MEREDITH
[ 00:00:07 ] Welcome back, Portugal junkies! Hello, hello! We are here with wine yet again. It's like twice on the roll this is our last podcast from Porto, yeah, so more reason for the wine, cheers, cheers! We love putting that sound on the podcast, sorry we love putting that sound, do it again, easy tiger! So, I do have a story, so the headline is my nurse made me cry. Yes, so I have not discussed this on here yet, but I've been meaning to because it's not like something I was avoiding, but it just wins the right time or place. A couple weeks ago, Mark was like, 'um, I think you need to go to the dermatologist; there's this spot on your... middle Of your back where I can't see it, I can barely touch it, so I didn't even know it was there. And he's like, 'I just think you might need to get it checked out so go to the dermatologist again. We have had such a good like experience with healthcare here anytime we needed it, medical has been it has been awesome, it's been yes, superb is the right word. And it's a basal cell carcinoma. And at first I was like, 'Oh shit, um, you're telling me I have skin cancer and you're telling me that it is malignant. Um, so that scared me a little. But then as you probably know, and I just it was just new to me that it's very treatable. Like all those things are true, but It's literally like having an incision, remove it, you're good, and we called it early enough because it was a superficial; yeah, it's really been um after the first day I was very teary on the first day but then I had 24 hours to think about it and I was like, 'Okay, this is happens to a lot of people.' So again, thank you for all the tanning beds and baby oil and all the crap that I used to do to myself, you know, being an 80's baby or 90 early 90's baby. Anyway um so we've been through consultation; we have been through that biopsy, and then waiting for it to heal and the dermatologist was like, 'Really? I am 99 percent sure.' I'm not sure that that's what it is, but we need to do the the biopsy and just make sure and then move on from there so this has been going on for the past couple of weeks, so I go in for the biopsy though and I've never had a biopsy so I really, I was, I don't think I would say I was anxious, I might have been a little nervous right because I know that they're gonna cut me and I don't know much more than that and I also know that it's like three millimeters or something, it's very tiny, and um, we walk in and Joanna is the nurse and she is the sweetest, like most relatable person, she knows better English than I'll ever know Portuguese, I thought you can say better English than you know English. Probably and um, she just was so wonderful to us, but also just me, because I'm sitting there and she's like, 'Okay, you know, lay down. He'll be in in just a minute to actually do the biopsy.' Yep, and I was good; I mean, I literally wasn't so scared, but it was just a little bit of, like, 'Okay, I don't know what to expect here and um, I laid down and she literally was talking to Mark and came over to me and just rubbed my arm. Yeah, it almost like um, she didn't even realize what she was doing; she was so natural to her, to that, to treat her patients that way because she was having a full-on conversation with Mark and I literally started crying and I think It was just this maternal and she's younger than me, but it was just this maternal comforting natural thing that she did in a little bit of anxious worried state that I was in, and I just I just started crying. It wasn't the first time, I mean it was the first time we cried together, but it wasn’t the last time because then I went back, I went back to yeah, you missed an appointment, no this is another one, this is when we went, and she was in there, we were in there together of course, and she was, she asked me to come back four times to clean the incision from the biopsy, so that tells you about their thoroughness here it's nuts, and by the way, that Costs one euro, um I was there for, for one of these, um visits for her to just like make sure my bandage looks fine and all that stuff and she got teary with me because I told her how she made me feel that day, how comforted she made me, and then she started crying because I was like, 'I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry' because at, like, nine o'clock that morning she was working with a child who is probably not going to make it, and she was like, 'I shouldn't be crying, you know I shouldn't be crying in front of you and I was like, 'No, you don't know me, um hello cry together, um I don't know, and that's... I just i wanted to share. That story because I feel like I have such a connection with her, and you probably do too because you watched all of it unfold. Yeah, she, she's absolutely fantastic, um, she is meant to do what she does, yeah, and I tried to tell that to her, yeah, who knows if it actually truly translated but um, we got each other so we're good there, but I was just so thankful, and that's just a general update about the whole BCC situation, um, but also how thankful am I that that's who was assigned to me in those moments and I, I just think people are sent to you in life sometimes, and I was just very thankful for her, but that's the story of the day, absolutely it.
