Here comes the second part of the article – the one about the Portuguese. You can read the first part here.
First of all, I must say that my opinions are strictly based on some weeks per year spent in Portugal, analyzing the people and trying to understand their way of living. I really hope that my way of seeing them does not differ very much from the thoughts of a non-Portuguese who lives in the country.
As I have already said, the first time I arrived in Portugal was when I was 15. Even then I took notice of the fact that these people seemed to have no problems. I remember that day, staying in the queue at a supermarket and there was a man from Portugal and a family from Germany. That old man waited behind the family who had done a looot of shoppting and he was not annoyed – he was just sitting there and smiling. Moreover, he even started to talk to the kids and even asked their parents if he could hug them.
And then, watch me behind the man: “Why does it take so long? Can they hug anywhere else? I am sick of waiting!!! Hey, c’mon, get outside and stop talking, just pay and let us pay, too!”.
Back then I thought I was right – I thought that I had the right to rush other people just because I was rushing somewhere (nowhere, in fact!). Now, after a few more years of spending some time with the Portuguese, I’ve noticed that not-rushing is one of their best qualities. Moreover, they are kind and they are always ready to help you with anything. Of course, there are exceptions, the world means diversity, right? But, most of them have melted my heart with their kindness.
They are always calm and they do not panic. If they have a problem, they take it slow, analyze it and come to a solution. On the other side, me: “Oh my Gosh, what the ****, what should I do now? Hey, babe, help me, I can’t decide” – this is me – running through my house, not knowing what to do, trying to decide something but instead just freaking out.
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Portuguese people always say “Hello”, “Goodbye” and “Have a nice day” at the supermarket. The woman at the local market in Chisinau is just like: “Don’t you have to pay in lei? I don’t need pennies”. It is a miracle if you happen to meet someone who has a smile on his/her face and wishes you a nice day.
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What I also like about the nation is that they do not beep-beep when they are stuck in traffic. I believe there a lot of people who do not do that, but for me, as I am from Moldova, it is something unique and angelic! If you happen to be stuck in traffic in Chisinau, your head will explode because of that freaking sound of the cars. It does not happen in Portugal very much. Of course, you may hear a beep-beep somewhere, but you don’t get mad because of this and your ears do not hurt. That’s cool, that’s pretty cool, you know? Realizing that people have patience and do not blame others for the traffic. It’s just how a city works, right? We can’t freak out everytime we stay 5 minutes more in traffic.
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Another thing that suprised me was that Portuguese go to the beach almost every weekend during summer. We, Moldovans, do not go to the beach. We can have the beach at our feet and we won’t take a rest there. We have to work, work and work and we do not have time for ourselves! We have to work all day and night, to gain money and then pay a fortune for a 7-days vacation somewhere in the world and then return to working all day and all night to gain money for the next summer. No, we won’t take advantage of the beach we have outside the house. We will have to go bigger. Maybe for someone this is a good thing, but for me – I do not want to have such a life. It’s today that matters, not the summer which is months away. I have to take care of myself today, not in the far future.
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Moreover, the best thing I love about Portuguese is that they care about their family and about others. If you have a Portuguese friend, you can be sure that he/she will be there for you anytime you need it. Of course, he/she will expect the same from your side, because friendship consists of two parts, right?
Let me tell you something for you to believe it. When I come here, I spend my time in a small village near Lisbon and I usually stay here like 3-4 weeks per summer. There is a small cafe near which has the best coffee in the world, I must say (Travel tip: If you find yourself in Portugal and are looking for a place with good coffee, always go to the cafe which has Delta coffee – that’s the best one!). I use to drink coffee in that small place every day – it’s cheap and tastes awesome. There are two persons who run the business – the husband and the wife and they have been there since I first came to Portugal.
These days I arrived here and I asked my father: “What do you think, If I go for a coffee, will they remember me?” It’s because I do not really speak Portuguese and they do not speak English. I was worried if we could get along. My father told me that they would definitely remember me. I didn’t believe it but I decided to go.
I was at the corner of the street and the woman was outside the cafe. Since she saw me, she smiled because she remembered me. So, imagine, that woman sees me 3 weeks a year and she remembers me everytime I come back here. Then she told me something in Portuguese which I did not understand and she laughed because she knew it. After that, she even remembered that I always drank café pingado, which meant espresso with a little bit of milk.
That actually made my day. Do you know why? Because I do not really think the guy who makes coffee for me every week at work remembers my preferences as well as this woman does.
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Again, I must say that not living day by day in Portugal may have influenced my opinion about them, so this article is truly subjective.
Anyway, I haven’t written this to shape the good things about Portuguese and the bad about Moldovans. It’s my subjective view upon the way two different nations have grown up and developed. There are so many awesome things about us, Moldovans, that the world knows nothing about, but we still have things to catch up. And so do the Portuguese, as well as all the other peoples in the world. I approached this topic based on my behavior and on my way of thinking compared to what I have seen in Portugal.
Moldovans are great and I truly believe we are a trustworthy nation, but we do have some things that we should get rid of, because they poison our lives. Portuguese are also great and kind, but they also have bad habits. We are all perfect and imperfect, because otherwise, how could we even exist?
Stories for Two 