Dazed and confused in Portugal
Confusing things that can trip you up
Now that Paul and I have one year of living in Portugal under our belts and have experienced a variety of challenges and experiences, I thought it would be an interesting and fun article to write about some of the confusing things a newbie or visitor may encounter in Portugal. So, if you’re new to living here, or contemplating a move or a visit to this country, check out this post to avoid becoming dazed and confused in Portugal.
Left, right or somewhere in-between?
When we first arrived in Portugal and unlocked the door to our apartment, one thing we noticed was some doors and mailboxes had Esq. on them and others had Dto. I guess because I was once a law librarian, I immediately thought Esq. stood for Esquire (but then I wondered how many lawyers could one building possibly have)? And what was up with the Dto?
It turns out that these letters on a door, mailbox, or in an address indicate right and left door location. So, for example, if you live in a building where each floor has two apartments the door on the right is Dto for “direito” (also sometimes abbreviated as Dt or D) and the door on the left is Esq. (also sometimes abbreviated as E), for “esquerdo.”
This baffled us for a long time because our door is labeled Dto, but when we step out of the elevator to enter our apartment, our door is to the left and our neighbor’s door is to the right, so I always assumed our door location was considered the left. But alas no…because one time I was corrected by a delivery person who rang my buzzer to verify which side I was on. I said, “We’re at Dto,” and he said, “Okay, you’re on the right.” I said, “No, my door is to the left.” He laughed and said, “No, your door is to the right.” Note to self; never argue with a Portuguese delivery person. That’s when we realized that right and left is determined by standing in front of an elevator or staircase as you’re going out of the building and not when you get off the elevator or staircase to your apartment to go in.
To make things even more confusing, if you happen to reside on a floor with three apartments, the one in the center is identified as Ft or F for “frente.” And if you happen to live on the ground floor of a building, the abbreviation of “R/C” is used (rés do chão) which means “ground floor.”
Confusing? Oh yeah…
On the street where you live.
Addresses can be confusing as well when you’re just starting out. In Portugal, the name of the street comes first (and there are many abbreviations for streets depending upon which type of street you live on).
Our street is known as Rua which means street or road. It is also abbreviated as R. Avenida (or Av.) is an avenue. Praca (or Pç or Pça) is a plaza or city square. Travessa (or Tv.) is a narrow street. There are more. These are the most popular.
After the name of the street, comes the street door number. After the street door number comes the floor that your apartment is on. After that, comes the location (right, left, or somewhere in-between). Then, comes the postcode known as “código postal.” These are seven-digit codes appearing like: 1234-567.
An address will look something like this:
Carol Wilcox
Rua das Rosas 55-3 Dto.
1234-567 Lisboa
Tip: If you want to learn more about street names, postcodes, addresses and apartment floors, I found this resource (wish I had known about this before we moved here), that does a great job of explaining this confusing aspect of Portugal.
Speaking of streets, where’s the street sign?
An extremely confusing experience for me and Paul was when we rented a car during the first week of our arrival in Portugal. The division of labor in our marriage (as far as driving is concerned), is that Paul likes to drive, and I am stuck being the navigator.
Now, normally I’m rather good at navigation – either with an actual map or using GPS. But not in Portugal. First, I kept looking up (out of habit I suppose) for a pole with a street sign – no such luck. Then, once I realized that many street signs are embedded into concrete walls or on concrete columns - maybe if you’re lucky on sort of a street corner - great for seeing them while walking – not so great when you’re driving, I started to look down for a wall with a sign. But by the time I found the sign, we had driven past the street. Not to mention that the street names here are so long and the GPS lady cannot correctly pronounce the names.
Does anybody really know what time it is?
This was an easy one for Paul because he was in the military. But not so much for me. The time system Portugal uses is the 24-hour system. So, I’m good with the time until noon. Then, I must use my fingers to count out the time (13:00, 14:00, etc.). I also have a time chart on my computer desktop so if I’m scheduling a meeting or an appointment, I can use my little cheat sheet – it saves me from a lot of confusion and embarrassment (I hope I’m not the only one who does this) …
If I had a dollar…
Money can be confusing on any number of levels. I’m used to having one-dollar bills in my wallet especially when traveling. Dollar bills are good for tips or buying something out of a vending machine. But in Portugal, there are dollar coins, but no paper dollar bills. And, they also have two-dollar coins. The difference between one- and two-dollar coins is the size, so you have to really look at them (plus they’re heavy in my wallet coin compartment).