Mark
[ 00:06:25 ] Is she's the best, and again it does it kind of lead's into you know this, this last episode of Porto, and you know what have we learned about it, and we've said this on a hundred times on these podcasts and such, and that is one of the things that we have learned, and I will speak for you on this one is that we've learned that the people in Porto are just fabulous, they really really are, and you know this, this is just another one of those hundred ways that illustrates how lovely, and personable, and helpful, and considerate all of the people that we've ever come into contact with, honestly, and I'm not saying that everybody.
MEREDITH
[ 00:07:16 ] is like that i'm sure they're all like that but i'm not saying that everybody is like that i'm sure they're awesome the people we have met though are the ones the ones that we have encountered and choose to to get to know more are fantastic i get a little the clumps do you know what that means i'm sorry i thought you were having a fit i get a little choked up oh when i think about all the people like kind of like rewind in my head and i think about the individuals that we have met hmm and they might not have been but they might have been and they might have been and they might have been people that we like invite over to have dinner or You know, go out and have dinner, socialize with, but I remember it's like when I think back and I think about our 10 months here and I think about the people that we've interacted with. I get a little choked up because all of them have felt a lot like Joanna-meaning they've welcomed us with open arms, and they have helped us learn; they have been um just so super kind to us, and that's how I'll remember Porto, I think. It is by its people. And you know, we do a lot of talking about... We whole point of this episode is to talk about what we've learned right from Porto. It's kind of our kind of farewell episode here as we leave for Tabira, but I think you're right i mean the people are just amazing and i also think that there's a pride here oh yeah and it's not ego it's just a it's just this like quiet it's not even quiet it's not they're loud about it they love porto if they're born here oh they love porto because they have chosen to stay here and a lot of people can't and they are kind of forced to move elsewhere because of salary and and job opportunities and all these things that are we've talked about in the past you know we've talked about in the past and we've talked about in the past and we've talked about people who are born here and stay here they're not going anywhere They have such a love for this place, yeah, for definite, and it's kind of infectious aren't you thinking like you get attached to those those people who help you understand what Porto is about, yeah, I know, and she's really hard to describe, I call her a 'she' because she is a 'she', we were talking about it, we were talking about this particular episode and like what we wanted to talk through but she is so hard to describe for me it's um people say she's a vibe and I'm like I totally get that sentiment like I get what people mean when you know Porto's a total vibe, yes it's like this energy that you can't really put your finger on what it is. I mean, if I had to choose it is the people, it is the the confidence, it is the pride, it's the the music and the food and all the cultural things that people swear by. They're like, 'You want this, Francina, you absolutely want to eat it and I'm like, 'Um, you've got to go here for it, yeah.
Mark
[ 00:10:35 ] I wouldn't do it too many times, sure.
MEREDITH
[ 00:10:36 ] You know, it's I don't know, I just find I find it hard to describe Porto, and maybe it's because we've been here and we've experienced things that you know would take longer than a week here or three or four days here to easily understand, and I think that you know again leaning into that, you've got this whole city life.
Mark
[ 00:11:03 ] know and and at certain points in the year it's just a regular portuguese city and at other times it is this tourist capital of portugal yeah and it good and bad it switches itself yeah like a light switch um and that's good and bad and and i think that you know one of the things that it's taught me is that i love porto the city i just don't enjoy porto when it's touristy the experience of the masses and i know that you know i can't remember if i said this the other way it was you know if you're in a traffic jam somebody says oh it's like in a traffic jam it's like no you are part of the traffic chain you are part of the problem and so i sit Here and I say that, and I am part of that problem. Um, just because I happen to be an immigrant here, um, you know, for working my way or working our way through for the next years to to be here. Um, I think that it's it has taught me that it can change.
MEREDITH
[ 00:12:11 ] Oh, she's got a lot different faces, yeah, definitely.
Mark
[ 00:12:15 ] Definitely don't you think she's a she?
MEREDITH
[ 00:12:17 ] I don't know, maybe we shouldn't assign genders. I think that would be difficult. They, yeah, but I can't help it. I do identify with her so maybe I because I identify as a she, I think she's a she right, but I, I feel like here's the thing. You know, you come across that bridge into Porto from Gaia, and you walk across.
SPEAKER_4
[ 00:12:43 ] That bridge, either way you walk, look at the Porto side, and it is undeniable, it's beautiful, undeniable, absolutely.
MEREDITH
[ 00:12:53 ] I mean, it is probably one of the most picturesque spots in Europe; it is 100%, certainly one of the most noted and notable.
Mark
[ 00:13:04 ] It is. You know, you see it in a photo, you see it online, don't you?
