Before my first trip to Portugal I wrote a Top 10 things I am excited about and a Top 10 Things I am nervous about list, and I thought it would be fun to write a new list for this crazy adventure of being a missionary in Portugal full-time!

Top 10 Things I am Looking Forward to:

1.Fulfilling God’s calling

I have felt God’s calling to Portugal for the last 13 years and have been working towards the calling ever since. I am so excited to be fulfilling this calling and to see how God leads me when I am on the mission field! I am excited to see the Christian body grow in Portugal and to see Portuguese people come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

2. Meeting my whole team

I have had the opportunity to meat everybody on my team except one couple that I will be working closely with when I am in Portugal! I have skyped with them and have emailed back and fourth but have not had the opportunity to meet them in person yet, unlike everyone else!

3. Learning Portuguese

I am so excited to learn Portuguese and to one day be fluent in the language! I am excited for my first dream in Portuguese and to lead my first Bible study in Portuguese! What an awesome adventure that will be!!

4. Surviving Culture shock

Culture shock is something that I know I will have to go through, it is inevitable. However, I am excited for the day that I am through it for the most part! I know that, as a missionary, culture shock will be that friend that you are never excited to see and try to spend as little time with as possible. I will go through it each time I return to Portugal and each time I return to the States but I will survive and fall more in love with both cultures because of it!

5. Helping Lead an English Ministry

This will be such an adventure! I am excited to have the opportunity to work with the team and lead the English ministry and to see how it grows and expands to meet the needs of the people we are ministering to. I am excited to see the lights bulbs go off as they grasp a new concept in English and they teach me a new concept in Portuguese and teaching!

6. No Snakes

I am excited to not have to deal with snakes! I will never have to see them, unless I go to a zoo or aquarium! I am 99% sure that Portugal has some sort of special border that doesn’t allow snakes into the country!* It’s fantastic! For those of you who don’t know, I have an extreme fear of snakes. I am pretty sure they are of the devil, read Genesis 3. 

*This may or may not be true but if it’s not true don’t tell me!

7. Traveling!

I love seeing new places and experiencing new things, it must  be part of my heart for missions! One of the perks of living in a new place is that you get to explore a new place! Also, throughout my orientations with TEAM I have had the opportunity to become friends with a couple single ladies who are also heading to Europe to serve long term! We will all be arriving in our specific country around the same time and will be able to visit and talk with each other when we need encouragement and reenergizing. I am excited for this awesome support team God has put in place for us through TEAM!

8. Delicious coffee and food

I am a coffee addict. I love coffee. I could drink coffee anytime of the day and be perfectly content. A cup of coffee, a shot of espresso, a no foam latte, or anything else, as long as it has coffee in the name I am down to drink it! I am also excited to try new Portuguese dishes. I have had some yummy traditional foods and some foods that are specific to the north. For example, there is a sandwich called the francesinha, which translates to “little Frenchie”. I have no idea where the name came from because the sandwich is not little in any way. The sandwich is filled with wet cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage, and steak or roast meat, it is then covered in melted cheese and and a special thick sauce, and if that is not enough for you then you can also get a fried egg on top. The sandwich is served surrounded by french fries. When I tried the sandwich I could barely eat a quarter of it! It is an intense sandwich, I think Man vs. Food needs to try and eat the sandwich!

9. Fado

Portuguese folk music is called Fado and is almost like their version of the Blues. Fado means “fate” in Portuguese and can be described by the Portuguese word, “saudade”, which has no direct translate but it roughly translates to a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia but is often used to describe the Portuguese temperament. I first fell in love with the music because without understanding the words you can understand the emotion. To see Fado performed live in a Fado House is a special experience! Picture this, you are sitting in a dark dining restaurant that is usually in the basement and the only light comes from dim lights and candles, as you sit a woman comes out dressed all in black with a black shawl around her arms and she begins to belt out a song from the deepest parts of her soul. The music hits you and you sit in awe of the emotions being conveyed. This is why my heart loves Fado!

Check out this video to see one of my favorite fadistas, Mariza, perform "Meu Fado Meu":

10. Movies with intermissions!

This might sound silly but think about the last time you went to the movies, you get your drink and your snack and inevitably halfway through he movie you need to go the restroom! You don’t want to miss any part of the movie so you sit and suffer! But not in Portugal! Every movie has an intermission! It is fantastic! However, sometimes the intermission happens and the most inopportune time, for example during a monologue! Either way, you will always be thankful for the break and the opportunity to get a refresher!

