ordered for lunch bore no resemblance (except for three slivers of something red that I suppose was in the tomato family) to its Italian model: dried basil instead of fresh leaves and thin slices of mozzarella instead of healthy slabs of fresh cheese.  Plus, it was grilled. Ugh.
Caprese Salad
Here's a photo of one I made for Thanksgiving.  (You knew I was strange, but you probably didn't know that I take photos of food arrangements.) The Real McCoy is room temperature and glows with the fragrance of the basil and the tri-colors of the Italian flag. 
Sandals and salad notwithstanding, it was a glorious day!
The weather was rainy, cool, sunny, overcast, and windy, and it was in its sunny-windy phase when we got home.  I wore Emma out with ball throwing and wrote a few postcards before it was time to start the 20-minute drive to pick up Lerena.  Over a delicious dinner of Penne Vodka Chicken, we compared the merits of spending our first 3-some weekend trip in Lisbon, or in the Algarve (pronounced all-garr, on the west coast of Portugal), or on Isla Sao Miguel (also in the Azores archipelago, a 3-hour trip by car or a half-hour flight).  The Algarve is 3-1/2 miles of coastline in the southern-most province of Portugal.  Lerena has places we can stay gratis in the first two, and the cost of the flight is only about $200.  For any of you who is serious about visting me, the cost of flying from Boston direct to Terceira is only $600 in July (peak season).  And you'll have a place to stay gratis!
Lisbon
Marinha - the Algarve
Lagoa das Sete Cidades - Isla Sao Miguel
On the way from Porto Martins to Praia for an evening of musical entertainment, we stopped by my house so I could show it off to Lerena. Can't wait to get my stuff there on the 17th and play with arrangements of furniture, rugs, and tchotchkes!
The concert was free, but their system is to go to the ticket window and choose seats/receive tickets.  [An aside: my only packing mistake was bringing only summer footwear, thinking that surely it would be warm enough for them by the end of April.  Apparently, this is an unusually cold spring, so my boots and light-weight wool would have come in handy.  I was the only patron wearing capris and sandals - though not the aforementioned beaded ones.]
The music ranged from interesting to beautiful to spirited, but all of it was produced with astoundingly dexterous talent.  My favorite was the Tuna - no, not the fish!  Follow the link to see a Portuguese Tuna performance in Luxembourg. http://youtu.be/izWILAaErH0 This time of year, university groups perform at each other's schools and collect patches from each that they attach to the black blankets they wear around their shoulders (you can see one on the ground behind the first guy on the right).  The black frock coats are standard costumes.  By intermission it was 11 PM, so we took a vote - well, neither Trish nor Lerena would state their preference of staying or leaving, so I made the executive decision to leave. (That's why they pay me the big bucks!)
Fast forward to now, sitting on the couch, Emma at my feet, finally beginning to master keystrokes to forward delete and jump to home/end on my MacBook.  The sky is a hazy medium gray with the faintest distinction between it and the water.  I have big plans for the day.  Lots of nothing much.  Why go anywhere when a gorgeous panoramic view is at my doorstep?
Tchau!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Catching Up with the Blog



Aisha Squints at the Camera
Even though I just "knew" this would be the perfect job for me, my first ten days on Terceira have confirmed that.  Some aspects are already in alignment with what I wanted: the small size, gorgeous scenery, and minimal traffic.  A caveat to the last, however: drivers here are still to be viewed with the assumption that they will try to pass even though there are only 50 yards of visibility in the opposite direction.  On the other hand, cows moving from one pasture to another and donkey-powered carts do not produce road rage.  
* I'll be fine with other aspects once I adjust to them: mail is delivered only on Sundays (it arrives by plane each Saturday), the commissary and exchange are closed Sundays and Mondays, and there is no such thing as a Cobb salad with Ranch dressing on the side.
* But back to the beginning of this Azorian adventure...
I spent my last night in the States in a hotel near BWI.  Since it was the Friday before Easter, it took Steve and me THREE hours to get there. I did fine on the drive since I had figured it would be slow, but once we were in the room, I was all nerved up about the process of checking in and getting Emma onto the plane.  The mass quantity of pizza we had delivered helped some.  As with every other aspect of this move, my worries were for naught.  The counter agent was very nice and helpful.  They let me bring Emma in by leash so I didn't have to move her in the crate.  All the paperwork was in order.  There was a "pet relief" area close by. I could stay with Emma till they took her to the plane.  I had a first-class-type seat (only one of two).  The flight attendants checked on Emma a few times to let me know she was fine.  The flight was smooth (just under 5 hours) and we were served a good meal with real utensils!  The weather when we landed was beautiful.
* The Lajes Welcome was just as Trish described it and then some.  We got our passports stamped before going through the door to the waiting area, where there were about 30 people in a receiving line from all groups on the base.  My little welcoming contingent included Lt Col Scharf (the squadron commander), Steve Day (his deputy), Bryson Twidwell (acting flight chief until they could fill that position), Patrick Henson (the housing section chief), and Trish Walton (my sponsor and the Resources flight chief).
Trish hard at work.
* It wasn't long before I was reunited with Emma, and she was just fine.  Calm and ready to take advantage of the Lajes pet relief area.  Patrick, Bryson, and Lt Col Scharf got the crate into Patrick's van, Emma jumped right into Trish's back seat, and we started the 20-minute drive to her house (a link to photos are posted on my Facebook page).
* And what a house!  For those of you who don't "do" Facebook, here's one of the best photos:
The steps lead down to a terraced zig-zag of plush grass that makes the best-ever dog run.  I can stand at the top and throw Emma's ball to the bottom of the hill.
Below is a map of Terceira that will help you understand where towns are on the island.