MEREDITH
[ 00:13:08 ] Still get wild when we walk across here and you've been here for 10 months again.
Mark
[ 00:13:11 ] I think that's another thing that I've had to to make sure that I check myself. I've had to make sure that I check myself sometimes because we, you know, the other week we were walking all the way out to the to the river to the to the ocean and you know straight Across the bridge and the Jardin blah blah, and started to go down the stairs to get onto the Gaia side and I'm thinking hang on a minute just look at turn around and take two minutes you know this is always about this whole thing of um experiences and one of the things that Porto has taught me is to slow down it's taught me to slow down and see what is here, slow down for your coffee, slow down for your meal, yeah I mean slow down walking on the street, yeah, and again you know, yes I get irritated quite easily by people that um will butt in, whether they're Portuguese or tourists and they'll just be yonder and longer oh look at this like we did Like we did when we were here, I'm sure that there was a hundred people behind me going get the shit out of the way, um, and so now I feel it's my place to do that as well, um.
MEREDITH
[ 00:14:24 ] But yeah, I think that it's definitely it has taught me to slow down, which is funny because I thought I was gonna have more trouble, oh no!
Mark
[ 00:14:33 ] I think you leaned into that even easier than I did, oh my god!
MEREDITH
[ 00:14:35 ] I mean, we have slowed down, slowing down that's the why we have definitely slowed down, and I, but I also think that there's always a lot of people that are always room for opportunity, there's always room for improvement with slowing down even more, which is why we're going to
Mark
[ 00:14:53 ] Tavira, yeah um I yeah I think that she's taught you to slow down a little bit, she's taught us both just oh yeah definitely, but again you know to to coin it and put it in that sort of wrapped up of how you how you see a place, how you want to experience it, you know it's that's what it's taught me I'll also say so explore look around and if you if you think the view in front of you is great just turn around and see what's behind you, that's exactly where I was going so it's like you know you talk about this iconic Don Luis Bridge view into Porto and how it is it is absolutely stunning and that's kind of like her obvious beauty yeah but what I've
MEREDITH
[ 00:15:43 ] learned is that a couple of streets back, when the city gets a little gritty, yeah, her beauty just becomes more hidden, yeah.
Mark
[ 00:15:54 ] And I think, just to touch on that, I think one of the things it has that I've learned from Porto as well is to your point of like you get a little bit further back and you go into some of the more sort of darker areas, I mean, you say dark but what you mean is like the old buildings, yeah, the narrow streets and things like that. I'm not talking about any other dark areas, but those, those sorts of places when you see the graffiti um and you know there's there's two types of let's say paint on a wall and that is wall art and Graffiti, yeah, and I don't know, you're gonna see a lot of which is which in some cases um, and I think that one of the things that Porto has taught me is even if you see these like logos or graffiti, graffitied walls it doesn't mean that it's dangerous, yeah, I'm not saying don't pay any attention, I'm just saying it is different to my experiences of like when I would walk around New York or Chicago or other places like that and you see graffiti, you're thinking 'oh crap gang area, and it is not at all like that, and I think that that has taught you know porto has taught me to check my bias, yeah, it's so true 100 because I really struggled with. This I'm not saying I'm the best and I get it right every time, but I have this massive difference of a different way of how I see what I see when we moved here and it was raining every day, right?
MEREDITH
[ 00:17:25 ] And we walked up and down our first street here in Porto, which was not my favorite; it was it was graffiti and there was also street art, so I think those are two separate things. Even qualifying those things, they both belong here because it's part of the culture, right? So you know it's not right, so yeah, you're right: if I was in Charlotte or New York or Chicago, and I'm surrounded by graffitied neighborhoods, I would check myself. Right, yeah. Here I did that and then had to go. Wait, this is one of the most popular streets in the city, yeah, like I just i think you're right about the word where it's like our own experiences of London, yep, New York, Chicago, when you have those types of areas where you see this graffiti in the streets art, yeah. It also alerts you that you should probably be on guard, that is not the way here, no. But again, it is a form of protest though, yeah, and it is part of the culture, and you know there's part of it that I, I look at and I go, oh, I hate it, I hate that they did that to that beautiful building, and then I walk another street, and it's a full-on street. Mural that is like a fancy but also artistry, and so you know you can look at it both ways. I feel like there's just, I think you're right; you have to check your bias and you have to go but this is their culture, this is part of what their their cities are like, at least I will say Puerto Rico; I don't know about the rest, no I haven't seen any graffiti in Tavira. How about that? Yeah, no I didn't see any of that um but I'm glad that you said it makes you check your bias because you're right; like that's what it's really about and you know I am telling you and I've said it on this podcast many times there have been very few times in 10 months here that I have felt Threatened as a woman, I can't even say that walking down the street of our old neighborhood in Charlotte, yeah, so yeah, you know.
