An American Family In Portugal. By Marjorie Ekk

I am Marjorie Ekk and my husband Otto and I have lived in the beautiful country of Portugal for over 23 years.  While Otto was born and raised in Brazil, he had lived in the U.S for many years prior to our arrival. On a cold and foggy morning in January 1989, we arrived in LIsbon with our 3 small children and 20 bags of personal belongings. Now years later, we have come to feel just as much “at home” there as in our native California.  

The Portugal from when we first arrived is a far cry from the Portugal of 2012.   Oh yes, the castles and fortresses can still be seen in lots of the quaint villages, and yes the coffee and pastries are still the best ever and still baked fresh every day.  But other changes have entered that have changed the face of Portugal. 

I would like to share in this blog a few simple changes that I have observed through the years.   

When you come to live in a new country and culture it is surprising at the little things that you find yourself missing from your “old home”.  We had just been in Portugal a few days when one morning at breakfast our 5 year old son started crying.  He refused to eat his buttered bread.  This went on for days until we realized it was because this was not the pre sliced “Rainbow” bread that he was used to.  I looked all through the grocery store and could not find sliced bread only the fresh baked round loaves that you sliced at home.  He eventually grew to love the Portuguese fresh breads and within a couple years we noticed that grocery stores were starting to sell sliced bread in a plastic wrapper called “Bimbo” bread.  I have now seen this bread being sold here in California.  But I will say nothing beats the taste of fresh baked bread from a Portuguese bakery! 

Another change is that of television, which has come a long ways in 20 years.  Buying our first television in Portugal was a real experience!  Our friends agreed to go with us and show us where the “best deal” could be found for purchasing a TV.  First, it was over an hour and a half ride in traffic to get into downtown Lisbon, and then it took literally 45 minutes of driving around to find a parking place.  We eventually squeezed our van between two cars onto the sidewalk. (In America this is a guaranteed way to get your car towed away!)  As we got out of the van I whispered to my husband that no matter what, we were buying a TV today because of all the work it took our friend to get us here.

We went into the store and I was shocked at the high prices of TV’s, but as I vowed, we brought it home and promptly set it up. It was only then that we only got 2 channels!  The first one started mid morning and ended around 9 pm and the other channel started mid afternoon and ended around midnight.  There were programs like the “Invisible Man” from the 1950’s and a few other shows from that era, but also lots of local programming of “festas” in the villages and some news.  The Portugal of today is so very different! Now, televisions are affordable and in every home with cable that allows the Portuguese to see programs from around the world in their original languages. 

These have been a few reflections of my perspective with more to come from the “memory banks” of Marjorie along with some simple reflections of spending years in Portugal. While much has changed, much remains the same and the impact of television and bread are only an indication of many other changes that Portugal has experienced during our years there. Some change is good but for others I am not so sure.

 

One thing is for certain: What an adventure this has been!