“In a very cold night, even houses want to have houses of their own to enter inside them and feel warm!”

– Mehmet Murat Ildan

My wife , many years ago when we first moved to the UAE, wrote a blog post titled “I love winter”, and in that article she says she never thought she would say it but she did, and for years that has held true for us here in the UAE. Well, I can state categorically that I don’t like winter, and almost 9 years in the UAE has made me soft. Now I really don’t like winter at all.

Well, winter in Portugal has been an eye opener for me. Cold, wet, miserable, and dark. Very, very dark. I’m not used to being so far north and mid-November, when I went, it only seemed to get light enough to work at around 8am, and by about 4.30pm it was nearly dark again. Not a real issue if you flick a switch and the lights come on, but a challenge if you only have candles and are trying to get work done.  

When we met with the Electrician in July, our usual odd conversation consisting of hand gestures and the odd Portuguese word like máquina grande, não pequeno, and quantos led me to believe that he understood what I wanted and in return gave me, what I thought was an acceptable answer. As a result, I fully expected to have power connected to a distribution board near to the house, from where I would be able to make a plan to put some temporary power in the house, which I would use for lights and heating, and to power up my temporary shower. It meant that I would be very comfortable, even though the house is still only a wind and water tight shell. I’m not scared of a little bit of cold weather if there are lights and heating. This was how I sold the idea to my wife, but she cleverly decided that as I’m the eternal optimist, she would take a more cautious approach. “Perhaps you should go alone this trip, and see how things are. I would just be in the way.”

With my departure date fast approaching, and no e-mail from the Electrician, I got my Brazilian friend to translate an e-mail I wrote, asking for a progress report. The answer I received back made it clear that a couple of details were lost in translation in July. A big machine did indeed dig the trench for the electric cable from the corner of the property to close to the house, and ducting (pipes in the ground through which various cables can be pulled through later when the trench is filled up) was installed. The electric cable had just not been pulled through.

Ever the optimist I reasoned that we can pull the 200 meters of electrical cable through in a day or so, and I can have power, lights, heat and my shower on Monday night, which meant that I only had to survive three possibly uncomfortable nights. Bring it on! I can handle a few days without “luxuries”.

I arrived Friday as per plan. My optimism and enthusiasm intact. It was cold. Very cold. AND wet.

When I went to greet our wonderful neighbours, the Shepard’s Wife asked if we had power yet. I told her not yet, but mentioned who our contractor is, and that I think we should have some soon. From her reaction I gathered that all will be good in the world, as he is according to her, like I thought, competent.

Friday night was much colder and longer than I could ever have imagined. I slept in my tracksuit with my beanie on, under two duvets and a blanket, and still shivered for most of the night. It didn’t help that I was awake at 4 am due to the different time zone either.

On Saturday morning I didn’t even stop at our favourite pastelaria, as I wanted to get to Castelo Branco to buy a heater as soon as I could, out of fear that I may not find one. Thank goodness Agriloja had gas ones in stock, after which the panic subsided, and I could think straight again to buy everything else that was on my list, including a pair of waterproof boots.

When I met with the Electrician on Monday morning it slowly dawned on me that I was clearly living in La La land. He did indeed, as agreed, deliver his part, but he couldn’t pull an electrical cable into a wet duct, and even if he could, there was still no power in the distribution box from EDP (the power supply company), so the only light that went on, was the bulb in my head. It was going to be a long, cold, dark week.

So perhaps Jolandi was right after all, not to join me, as that may have created its own set of marital problems. But just as I was about to slump into a depression, the Shephard’s Cat paid me a visit. Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely adore cats? No? Well, there you have it. I do. Especially the ones that are in need of cuddles. So with a gas heater and cat on my lap and bed, my luck changed in an instant.

Well, almost. Having to squeeze my summer addicted feet into a pair of steel capped waterproof boots, turned out to be challenging, although a far better alternative to cold, wet feet. Even when blisters appeared on the first night, I still gratefully slipped them on each morning.

I got most of what I set out to achieve done, and was extremely grateful that I only opted for one week. This year there will be NO visits during winter. Well, that’s the plan anyway . . .

Written by: Michael

November 2018 Visit