Mark
[ 00:19:48 ] And that's taking the dog out at 10 o'clock at night, oh God, yeah, easy on your own, no problem.
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:54 ] Anyway, what else has she what else has porto taught us?
Mark
[ 00:19:58 ] Um, gosh, oh it's taught me that I do not miss having a car and that the metro of any city is a fantastic thing.
MEREDITH
[ 00:20:13 ] It is true, that's that's one of the things he goes logical and I go philosophical, yeah. What has she taught us, and he's like, 'The metro is amazing.'
Mark
[ 00:20:24 ] She's taught me that at 6: 45 I can get there, that's right, logistics here, I mean, I will say that Porto.
MEREDITH
[ 00:20:32 ] Has taught me from that view that she's a great stopping point, she's a great hub for other adventures and other places, so we've been to multiple on multiple day trips. Um, I think that's why a lot of people choose here because you have the accessibility of all of this arts and culture and music and restaurants and all of those things sitting here in the second-largest city in Portugal. But not only that, in an hour or two, you can go to so many beautiful places in Portugal by train. So I know that I've picked on you about your logistics, but it is true; she's a good hub.
Mark
[ 00:21:16 ] It is, you know, and for the price that you pay, like three euros 45.
MEREDITH
[ 00:21:20 ] For a single to go an hour and a half into Guimarães the other day, yeah it's just you I would find it difficult to find that anywhere else outside of Portugal, yeah you certainly couldn't do it in England not a chance, a little bit more expensive oh yeah a lot more a lot more um I think the other thing Porto has taught us is very important, you might you might need to take a sip of wine so I thought you're going to say you might need to make a note Porto wants us to know that Porto is not Lisbon, okay make sure that's very clear they have this thing about being different from Lisbon and they are I mean they're like two rival football teams. It is I mean, I mean, really, that's how I would look at it when I talk about, like, the pride and the um people who are from Porto. I mean, they are quick to be like, 'Oh, but we're not like Lisbon at all; we're nicer.' And that's true, from experience, from experience. And I think they just feel like they've got more culture on Lisbon, and I would say that is true too, I would agree, I would agree. It's like a little rivalry that goes on, and I'm like, 'Oh, we picked our team.' No, I love to visit Lisbon; it is a beautiful place, but I would never live there. And um, it seems a little bit too cosmopolitan to really feel like you're learning anything that's Portuguese. There, I mean you could, but you'd have to, I don't know, kind of buy into the touristy mentality there. It doesn't feel as authentic anymore.
Mark
[ 00:23:04 ] There, I would agree with that, I would agree with that, but you know it's difficult to to really wrap up what Porto has taught me or what I've learned from Porto. Um, other than you know this is a this has been a great experience um, it's going to teach us to to take additional risks, it's going to tell us that we did good here and I think we did good here and we can now just sort of jog on and explore other places yeah, I think.
MEREDITH
[ 00:23:43 ] To me, and this is why I got it tattooed on my arm before I left the city, SadaVe. Is a word that means it's a Portuguese word, doesn't have any literal yeah it doesn't have a literal meaning in English, but the closest thing that they say here is that 'sadave' means a longing, the state of longing for more and it's basically the inspiration for Fado music which is the music of Portugal which I really love even though I can't understand a word that we know but there's just this this thing it feels so Portuguese and it is and so when I learned about the word 'sadave' yeah I feel like that's why I felt like I should get this tattoo before we leave Porto because I I don't necessarily think of Salade when I think of Lisbon.
Mark
[ 00:24:49 ] No, but you've not lived in it to know whether that's a thing.
MEREDITH
[ 00:24:53 ] No, but I identify it with Morporto, this longing, this thing that you identify with it because I'm an Enneagram 4. And we always just have this thing of wanting to be individuals, wanting to be just a little bit different. And I feel like that's what Morporto is, especially when you compare her to Lisbon or, honestly, the Algarve, right? She's got the coolest vibe of any of them.
Mark
[ 00:25:26 ] Yes.