Top 10 Things I am nervous about:

1. Going through culture shock

Culture shock will be one of the most difficult things I will have to go through when I am in Portugal. I have such a love for the country and for the people but I know that one day the things that I love are going to be hard for me. Some of the things that I already know are going to be difficult for me to acclimate to are their interpretation of time and how you accept something offered to you. To the best of my ability I always try and be on time or early to something but in Portugal this is a big no no! In Portugal, for example, if you are invited over for dinner and you arrive on time then you are telling your hostess that you don’t care about them and you are there for the food, but if you arrive late then you are telling your hostess that you care about them and the food does not matter. As for how you accept something offered to you, during my first trip to Portugal the missionaries I worked with would offer me a drink and if I said, “no,” they would normally respond with, “Is that a Portuguese no or an American no?” See, when something, like a drink, is offered to you in Portugal, you are first suppose to deny it and after being offered it a couple times and being assured it is not a bother, then you are allowed to accept it! I hope that I will be able to implement these cultural changes and that I will not struggle too much!

2. Not knowing Portuguese

For those of you who don’t know, I am a little more than half Portuguese and my last name is actually Portuguese. During my first trip to Portugal, I quickly realized that I needed to become like Madonna and not have a last name. If people found out that I was Portuguese, then I would normally get a lecture about how I was not a good Portuguese person or that my family failed me. I am nervous to go back to Portugal and not have a decent understanding of the language but, luckily, that will change quite quickly! I will not have to stay in this awkward state for long because I will be learning the language and I will eventually have a very firm understanding of the language!

3. Being far from family and friends

This is going to be a tough one. I have lived in a different State than my family but living in a different country will be hard. Currently, I have been living with my parents, grandma, and one of my nephews; and my brother and his family live two doors down. The only immediate family that lives faraway is my sister and one of my nephews in Arizona. I also have been blessed with amazing friends that have become like family and they have started their families. Being faraway from my family and friends will be hard, especially with nieces and nephews that range in age from a couple weeks old to 19 years old. Having to change our relationships to Skype and FaceTime based will be difficult but it will happen. Realizing that 3 of my nieces and nephews won’t remember me as someone who was with them now but will only know me as the auntie/tía on the computer. Knowing that the next time I see them in person they will be walking and talking is crazy to think about! 

4. attending University…again.

Attending university can always be a crazy adventure and doing so in a foreign country definitely seems like it has an extra dash of crazy! When I attended Multnomah, I started out not knowing anyone and had to start from complete scratch when it came to everything relationally. However, in Portugal I will know about 8 people!!! Oh man! Not knowing anyone, however, just means you get to meet new people!! 

5. Helping lead an English Ministry

See number 5 above and change excited to nervous…

6. Having to kill spiders

Well, if there is anything I hate/am horrified of as much as snakes, it would have to be spiders. I think they should all die but I am too scared to kill them. For real, I always call my dad to kill the spiders. I don’t think I will be able to call my dad to kill the spiders when I am living in Portugal and unfortunately Portugal’s border doesn’t keep out spiders like it does snakes. I wish my budget had a line item for a live in spider killer, or maybe I can just have that as a requirement for anyone who comes to visit me, they have to kill all the spiders!

7. Being single overseas

Fact: husbands were made to kill spiders. The end. 

8. Living situation

Will I have a roommate or will I be by myself? How many rooms will my apartment have? Where will it be located? What will my neighbors be like? will I have to buy a whole kitchen? These are just a few of the questions that go through my head whenever I think about moving to Portugal. It is pretty crazy to think that some huge decisions will have to be made by me when I get to Portugal. 

9. Not speaking up when needed

  For those who don’t know me well, I am not a confrontational person. I would rather just try and persevere through it than confront someone. However, over the last year I have been working on these skills because I need to be able to express my concerns or frustrations in a healthy way with my team. I have made huge leaps and bounds too! I have learned to speak up for myself in healthy and respectful way. However, I am nervous, because often I am more quiet and reserved when I first meet people because I want to observe them and figure out how to relate to them. When I am in this stage I tend to be even more non-confrontational. Hopefully I connect quickly and am able to build relationships with everyone quickly. 

10. Netflix

I love watching movies and shows to relax. I am currently watching the entire “House, M.D.” series. I don't think that Netflix is in Portugal…yikes! However, I have heard that you can buy this special program that will allow you to access American websites, aka Netflix and Hulu, but I am not sure about the cost or if it is even real.