Caracóis

One of the summertime treats in Portugal is caracóis, or snails! Yep, you read that right. We first had the opportunity to try them on our field trip to Sintra. I only had one or two, and this because I finally caved under the intense peer pressure being put on me by my teammates. They really aren't that bad if you don't think too hard about what you are actually eating (which can be difficult since you have to remove them from the shell with a toothpick). The texture reminded me of mushrooms, and they take on the flavor of whatever they are cooked in, which in Portugal is onion, garlic, and bacon.

Alex was in school on the day of our field trip, and he was intensely jealous when he found out that we had all eaten snails without him. He begged for days to try snails, so one afternoon, just before we left for the U.S., we took a walk down to a local café and ordered a large plate to share. I wondered if Alex would really go through with it; I half thought he would chicken out when it came down to actually putting one in his mouth. However, to my great surprise, the kid who turns his nose up at asparagus and spinach ate his first snail without batting an eye, then smacked his lips and announced, "Mmmmmm, that was good! I want another one." I guess I shouldn't be surprised... he does, after all, like green tea and curry, two things most four-year olds wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

Caracóis

"Nooooooo, don't eat me!"

And after the snails... a pastel de nata, another of Alex's favorite Portuguese treats.

Stephen tried snails, too, but wasn't too impressed.

Sintra

I promised more pictures of Sintra, where we went for our field trip at the end of May. About a 40-minute train ride from Lisbon, Sintra has a lot to see and do. On this day, we toured the Palácio Nacional de Sintra and afterwards shared a picnic lunch in a nearby park. Rusty and I were so impressed with Sintra, though, that we took the train out there again the very next day on a spur-of-the-moment anniversary getaway. (Robert and Teague offered to keep our kids overnight -- can't turn down an offer like that!) We didn't do anymore sightseeing -- just enjoyed walking the streets in the cool of the evening, savoring the peace and tranquility, and eating a delicious dinner. I think we are going to try to go back sometime when we can bring Alex (he was in school the day of the field trip) and tour the Moorish castle.

The pictures below are some of the best shots from both days.

Sintra from the steps of the Palácio -- you can see the walls of the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle) snaking along the crest of the hill.

View of the hill (and the castle atop it) from directly below.

The Palácio Nacional (National Palace) is well marked by its conical twin chimneys.

Before we toured the palace, Eunice told us to be sure to look up (at the ceilings) and down (at the floors) as we went through because many of them are very elaborate. In this, the Sala dos Brasões (Coat of Arms Room), the ceiling displays the shields of 74 16th-century noble families.

Sintra City Hall

Top Ten: Together in Portugal

On May 4th, the Reeses and the Meyers finally arrived in Portugal after months of waiting. For the first time in our history, the entire Angola Team is now living in the same city! (Technically, I guess that's not true right now because our family is in the States for the next several weeks.) We have really been enjoying being together, and have tried to implement a schedule that makes time for "business" meetings as well as fellowship and fun activities -- in addition to language classes and study time, which is, of course, our primary purpose for being in Portugal.

The Angola Team, sans Alex and Stephen, with our teacher, Eunice (This picture was taken the morning after the Meyers and Reeses arrived.)

Danny and Katie have started watching Stephen for us three days a week while Rusty and I are in class, to help us save money on childcare. Eliana and Stephen are getting to be great buddies.

All the kids in their Ethiopian outfits (a gift from the Meyers) at one of our Monday team meetings.

One Friday a month is Girls' Night Out, and the guys keep the kids. On this night, we made a mountain of tortillas (some to eat, some to take home), ate dinner together, and then watched the new BBC version of "Emma."

One Friday a month is Guy's Night Out, and the girls keep the kids. The girls decided to have a little Bible class for the kids on these nights and rotate the teaching responsibilities. This was our first lesson, and I taught Noah and the Ark.

On the other Friday nights, we have a team dinner and fellowship at our house. This particular night included birthday celebrations for Rusty and Teague.

Every other Saturday is Date Night. One couple keeps all the kids for the evening so the other two couples can have a night out. On this night, while our kids were hanging out at the Reeses', Rusty and I enjoyed dinner at Chili's and going to see the new "Robin Hood."

On the other Saturdays, we have a team outing. Here are Eliana and Stephen digging in the sand on our first trip to the beach...

...and Alex and Efesson chasing the waves.

At the end of May, we had our first field trip all together. We went to Sintra, about a 40-minute train ride from Lisbon. More pictures to follow in another post. This was the group shot in front of the palace we toured.

