The turtle's star turn and Taylor Swift reference were the cherries on top of this delightfully funny romp through a very peculiar day. Whoopsiefreude indeed!!! My new favorite word.
As a visitor to Portugal during this outage, I very much appreciated that we had some of the same thoughts. The cheering when things came back on was delightful!
Excellent point, Sarah! In that case, it would be fine, since nobody could see. Unless, of course, it was not intentional; then it could lead to some real confusion. Like when my turtle accidentally bites her leg and gets all freaked out because someone is biting her leg. 🐢🤦
After getting on a (very crowded) bus and picking up my kids from school that day, I promised them all the ice cream in the freezer when we got home. And then I regretted not having wine. Luckily, our neighbors had a little backyard party and shared their wine! Also, Whoopsiefreude is genius.
Did you had to run to buy water, conservas or the good old toilet paper? If not, you missed the show on the least calm a Portuguese can be under this situations, but surreal we can deliver!
Oh man, thanks for sharing your power cut adventure with us Gregory! I too am always grateful for gas stoves when there's a power cut. We get a lot of them here in thailand. Did they ever get to the bottom of what caused it?
Thanks, Kaila. They still don't seem to know what caused it, but indications are that it was a mechanical failure in the system, not any kind of external interference. I'm sure they will learn something from this and make the system more robust. One of the supposed benefits of living in Europe is the lack of power cuts. I'm hoping that will continue to be true.
Fantastic absurdist (yet at the same time all-too-real) piece. Love the day-in-the-life angle- I felt like I was right there experiencing it along you!
Your turtle seems like an amazing animal companion as well- loved their cameos throughout the daily log.
Also the Taylor Swift reference made me laugh out loud. It seemed you made lemonade of lemons here. Nicely done.
What are you working on this week for Living Elsewhere?
Thanks, David! I'm glad you enjoyed it. My turtle is indeed a fine companion.
As for what I'm working on, if I manage to get it ready to my satisfaction, it's actually something totally new: a kind of game, having to do with well-being. In the meantime, tomorrow there will be a virtual care package. Stay tuned!
That said, the stupidly "sovereign" state of Texas (larger, land-wise, than Spain and Portugal, although only about 2/3 the population) had a multi-day blackout in 2021, with temperatures in the single digits (F). As soon as the power returned, water systems failed across the state for several more days. It wasn't any fun. It was an embarrassing reminder of the stupidity/corruption of our state government, but it *was* informative. Which helped when, almost exactly a year later, many parts of Austin (the state capitol) suffered another week-long power failure.
Gosh, yes, Steve, I remember the Texas blackout. Very scary, especially in a place with such weather extremes. I'm sure they've now got all that corruption and stupidity straightened out. 😉
Many thanks for making me laugh out loud — I almost wet my pants reading this wonderful ‘crônica’! The brilliant and hilarious Gregory — you’re aging really well, man! The equivalent Brazilian Portuguese expression for ‘Free Bird’ would be ‘Toca Raul!’ (after the late Brazilian rock singer Raul Seixas).
Fernando, you are too kind. (But who said I was aging?) I am glad your pants survived the reading. And thank you for giving me a Brazilian equivalent for "Freebird"! I love it. I will now ask what they say at concerts here in Portugal.
So funny - absolutely loved this - especially the nostril experience.
Do you think that 'living elsewhere' makes these events less frightening? While all this was happening on the Iberian Peninsula, New Zealand had the "biggest storm in 50 years" - complete with 'the strongest winds since (fill in the blank)', floods, roofs blown off, fallen trees etc etc. But while we couldn't agree whether it was global warming - or just another really (really) bad 3 day southerly straight out of Antarctica, here in the 'windiest city in the world' there were no Pandemic-like raids on supermarkets, we just hunkered down because — what else could we do?
Thanks, Susan! Now I know what to do with my hands if we ever meet. 😉
The storm in New Zealand sounds far scarier than our power outage here. (Though of course, I was not trapped in an elevator.) I think that the advantage of having lived Elsewhere is that you become more adaptable and accept new events more easily, because you're not stuck in the mindset of "This isn't how it is". That said, even the Portuguese who haven't lived anywhere else seem to exhibit a high degree of adaptability. I think that might be a sign of living in a less rich country than, say, the one I am from.
