Portugal Culture Shock for an American (Part 2)

culture shock for an American in Portugal part two [Music] hey everybody this is some guy named Dave in Portugal and today we are going to talk about some of the things that gave me culture shock living here for almost a year this is part two since you guys seem to like the first video so much let's quit messing around and get into it number one drinking on the street yes you can drink alcoholic beverages on the street in Portugal but there are some limitations according to the law you can't do it between the hours of 2 A.M to 8 A.M except in specific areas like music festivals this cuts down on drunks making noise when other people are trying to sleep also you can't buy booze if you are visually inebriated or under 18. I'm sure these rules are strictly enforced so don't worry about paper bagging it like we have to do in the United States grab a beer from your local store and enjoy restaurants closing from 3 P.M until 7 PM this one can be frustrating if you're someone like me that gets hangry most restaurants in Portugal close from 3 P.M to 7 P.M every day when I first arrived to Portugal I was frantically looking for food around 4pm I hadn't had breakfast and needed something fast my blood sugar was out of whack and I was feeling a bit light-headed as I walked from restaurant to restaurant in a panic I slowly realized that everything was completely closed now this doesn't happen as much in bigger cities like Lisbon in Porto where there always is some type of restaurant open and capitalizing on the fact that other restaurants close from 3 to 7 PM but you will need to plan your schedule around these times remember this is not a CS tradition like in Spain but just the way they do it here in Portugal so if you have diabetes or a blood sugar issue make sure that you always carry snacks with you or you have food at your house hostel Airbnb or wherever you're at to make sure that this does not become a problem or an emergency eating dinner at 9 00 PM in Portugal dinner is most commonly taken at 9 00 PM this is great for me because typically I eat at 7 pm and when I go to the restaurants they are usually completely empty so if you are from the United States and you are used to eating at around 5 30 or 6 p.m chances are most restaurants will be closed and you will be cooking at home so plan accordingly if you want to go out to dinner and make sure that the restaurants are open like I said a lot of restaurants in Lisbon and Porto stay open during that window to have more foreign customers which is smart but rarely will you see Portuguese at restaurants around these times lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Portugal lunch tends to be the heaviest meal of the day you often see family and friends gathered around roasted chicken french fries big things of fish normally things that we would eat for dinner in the United States the table is usually accompanied by beer and wine and sangria also unlike the quick lunches we are used to having in between work in the United States the Portuguese like to spend their time and enjoy their lunches with their friends and family talking and laughing and enjoying the midday break from work there have actually been studies that eating a bigger lunch and a small dinner is much better for your health so good job Portugal greetings when greeting a girl in Portugal or a woman it is formal to kiss them two times on each cheek the First on their right and the second on their left cheek not like in Italy where it is the opposite direction from left to right in Portugal it is their right cheek first and their left cheek second this is still a bit awkward for me as we do not usually kiss girls that we do not know that aren't our girlfriends in the United States but I have gotten used to it men usually shake hands with each other but as they're leaving they give them this hug but not a hug pat on the back kind of thing there's a little bit of distance between it versus the kind of strong hugs that you would give in the United States but not everybody likes hugs in the United States or anywhere so you just have to be careful and make sure to read what uh the person's doing no signs at beaches in United States there are warning signs on beaches telling you where dangerous currents are in Portugal the ocean is very strong and the currents can be very unpredictable a lot of beaches especially not the popular ones don't have any signs telling you about dangerous currents they do have signs about Cliffs so people don't fall off of them however they don't say anything about not going into the water and this is something that you have to be very careful about if you are at a popular beach only in the summertime there will be a lifeguard that will put up Flags to let you know whether it's safe to go in the water or not a green flag means that it is safe to go in and swim freely a yellow flag means that it's safe to go in but not swim above your neck a red flag means that you are not allowed to go in the water at all and a checkered flag means the lifeguards out to lunch but in the winter time there are no flags and you will be swimming or surfing at your own risk so make sure to be careful also there are no signs saying not to do this or not to do that in Portugal in the United States we have signs that say don't Litter or don't bring glass or don't drink alcohol in Portugal they don't have signs like this because people are responsible there is little to no litter broken glass and no drunk idiots getting in fights all the time wouldn't it be great if United States was this responsible where's the police in places like United States and France and different places that I've been to there is a heavy police presence but especially in rural Portugal there has been days if not weeks have gone by where I have not seen a police officer or a GNR anywhere even on the highway it's amazing that people can go on with their lives behaving themselves not having to be babysat all the time I love the feeling of not constantly having to be watched over by a police officer I'm more afraid of the grandma in the window she's the real neighborhood watch affordable beer and wine this one blew me away when I first got to Portugal beer is usually cheaper than bottled water at restaurants which can be dangerous so make sure that you don't overdo it or you'll miss all the great sights to see castles and beaches baby castles and beaches and good wine I mean good wine is very reasonably priced at restaurants you can find good wine for around two to three Euros a glass definitely quite the contrast as Wines in California for the same quality will cost around 14 a glass and those are some of the culture shocks that I have seen as an American here in Portugal if you want to see more videos like this about Portugal make sure to hit that like And subscribe button I will be posting videos weekly and I have some great surprises coming for you soon we'll see you next time foreign [Music]

Channel: Dave in Portugal

Views: 60,920

Keywords: Living in Portugal, Culture Shock, Moving to Portugal, Culture Shock in Portugal, D7 Visa Portugal, Remote Work Visa Portugal, Dave in Portugal, Lisbon, Lisboa, Algarve, Alentejo, Nazare, Silver Coast Portugal, Golden Visa Portugal

Id: raZldKzEzcE

Length: 8min 0sec (480 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 20 2022