First Steps, First Words, and Other Milestones

Yes, that's right. "Baby" Stephen is officially a toddler now. He had been taking a few steps here and there for awhile. But he required a great deal of praise and encouragement to do so, and usually preferred just crawling everywhere. However, around the first part of May, he really took off and started walking all over the house. I just love the stiff-legged zombie walk that babies do when they are first learning! I'll try to post a video soon.

Stephen is also talking quite a bit. Most of it is just baby babble of course, but there are a few words he says quite clearly -- ba (ball), caca (cracker), sheesh (cheese, which we've decided is his all-purpose word for food), jush (juice), uh-oh, mama, and dada. He does the baby signs for "more" and "all done," waves bye-bye, and has just started giving big, slobbery kisses on the cheek when prompted.

We are pretty much done nursing. Weaning has drug on longer than I would have liked because Stephen had a little trouble learning to drink cow's milk. He refused it for the longest time until I started putting a tiny bit of chocolate powdered drink mix in his cup (not trying to make chocolate milk, just trying to sweeten it a tad). Once he was drinking that well, I weaned him off the chocolate powder. Now he tolerates the milk, but I think he still prefers juice or water. If I can get him to drink one cup a day, I'm happy -- I figure he's getting calcium from plenty of other sources.

At the beginning of May, we finally got around to celebrating Stephen's first birthday (over a month late, but he's too young to know the difference!). We waited until the rest of our team arrived in Portugal, so the other children could be a part of the celebration. We had a breakfast party with chocolate chip banana muffins, fresh fruit, chai, and coffee. In lieu of gifts, everyone brought a small item for Stephen's baby time capsule, to be opened on his 18th birthday. We did something similar for Alex on his first birthday, and wanted to continue the tradition. Stephen also got a couple of sets of Duplos from his Nyanya and Babu, as well as a cool ride-along train.

I enjoy watching Stephen achieve all these new milestones, but at the same time, I find myself feeling a little nostalgic, mostly because I wonder often if Stephen will be our last. We haven't yet decided if we want to try to have anymore kids. It's funny -- I always said I wanted at least 4 kids, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if having a large family is really practical, considering our lifestyle. I know plenty of missionary families who have several kids, and they make it work... but Angola is so danged expensive. More kids means a bigger house (housing is the biggest line item in our budget), and also more expensive furloughs. It's already going to cost a small fortune to bring our family of four back to the U.S. every three years. I shudder to think of what it would cost if we had to pay for 6 tickets rather than 4.

So, the conversation about family size is one we have often right now. I remember a day back in January, when, probably in the middle of packing some awkward baby item, Rusty came marching upstairs and informed me that I needed to decide right then and there if we were going to have anymore kids, because if we weren't, we didn't need to take all this baby "junk" (he used a stronger word) to Angola. To which I replied that I was in no state to make that kind of decision right then. And anyway, as far as I'm concerned, you take the stuff with you as insurance, because we all know people who said they were done, got rid of all their baby gear, and then, "Oops, we're pregnant again!" If we don't have anymore kids, we'll give our baby stuff away in Angola to people who need it.

Rusty thinks it would be cool to have a baby on every continent we live on (Asia, North America, Europe, Africa). I think he's out of his mind. Truly, if I end up pregnant while we're here in Portugal, trying to learn another language, without maternity coverage, I think I might just have a nervous breakdown. However, I wouldn't mind having another baby once we are settled in Angola. But I think I could also honestly say that I would be just as happy if our family just stayed the size it is. I just want to do the best job I can with the two precious sons the Lord has already entrusted to me rather than worrying about when / if I'll have anymore.

Well, I'm not quite sure how a post that was meant to be about Stephen ended up here. If you're still reading this, then thanks, I knew you loved me! I'll leave you with a few pictures of the littlest Campbellite since this post was supposed to be about him:

Discovering grass and daisies

The birthday muffin cram

Our little engineer!

Top Ten: Alcobaça and Nazaré

At the end of April, we went on our second field trip with Eunice. She took us to Alcobaça, about an hour's drive north of Lisbon, and to Nazaré, on the coast. Here are my "top ten" pics from this day:

Alcobaça is home to the colossal Mosteiro de Santa Maria, a church and former monastery, which we toured.

The inside of the church was very cool. The ginormous columns reminded me of something out of "Lord of the Rings."

The church houses the elaborately carved tombs of Dom Pedro and Inês. Read their ill-fated love-story here.

The monks had to enter the dining room through this narrow doorway. If you couldn't fit through, you were forced to fast!

