Being an aspiring expatriate, I was drawn to this book for the romantic notion of moving to Lisbon. The author introduces their adventures in Portugal with how the proposition came to be—that was a handful of logistical elements that serendipitously fell into place as if it were preordained. I realized that moving abroad, even if a temporary arrangement, comes with a lot of planning to be made. Coordinating a working visa, familial obligations, accommodations, passports and flights was seemingly a lot, providing much uncertainty and stress along the way, however it all worked out.
When the author and their family finally arrived in Lisbon, they describe a sentimentality for their birthplace, although they were raised many kilometres offshore, in the Azores archipelago. Even so, the city was all too familiar for them and that atmosphere brought them a nostalgia of their childhood. The Portuguese call that saudade.
It was easy for them to fall in love with such a beautiful place and their storytelling encapsulated what living in Portugal is really like. The sights, the sounds, the people, and of course the taste of traditional food. Experiences all within walking distance from their apartment. There are scenes where they paint a magical picture of finding your home away from home. It’s during those organic moments that relationships are formed with the country and their extended stay had many more opportunities to develop that connection. The author makes new friends and memories while discovering new parts of themselves along the way.
Throughout this trip, the author describes an understanding of what their Portuguese parents missed about leaving their homeland. That’s a sentimentality for what they recognized to be their identity. In this case, the author alludes to themselves being the hyphen between Portuguese and Canadian. There is a duality between both countries that has them feeling out of place wherever they may be. However, that feeling of saudade was probably the heaviest thing they brought back to Canada at the end and of it all. The author’s husband poetically put it into words, “It’s whatever you feel that you are”.
This is a wonderful book that reminded me that home is wherever you feel you belong. Portugal is certainly a beautiful country and the hospitality from the people within it can be enough to capture the hearts of everyone that visits. This book reinforced my goal to move there one day and could encourage any reader to explore historic Lisbon as soon as possible.
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