This was really funny, Gregory. Thank you for sharing it. (It was also interesting to get an insider scoop on what it was like to survive the blackout!)
This is hilarious. Thank you for this! I was in Lisbon; it was the penultimate day of our workshop.
Our afternoon had a boat ride scheduled. We weren't sure if it would happen, but the tide ripples on and we floated down the Tejo basking in the sun and breeze. It was a great reprieve from the 'what should we do' feeling.
I loved the cheer that went up when the lights went on. Where I was in Principe Real, that happened at 8:30. Just before I was going to take a cold shower.
Walking back home with the street lights on and glows coming from people's windows was so special. Punching the numbers on the keypad of my building brought a new level of appreciation and joy. The hot shower and comfort of home felt better than ever.
What a day! And you are right - the Portuguese people I encountered were chill and nonplussed.
You perfectly capture the surrealism coupled with just the weird banality of the day, Gregory, and I’m still sitting here with an idiotic grin on my face after reading it 😊 Especially love the image of those discussions in Geneva - my husband would have been more delighted if those had been real than if he’d received any actual usable information 😄
And thank you for sharing my article on the day’s events … I love this community of Substackers in Portugal 😍
The turtle's star turn and Taylor Swift reference were the cherries on top of this delightfully funny romp through a very peculiar day. Whoopsiefreude indeed!!! My new favorite word.
Thank you, Lori! I'm glad you enjoyed our national catastrophe. 😆
As a visitor to Portugal during this outage, I very much appreciated that we had some of the same thoughts. The cheering when things came back on was delightful!
I'm glad you had such a special Portugal experience, Joey, and that you actually survived it. I hope we can connect next time you're in town.
But what if that someone's nostril was yours?
Excellent point, Sarah! In that case, it would be fine, since nobody could see. Unless, of course, it was not intentional; then it could lead to some real confusion. Like when my turtle accidentally bites her leg and gets all freaked out because someone is biting her leg. 🐢🤦
I mean fair, I'd be confused too if my finger unintentionally went up my nose.
After getting on a (very crowded) bus and picking up my kids from school that day, I promised them all the ice cream in the freezer when we got home. And then I regretted not having wine. Luckily, our neighbors had a little backyard party and shared their wine! Also, Whoopsiefreude is genius.
Aimee, you seem like the kind of mom I would like to have.
Did you had to run to buy water, conservas or the good old toilet paper? If not, you missed the show on the least calm a Portuguese can be under this situations, but surreal we can deliver!
I didn't actually attempt any shopping, and I got plenty of surreal from the neighbors.
Oh, oh, here's a good joke: "The Portuguese are so strange that they have surreal for breakfast." What do you think? Maybe a stretch?
Oh man, thanks for sharing your power cut adventure with us Gregory! I too am always grateful for gas stoves when there's a power cut. We get a lot of them here in thailand. Did they ever get to the bottom of what caused it?
Thanks, Kaila. They still don't seem to know what caused it, but indications are that it was a mechanical failure in the system, not any kind of external interference. I'm sure they will learn something from this and make the system more robust. One of the supposed benefits of living in Europe is the lack of power cuts. I'm hoping that will continue to be true.
I'm sure Trump and Putin must be to blame, too, somehow 🤣😅
Pretty much always!
Great fun. But the true earthshaking life-changing takeaway .. learning that turtles snuggle
Oh, my turtle is the snuggliest one of all. Nothing beats a nap together in the hammock.
Fantastic absurdist (yet at the same time all-too-real) piece. Love the day-in-the-life angle- I felt like I was right there experiencing it along you!
Your turtle seems like an amazing animal companion as well- loved their cameos throughout the daily log.
Also the Taylor Swift reference made me laugh out loud. It seemed you made lemonade of lemons here. Nicely done.
What are you working on this week for Living Elsewhere?
Thanks, David! I'm glad you enjoyed it. My turtle is indeed a fine companion.
As for what I'm working on, if I manage to get it ready to my satisfaction, it's actually something totally new: a kind of game, having to do with well-being. In the meantime, tomorrow there will be a virtual care package. Stay tuned!
Wonderful!