At the top: Nathan, Doug and Mira Gentry, Jordan, Laura. In the windows: Rusty and Eunice.

Rusty and Nathan being goofy in one of the giant stone sinks in the kitchen.

After lunch in Alcobaça, we drove to Nazaré, a picturesque coastal town. The view from the cliff-top above the town was amazing.

One of the local women selling nuts and figs. She is in traditional dress -- a skirt with seven petticoats.

Admiring the view

This picture is going in our Wedding Anniversary scrapbook for year 11!

Alex Reading

I have been meaning to post this video of Alex reading for some time now. Okay, obviously, he's not really reading. He memorizes books and then he pretends to read them -- with lots of expression, and turning the pages in all the right places. It's very cute. We received this book in a package from my mom last fall, "The Berenstein Bears and the Great Road Race." I read it to him about six times the first day. The next morning, I noticed that he already had it almost completely memorized. A few days later, Rusty took this video. Alex recites almost word for word what is in the book. Pretty impressive for a 3-year-old!

** If you are viewing this post on Facebook, you have to click "View original post" in order to see the video.**

É Assim Que Eu... (This is How I...)

Another writing assignment, which we just completed, was to explain how we do something, using ten steps. We had to write five each... I won't share them all with you, but here are some of the better ones:

É assim que eu vou à igreja (This is how I go to church) - by Laura

1. Eu saio da minha casa às quinze para dez. (I leave my house at a quarter to ten.)
2. Eu ando para a paragem. (I walk to the bus stop.)
3. Eu apanho o autocarro para a estação de Odivelas. (I catch the bus to Odivelas Station.)
4. Eu apanho o metro para a estação de Picoas. (I catch the metro to Picoas Station.)
5. Eu subo as escadas. (I go up the stairs.)
6. Eu ando na Rua Tomas Ribeiro por três ruas. (I walk down Tomas Ribeiro Street for three blocks.)
7. Eu grito para o Alex, "Esperas! Paras! Anda-ca!" (I shout to Alex, "Wait! Stop! Come back!")
8. Eu volto à direita na Rua Filipe Folque. (I turn right on Filipe Folque Street.)
9. Eu ando para a Igreja de Cristo. (I walk to the Church of Christ.)
10. Eu chego à igreja às dez e meia. (I arrive at the church at 10:30.)

É assim que eu faço o TPC (This is how I do my homework) - by Rusty

1. Primeira, nós pomos as nossas crianças para cama deles. (First, we put our children in their beds.)
2. Então, a Laura tira o nosso TPC da mala dela. (Then, Laura takes our homework out of her bag. **TPC stands for "Trabalhar Para Casa." In English, "work for home" or homework!**)
3. Ela faz essa, e eu arranjar chá ou café. (She does that, and I fix tea or coffee.)
4. Eu então ponho a minha cabeça na minha mão e arranho muito. (I then put my head in my hand and scratch it a lot.)
5. Então mais ou menos cinco minutos, eu digo "AAAGGHH!!" em o voz muito alto. (After more or less 5 minutes, I say "AAAGGHH!!" in a very loud voice.)
6. Depois, eu escrevo algumas coisas no papel, mas eu não sei o quê. (After, I write some things on the paper, but I don't know what.)
7. Então, eu arranjo a outra bebida para mim. (Then, I fix another drink for me.)
8. Eu fico muito cansado, e a minha boca abre e fecha, abre e fecha, abre e fecha porque eu não posso parar bocejar. (I become very tired, and my mouth opens and closes, opens and closes, opens and closes because I can't stop yawning.)
9. De qualquer modo, eu faco o meu TPC, mas eu não sei como. (Somehow, I complete my homework, but I don't know how.)
10. Ultimo, eu fecho os meus livros, atiro a minha caneta, e arranjo  mais uma bebida. Então, eu vou para a minha cama e repouso na cama e durmo enquanto minha bebida fica muito frio. (Last, I close my books, throw my pen, and fix one more drink. Then, I go to my bed and lie down and sleep while my drink becomes very cold.)

