Feliz Ano Novo! Happy New Year! January was notable as the first time Raymond and I were able to take vacation time since we started working. In Portugal, after six months at a new job one qualifies for two days of vacation for each month worked. Since this is the low season at the hotel,…

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Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas from (sometimes) sunny Terceira! The above photo captures the capital city and marina on a particularly sunny afternoon after Raymond and I finished work. Though we do not have a Christmas tree, it’s nice to see them around (above, at the local bakery and restaurant). We did, however, put up our…

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Happy Thanksgiving! Raymond and I are celebrating our third Thanksgiving here on “Third Island” and for the first time attending an American-style get-together. We are excited to celebrate the feast with some new friends we made in the last year. We are immensely thankful for all that has come our way in the past year:…

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New Additions Raymond and I welcomed two new additions into our home at the beginning of October – two darling kittens! We adopted the two brothers from our neighbor’s son who lives just up the hill. His cat had four kittens at the beginning of August and initially we were only interested in getting one,…

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Above: view of Monte Brasil from our new favorite bar/restaurant after work Summer’s End It was a beautiful season on the island, but alas, summer is over. Like in past years, the sun and (relative) heat of July and August were quickly replaced with gray skies and mist. Oh, and our first hurricane! Above: driveway,…

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Above: view from our driveway of the park where people gather to watch the bulls, drink beer, and eat from the food trucks Tourada! At the beginning of August was our village’s annual festival and its accompanying bull-on-rope running in the street. We had a few friends over to the house beforehand and, between drinking…

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Above: view from the roadside scenic overlook in Quatro Ribeiras Changes, Changes, Changes Raymond and I had a lot of changes this past month… Namely, I resigned from working at the ice cream shop at the marina and started working at a new hotel in the historic center of the capital. The thought of working…

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We just finished the 10-day-long Sanjoaninas Festival in the capital, Angra do Heroísmo (above, adorned with lights). Versus last year when we only participated in one evening of festivities, this year we could not avoid the party with both of us working in the city. Aside from the crowds in our respective places of work,…

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Sorry for the delay – what a busy month! We been working at our respective jobs in the capital, Angra do Heroísmo, and making the best out of our difficult schedules. The above photo is the ice cream shop at the marina where Lukus works. Thankfully, we had our first double-income month for May and…

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Spring has arrived again on the island, but that doesn’t mean sunshine and rainbows everyday. We went from windy, wet, and cold to sunny and dry and back again over the course of the month. Just for a comparison, the high temperature here was 55 yesterday (and grey and windy) while southern Michigan had a…

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