That said, the stupidly "sovereign" state of Texas (larger, land-wise, than Spain and Portugal, although only about 2/3 the population) had a multi-day blackout in 2021, with temperatures in the single digits (F). As soon as the power returned, water systems failed across the state for several more days. It wasn't any fun. It was an embarrassing reminder of the stupidity/corruption of our state government, but it *was* informative. Which helped when, almost exactly a year later, many parts of Austin (the state capitol) suffered another week-long power failure.
Gosh, yes, Steve, I remember the Texas blackout. Very scary, especially in a place with such weather extremes. I'm sure they've now got all that corruption and stupidity straightened out. 😉
Many thanks for making me laugh out loud — I almost wet my pants reading this wonderful ‘crônica’! The brilliant and hilarious Gregory — you’re aging really well, man! The equivalent Brazilian Portuguese expression for ‘Free Bird’ would be ‘Toca Raul!’ (after the late Brazilian rock singer Raul Seixas).
Fernando, you are too kind. (But who said I was aging?) I am glad your pants survived the reading. And thank you for giving me a Brazilian equivalent for "Freebird"! I love it. I will now ask what they say at concerts here in Portugal.
Take care, and don't stock too much ice cream!
Yeah, Dylanesquely ‘forever young’ 😁
Exactly: I’m younger than that now. 🐥
So funny - absolutely loved this - especially the nostril experience.
Do you think that 'living elsewhere' makes these events less frightening? While all this was happening on the Iberian Peninsula, New Zealand had the "biggest storm in 50 years" - complete with 'the strongest winds since (fill in the blank)', floods, roofs blown off, fallen trees etc etc. But while we couldn't agree whether it was global warming - or just another really (really) bad 3 day southerly straight out of Antarctica, here in the 'windiest city in the world' there were no Pandemic-like raids on supermarkets, we just hunkered down because — what else could we do?
Thanks, Susan! Now I know what to do with my hands if we ever meet. 😉
The storm in New Zealand sounds far scarier than our power outage here. (Though of course, I was not trapped in an elevator.) I think that the advantage of having lived Elsewhere is that you become more adaptable and accept new events more easily, because you're not stuck in the mindset of "This isn't how it is". That said, even the Portuguese who haven't lived anywhere else seem to exhibit a high degree of adaptability. I think that might be a sign of living in a less rich country than, say, the one I am from.
This was really funny, Gregory. Thank you for sharing it. (It was also interesting to get an insider scoop on what it was like to survive the blackout!)
Thanks Clarice! But don’t say “scoop”—it reminds me that there’s no ice cream left!
'With serenity' in the govt text! Amazing. Loved this!
I know! Isn't that marvelous? Not sure how I feel about that use of "normalization", though. I don't want this normalized, I want it fixed! 😆
“Maybe I could sit and read with a concerned frown on my face, in case anyone sees me?”
Dying 😆
Please don't.
Gregory,
This is hilarious. Thank you for this! I was in Lisbon; it was the penultimate day of our workshop.
Our afternoon had a boat ride scheduled. We weren't sure if it would happen, but the tide ripples on and we floated down the Tejo basking in the sun and breeze. It was a great reprieve from the 'what should we do' feeling.
I loved the cheer that went up when the lights went on. Where I was in Principe Real, that happened at 8:30. Just before I was going to take a cold shower.
Walking back home with the street lights on and glows coming from people's windows was so special. Punching the numbers on the keypad of my building brought a new level of appreciation and joy. The hot shower and comfort of home felt better than ever.
What a day! And you are right - the Portuguese people I encountered were chill and nonplussed.
Thanks again for the laughs. Great storytelling.
Thanks very much, Cynthia! I am glad that you enjoyed it, and that you've had a quite memorable visit to Lisbon.
You perfectly capture the surrealism coupled with just the weird banality of the day, Gregory, and I’m still sitting here with an idiotic grin on my face after reading it 😊 Especially love the image of those discussions in Geneva - my husband would have been more delighted if those had been real than if he’d received any actual usable information 😄
And thank you for sharing my article on the day’s events … I love this community of Substackers in Portugal 😍
Thank you, Michelle! It was weirdly banal, wasn't it? Thank heavens that our crises are taking on that shape, no?
Yes, indeed 😅