É assim que eu lentamente estou a ficar loca (This is how I am slowly becoming insane) - by Laura

1. Eu caso, e depois de dois mêsas, eu vou para o Japão para trabalhar. (I get married, and after two months, I go to Japan for work.)
2. Depois de três anos, eu volto para America e eu fico a mulher do aluno na escola de graduação. (After three years, I return to America and I become the wife of a graduate student.)
3. Eu volto para o Japão, mas então saio depois um ano para tratar da minha sogra moribunda. (I return to Japan, but then I leave after one year to take care of my dying mother-in-law.)
4. Eu tenho dois filhos. (I have two children.)
5. Eu sou pobre e desempregada e sem casa e sem seguro de saude por muitos mêsas. (I am poor and unemployed and homeless and without health insurance for many months.)
6. Eu junto-me à equipa dos missionarios vão para Angola. (I join a team of missionaries going to Angola.)
7. Eu vou para Portugal. (I go to Portugal.)
8. Eu tento aprender português. (I try to learn Portuguese.)
9. Eu vou para Angola. (I go to Angola.)
10. Finalmente, eu faço "check-in" no hospital dos malucos. (Finally, I check in to the nut-house.)

Okay, obviously that last one is a little tongue-in-cheek. I was becoming bored writing about things like "how I make French toast," and "how I make chai," so I decided to be a little more creative. However, I will say that there have been times over the last few years when I have wondered if I might be starting to lose it. Let's hope that #10 doesn't become a self-fulfilling prophecy!

For more "This is how I..." entertainment, check out our teammate Jordan's blog, where you can learn how to make Portuguese yogurt cake and how to learn Portuguese.

Just for Fun

This is what happens when Mommy forgets to brush my hair after my bath:

First Day of Portuguese Preschool

Almost since the day we arrived, we have been exploring our options for a preschool for Alex. We wanted to send him to school while we are living in Portugal, not only for the social interaction, but to give him a jumpstart on the language. After several weeks of looking around, asking questions, and determining what we could afford, we finally settled on O Peixinho Azul. It is a great little preschool with friendly and flexible teachers and staff, some of whom speak English. Alex also has a little girl in his class, Sofia, from Australia who speaks English and is helping to ease his transition. So far, he really seems to enjoy it -- he's making friends and learning some Portuguese. He goes for just a half day right now and comes home after lunch. But it's five days a week, so he is in school while we are having our Portuguese classes. It works out well. The most difficult part is getting him to and from school. There is no bus (that we can ride with our passes) that goes near his school. So, we ride a bus, walk through a parking garage, and then cross a field in order to get him to school. But the exercise is good for us, and thankfully, Sofia's parents give him a ride home most days.

Here is Alex on his first day of school. He was so excited! He didn't even want to come and say goodbye to me when I got ready to leave. I can't believe what a big boy he's becoming!

Adventures in the Alentejo

In mid-April, we decided to take advantage of a three-day weekend and go exploring a little further afield from Lisbon. Rusty rented a car, and we headed east to a region of Portugal called the Alentejo. It was nice to have wheels again, and to escape the concrete jungle we live in for a couple of days. Lisbon is a beautiful city, but at least where we live, it seems like we are surrounded by nothing but high-rise apartment buildings. It was nice to get out of the city and see countryside -- fields, villages, spring flowers, and houses on large plots of land.

Some friends told us about a place to stay in the tiny town of Lavre, called Anema. It is a dairy, run by a Christian Dutch couple. They have a small cottage on their property (with a full kitchen so you can do your own cooking), which they rent very cheaply. It was such a lovely and peaceful place, and I hope we can be frequent visitors there! Alex especially liked watching all the animals, and we all enjoyed the fresh milk, yogurt, and cheese that they gave us.

Amena provided a perfect central point for exploring some of the Alentejan towns, many of which have a medieval flair with castles and old city walls. On Saturday, we spent all day in Évora and the surrounding area. Sunday, we visited Estremoz and Évoramonte before heading home to Lisbon. Here are some pictures of our adventuring.

View from our cottage

A game of four-in-a-row

Pack-mule Dad

Tour-guide Mom

Exploring the castle in Montemor-o-Novo (on the way to Évora)

View from the castle wall -- the round structure is a praça de touros (bullring). Bullfighting is a national institution in Portugal, and many of the bulls come from this region.

The Templo Romano (Roman Temple) in Évora

We climbed to the top of the Sé (Cathedral) in Évora for this great view of the city

Near Évora is the Cromeleque dos Almendres, a grouping of nearly 100 megaliths, or "standing stones," kind of like a mini-Stonehenge.

Alex loved climbing on the megaliths! In fact, when we asked him what was his favorite thing we did this weekend, he said, "The place with the big rocks!"

Rusty took this awesome picture of me and Stephen at the Cromeleque. I think we could almost be models for Hotslings!

The ramparts and palace of Estremoz. The squarish gray structure right in the middle is the keep, the Torre das Três Coroas (Tower of the Three Crowns). We climbed all the way to the top of it for a stunning view.

The castle town of Évoramonte

On the castle roof

View of the town from the castle roof