* Trish and I vegged out Sunday until we went to dinner at Sabores do Chef (Flavors of the Chef), an elegant restaurant in Praia (pry ya) da Vitorio, the town that surrounds the base.  Praia was founded in 1456, but has become the most "modern" town on the island. Here are photos of Praia and the harbor, taken when Bryson took me to see my armada of spill recovery boats.




The building with the red roof is the marina office, and the harbor slips are to the right of it. 



Here are my (that's the royal "my") boats.  We use them to deploy booms that keep oil contained when there's a spill.  (Environmental is one of my branches.)We also went to see work being done to test for contamination around abandoned underground fuel storage tanks.  These are huge - 50 feet in diameter.











* Besides learning enough about environmental issues on and around the base to make my eyes glaze, I also met the community planner, energy staff, real property person, and folks in the housing office.  I also went on a tour of the dorm.  (A funny story: at my first staff meeting, when I talked about what I'd done, I said that I'd walked through one of the dorms.  Everyone looked at me and Lt Col Scharf said, "Then you've seen all the dorms.")
* A very time consuming part of my first week was in-processing: getting a new ID card, an island driving license, and briefings by the personnel office staff.  I also filled out paperwork for a GOV (government-owned vehicle) license so I can drive our Asset Management truck.
* Tuesday was the belated Arbor Day tree planting event with kids from the DoDDs (Dept of Defense Dependents) school.  The wing commander and his Portuguese counterpart did the ceremonial gold spade earth turning.
* Wednesday morning I went with a housing inspector to look at houses for rent. I fell in love with the first one I saw, and I will become its first occupant one week from tomorrow.  My street address is 4 Camino de Figueiras (fee-gay-resh, which means "figs") in Porto Martins (porto mar-teensh). It's not labeled on the map, but it's a third of the way along the coast road between Cabo da Praia and Sao Sebastiao. I'm not going to post photos of the interior till I get my stuff set up, but here are some of the particulars:
Bananas Foster Coming Up!
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and wall-to-wall views of the ocean.  I can hear the surf as it hits the rocks, a church bell, and roosters).  The swimming hole (you won't catch me in there!) and Buzios, a wonderful Italian restaurant, are a 10-minute walk away.  http://livingatlajes.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/buzios/ 

View from the front yard.

View from one of the kitchen windows.
* The electric gate at the driveway will be installed Wednesday and the exterior rocking and painting will be finished week after next.  My landlord, Ricardo, is very nice. I met him yesterday and he gave me info about the alarm 
system, wireless / cable / phone (I already have a phone number)
underfloor heating, and air conditioning /heating systems (very unusual here) Here are some "teaser" photos.

View down my street to the ocean.
Just as with everything else about this move - charmed, I'm sure - the shipment of household goods arrived in only three weeks!  They'll be delivered on the 13th, along with the appliances supplied by the base (fridge, gas stove, microwave, washer, dryer). 
* So that's all for this installment.

Adeus da Ilha Terceira!

At long last...

...my first post from the Azores!
This will have to be in more than one installment - there's too much to write about - or read! - for one sitting.
*  As for this sitting, it's 7:40 Tuesday evening.  I'm in the living room, frequently looking up from the keyboard to gaze out to the ocean and Split Rock, listening to the wind grow in sound and speed.  Emma is on the rug next to me, as contented as she could be considering I won't let her sit on the couch. Trish is going out to dinner and I opted to pass on a squadron dinner so I could have time at home alone to start this.
*  Here's a list of what I've noticed about Terceira so far (not in any particular order):

  * They have frequent, marvelous rainbows.  These were taken from Trish's terrace.











They use outlandish colors.  Everywhere.




  * They have glorious clouds and sunsets.
  * Every other man is named Jose (pronounced Joe say).
  * It is a very small place.
  * They have a secret for not gaining weight in spite of the food they eat.  I haven't see Cobb salad on any menu.
  * Their main seafoods are cod and octopus.  (I have a recipe for the latter, if anyone would like to have it.)
  * Parking is allowed ANYWHERE, including in one of the two lanes.
  * The speed limit on narrow village streets is 50 mph - even to get around parked cars.
  * Cows have the right of way.



Below is a view of the coast at Bisquitos (pronounced beesh coy toosh).




Watch for future installments.
Tchau!