Island life is slow, but the days are flying by.
Terciera, Azores, Portugal…. WHAT? WHERE? Lajes Air Base… HUH?
When I found out my husband was going to be here for a year, I had no idea it even existed. It’s a little dot on the map in middle of the ocean.. actually, on a regular map it probably doesn’t even show up. You need to google map it to actually see the dots. If I didn’t even know about this place, what does the rest of the world have to offer? What else am I missing in life? ALOT. This place was unknown to me a year ago and now its my life! We live here? Unreal… Our daily life has changed, duh! It’s something I never imagined living on. But it is a year I will forever remember.
We live on 1 of the 9 Azorean Islands. 2 hours from Europe and 5 hours from the US. The particular island we are on is named Terciera. Our little village on the island is called Fontinhas. Population 1,500! Total population of the island is 56,000. A lot of little villages and two main towns- Praia and Angra. 1/4 of the island is mountains and 3/4 of the island is farm land.
Fontinhas is small, quiet and PERFECT. It’s 101% rural. We see the ocean in front of our house and we see the mountain behind our house. Flowers and Green are everywhere year round. This is the view out our kitchen window when I wash dishes and make coffee. Gardens, Cows to be milked, bright houses, and the sky. B.E.A.U. tiful.
Theres only 1 main road through the town with little side streets that are dead ends. There are no stop lights, no gas stations, and only about 4 little markets perfect distance apart from each other. No restaurants just coffee shops inside of the small markets. Just houses, 1 church, land and animals.
It’s difficult being stuck at home all day with such small markets. Little to do. It’s a lifestyle change for sure, but we are embracing it. Harper mentioned in the car… “MOM, Where is PJ Maxx at?! I miss it!”
(PJ Maxx= My favorite store in the whole world, TJ Maxx)
Harper and I try to walk the road every day to get out of the house and I decided to finally take our camera. We say hi to our favorite animals- especially this ADORABLE little pup- on the busy road. When I say busy, it’s not big city busy but tractors and speeding cars. There isn’t a speed limit in town… I feel the wind from car mirrors just about hitting us when we walk. The biggest downfall of Fontinhas is no sidewalks. But thats what makes Portugal unique. Dodge the cars lol YIKES… I make sure Harps is always touching the wall.
We make sure to hug the wall to also not get run over by tractors. Talking about speed limit again, the tractors ARE NOT going slow. The farmers work all day long, and the work hard. When we watch the farmer work behind our house, it is fascinating to see how much he can get done in an hour or two… They feed, water, move cows, goats, chickens, sheep, check fences, check gardens, spray weeds, do it all. The farmers tend to not speak english because they don’t interact.. We just wave and smile! Im waiting for the farmer to look at the kids and point at his tractor and give them a ride- they would DIE! By the time we leave, it’s going to happen!
Our walk is about 2 miles long. A mile to the school house and a mile back to our house. We oddly love to find snails on the walls of houses. We bring them back to the house…only if they don’t come out of their shells and touch us- then we end up throwing them because they are gross. Harper loses her mind screaming when they come out of their shell and touch her. I know she wont forget these dumb snails!!!!
Fontinhas has a church that is GORGEOUS. We walk past it and Harper loves to go in and say prayers for everyone in the family. “Please keep_____ safe”. We aren’t church goers, but we believe and love reading kids bible stories. Being in here is serene, weirdly still and quiet. The Sunday sermons are in Portuguese language. OBVI! SO we probably wont go for service. The pictures don’t do the Fontinhas church justice.
Last but not least about our life in Fontinhas, we have met the COOLEST people already. Most of them are Portuguese adults who love my kids, with the exception of two younger girls who work at the market across the street. We are meeting people who go in and out of the market and on our walks. They may not speak English, but for example, one of the old men we love always motions his hand down by his knees, showing us a height. It’s his way he asks where Nash is. When he sees Nash, he gives high fives and rubs his head. Nash will say Ciao, but no other words. Love is shown no matter barrier. We love our little Market owner who teaches us Portuguese (our landlords sister). We have met our landlords brothers who happen to be farmers too. They come in and out of the market when we are there. Theres old women who walk up and down out road carrying veggies who we always wave at, as well. I need to take pictures of them all so we forever have their pictures… I only have one picture of one of our new friends…
well… Its not exactly a close up because half the time I’m scared of her. I thought she was dead the other day!!! It’s an old frail nun who does not move from a window in her house. She watches out the window all day long and doesn’t move her head side to side. She has tunnel vision. I found out that she falls asleep actually on the window. I really thought she was dead and leaning up! No joke- So we have started to make sure she always waves back. We will wait until she sees us. Here is harper waving across the street to her. She has started to smile to us… Making progress. Maybe by Christmas we will be able to actually see her up close and we can give her a present. Im again, oddly, attached to certain little things like this in our daily life.
Especially this perfect little cow behind my house. The kids and I check on her every morning! WE AREN’T IN KANSAS ANYMORE, TOTO! This is definitely not Virginian living anymore when we are hanging onto entertainment like this!
We get to pick fresh fruit from our landlords backyard. Apples, Limes, and Figs. We have learned we all hate figs, we like lime water, and we continue to love apples!
Ciao,