Getting change…why is it so hard?
There are times when you need change. Paul likes to give a tip directly to some servers that take good care of us at some of our favorite eateries or drinking establishments. Plus, I usually need change to pay for my weekly laundry service. But getting change in Portugal is difficult and just I don’t know why.
I’m accustomed to walking into a bank in the U.S., pulling out a twenty-dollar bill and asking for change. We tried that here. We walked into our bank (banks are different here – there aren’t really any bank tellers – it’s more like an office space). We asked if we could have change for 50 Euros in smaller bills and coins and showed her that we were customers of the bank. The woman said that she could only spare two 5’s – no change because (her words), “I have to have keep that for other customers.” I’m sorry – I’m confused. I am a customer…
So how do you get change? There are a few workarounds we have found over the last year. You can pay cash at a store but be prepared for the cashier to ask you to check to see if you have the correct change (and they’ll wait). I usually say, “Sorry, I have no change.” I’ve had cashiers look at me in utter annoyance because I do not have change or am unwilling to part with the change I have.
You can go to a bigger Mercado and pay in cash. We find they’re often a little less picky about waiting for you to come up with the exact change, especially if they’re busy. Or you can find a vending machine (our favorite change-making hack) and buy something like a water or a coffee. Put in paper money, get a boatload of change in return.
The devil’s in the detail.
The first time I paid our rent using our Portuguese online banking system, I got completely confused about decimal points and commas. I didn’t want to overpay or underpay the amount. I still get a bit confused but after a year, it’s getting better. For example, if I wanted to pay my landlord 1,515.05 Euros, it is written as: 1.515,05. I’m lucky that my bank won’t accept the amount unless it’s correctly written, which helps me feel less confused when paying for something.
Today’s date.
This one still trips me up. In the U.S., dates are normally written starting with the month, then the day, and finally the year. Not in Portugal. Dates begin with the day, then the month, and then finally the year. So, 12/1/2022 in Portugal is January 12, 2022, and not December 1, 2022. This can be confusing especially if you have an appointment with a doctor, a barber, AIMA, or any other number of services.
Citizen’s Shops.
It took me a couple of months to understand what a Citizen’s Shop was. I was confused because the words citizen’s and shop don’t seem to be words that should go together. Citizen’s Shops are designed to be one-stop-shops for all things government. You get your driving license at a Citizen’s Shop, you can change your address at a Citizen’s Shop, you can register a birth, obtain a marriage certificate, get a divorce certificate and much, much more at a Citizen’s Shop.
Did I miss any confusing things in Portugal? Have you had any dazed and confusing experiences? Leave me a comment and tell me about it.
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A personal note of thanks…
If you’ve become a recent subscriber to Our Portugal Journey through my friend and fellow writer, Nancy Whiteman’s blog, Expat in Portugal thank you (and welcome)! I had a great time collaborating with Nancy on her recent article, Comparing Expat Lifestyles – Let me count the ways. If you haven’t already subscribed to her blog, I hope you’ll consider doing so.
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Until next time…
Obrigada!
Carol.
This is so helpful! We bought new construction and the actual address is illusive to us, they keep referring to the left! Now I know. So essentially it's "stage right" or "stage left" as the orientation is referred to in theater.
What a great piece, Carol! Each of us has had to cope with Portuguese peculiarities when acculturating ourselves to Portugal. At least you didn't experience any confusion between the WC and the bidet. Some (but not many) house these two essentials in different rooms. The consequences of making a mistake ... OMG! My own pet bugaboo -- which I still get wrong, even after 5 years living here -- is remembering that Puxar! means Pull! not Push! With your permission, I've scheduled "Dazed and Confused in Portugal" to run in the Spring (2023) issue of Portugal Living Magazine.