MEREDITH
[ 00:25:28 ] She's the girl with the purple hair.
Mark
[ 00:25:30 ] Morporto is nothing like any other place that we've been to.
MEREDITH
[ 00:25:33 ] And probably that we'll ever go. I hope not. Yeah, I hope not too.
Mark
[ 00:25:39 ] In the sense that I hope that. But everything that I've picked up and learned and put down, anything that I didn't like about it, which has been very, very little, if anything, I'm hoping that I'm never going to find that elsewhere because I want this lesson and this teaching of Porto to remain Porto. Yeah, I think it will. I think it will. I think it will.
MEREDITH
[ 00:26:05 ] She's been great to us and we are very thankful for her. I'm a little sad to say goodbye, but I'm also thankful and just grateful for the experiences that we've had here. And she's a great place to start your Portuguese journey.
Mark
[ 00:26:25 ] Yes.
MEREDITH
[ 00:26:25 ] That is for sure.
Mark
[ 00:26:26 ] Definitely. That's what we did. Yeah, I think, you know, it's one of those ones where it's a new page, a new chapter as we continue to move forward. Yeah. Never going to stop. Never going to stop moving forward. And even if that's staying longer in one place, or if that's what it is, that's what it is. But I don't want to be so cut into like a plan of one person, one place type thing. I don't know if that makes sense.
MEREDITH
[ 00:26:57 ] I think that we'll know when we find our semi-final place.
Mark
[ 00:27:01 ] Yes.
MEREDITH
[ 00:27:02 ] I don't even know what that means. I don't know.
Mark
[ 00:27:04 ] I mean, I'm 53. I have no.
MEREDITH
[ 00:27:08 ] There's a lot of world to see.
Mark
[ 00:27:09 ] I have no intention to not. I don't want to continue to see things.
MEREDITH
[ 00:27:13 ] Yeah. I feel like Portugal's taught me that we can do anything we want to do.
Mark
[ 00:27:16 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:27:17 ] That's the biggest thing for me. Our experiences here have taught us that we can go and do whatever we want to do, wherever that is. And that is, that's pretty damn big. So I will always have a huge spot in my heart for this place. Not only for her beauty and like her literal beauty, but how she made me feel.
Mark
[ 00:27:39 ] Yeah.
SPEAKER_4
[ 00:27:40 ] Yeah.
Mark
[ 00:27:41 ] I'm going to miss it.
SPEAKER_4
[ 00:27:42 ] Yeah.
Mark
[ 00:27:43 ] But, you know, time for a change. Time for seeing some new stuff. And that was always the reason why we up sticks.
MEREDITH
[ 00:27:51 ] Yeah. Up sticks? Yeah. What does that mean?
Mark
[ 00:27:54 ] Move. So you take sticks and you just carry them with you.
MEREDITH
[ 00:27:59 ] Okay. When you have to explain the joke, It wasn't a joke.
Mark
[ 00:28:02 ] It was an expression.
MEREDITH
[ 00:28:03 ] I mean, you think it's a joke.
Mark
[ 00:28:05 ] I didn't say it was a joke.
MEREDITH
[ 00:28:07 ] We're wrapping up now. You guys, we appreciate you so much. Next time we come back to you, we may just be in Tavira.
Mark
[ 00:28:15 ] Actually, next time we come back, yeah, we will be in Tavira. And we will be like flip-flops and shorts and. Cool. Yeah. I'm going to take you on a tour.
MEREDITH
[ 00:28:25 ] The dog is going to have a warm greenery run around.
Mark
[ 00:28:27 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:28:28 ] We're excited to share that next step with you. So thanks for coming along with the ride.
Mark
[ 00:28:33 ] I was going to say, hopefully you'll get something out of it as well. You know, from all of the podcasts that we've done about Porto. And as we continue to move on with Algarve, Algarve areas, if that's, if that's more your scene, then join us for that as well. I think it's going to be good. It's going to be a lot of fun.
MEREDITH
[ 00:28:54 ] Cheers, y'all.
Mark
[ 00:28:55 ] Thank you very much. See you next week.
MEREDITH
[ 00:28:57 ] Listen up future expats for more content about our move, the visa process, Portuguese culture and destinations, and tons of support resources for your own visa.
MARK
[ 00:29:13 ] Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Portugal Junkies, stay in touch and help us reach more people by subscribing here and following us there.
MEREDITH
[ 00:29:23 ] Cheers, y'all.