Living in Lisboa has been such a wonderful experience for me. I was very very lucky to have this opportunity . I'm so grateful to City College of San Francisco for granting my sabbatical to come and study Portuguese and travel in Portugal. When I first started living on Rua Marechal Saldanha, and I would come back to my building in the evening, there were usually these same three men standing outside my door drinking beer. In fact, they were usually leaning against my door....so I had to say "desculpe" (excuse me) to go in or come out of my building at a certain time in the evening. Usually, I wouldn't say very much to them. I would just quickly enter or exit and maybe say "olá " (hello)....after a while we would say "tudo bem " (how are you/ is everything good ) but I always felt too shy to strike up a conversation so we just had these quick hello and goodbyes. I think I also was a little bit disapproving of guys leaning against my door drinking.
Anyway, on December 23, I was coming home, and one of them said something like : "amanhã e o noite de bacalhau " (tomorrow is the night of cod fish). He told me that because it was Christmas Eve, many people prepared Bacalhau and that I should get some. He explained how it was cooked and I said something like: vou comprar Bacalhau amanhã (I'll buy some cod tomorrow ). Then he said that Antonio, the man who runs a little grocery next to my building , has good Bacalhau and that I should buy some from him. So, I said, ok, and we both went in the market. The man, one of my drinking neighbors, had Antonio get me two pieces of Bacalhau from the freezer. Then he showed me the other vegetables I needed to buy to cook with the fish like couve (cauliflower greens) and nabo (turnip). He made Antônio cut The ends off of the couve so it would be easier for me to cook. He told me the nabo or turnip should be cut into quarters. He explained how I should boil the carrots, potatoes , turnip, and greens first and then add the fish. So, I learned a really nice thing about Portuguese culture by talking to these guys drinking outside my door. And then it struck me that these guys are really sweet people. They wanted to help me celebrate Christmas in the correct Portuguese manner. This dish is called "Bacalhau da Consada" or Bacalhau of Consolation.
http://www.easyportugueserecipes.com/bacalhau-de-consoada-christmas-eve-codfish/
So I started to see these guys in a different light...as ...my neighbors. I guess originally, I thought people drinking and leaning on people's doors was a questionable or bad thing. But really, there is nothing wrong with it. They are actually being social. That is their time to be together with friends and watch people walk by and be part of the community. I think it's better than going home and watching TV. It was a good lesson for me. These guys should have been my conversation partners all these months. I wasted a good opportunity to practice my Portuguese...I should have been talking to these neighbors every night ! Finally, on my last night in Lisboa, I brought down a bottle of Espumante (Portuguese sparkling wine or champagne) and had a really nice time drinking and talking with them. I'm going to miss these guys.
