Hi again

I have a question (or 3 - in - 1) for anyone who has moved to the Algarve, doesn't matter where from.

Did it take long to settle down, how long before you felt like you 'fitted in' and did it take very long to get to know people?

I have to say though, we have lived In S Lincs for just over 2 years and have never felt like we've fitted in here! (I hate the place!)

Also, an additional question, as we haven't decided where in the Algarve we want to be, but we do love cvo - do you find the people are different in different areas/towns/villages? Is it a different lifestyle in cvo to say Vilamoura?

Thank you
Debs

Debs G wrote:I have to say though, we have lived In S Lincs for just over 2 years and have never felt like we've fitted in here! (I hate the place!)

Bloody outsiders coming into our county and then moaning about it! The sooner you leave us alone to our inbreeding the better off we'll be!

I didn't find it difficult at all to adjust, but we have been coming out here for 17 years and have had our apartment for almost 3 years. We already knew a few people but have met a lot more in the last couple of months - you have to make the effort to get to know people (something my husband is better at than I am).

I'm sure when you have children it is easier because you meet other parents at school etc.

We only know Carvoeiro, but I would think it is more of an 'ex-pat' lifestyle in somewhere like Vilamoura, that doesn't appeal to me at all but it might be something you would prefer.

Ok let me clarify! I only hate the small part of Lincolnshire that we live in!
(Don't want to fall out with anyone already!) I used to live in Lincoln (a good few years ago) but disaster struck and that was that!

Anyway, my Q wasn't about living in Lincolnshire........ (but good luck to anyone wanting to move here!)

Debs

Morning Debs and very warm welcome to you here on the forum!
Your post has just grabbed my attention...you're in south Lincs....Im in n.east lincs.... been here 4 years March...and feel exactly the same as yourself!
Can I ask..you from the south like me? Have to say I(we,,hub,son)have never settled or felt at home here. We live in a lovely part near the Wolds..have nice house..lovely garden etc, but its all oh so SLOW...we're Londoners and that city thing,the quick wit,response, and the acces to amenties,services,we certainly miss!
But what I miss most of all..is living in Algarve!
We had 2 and half years there in early 90s..and I loved it all..even the aggrevating bits !..and you'll certainly get lot of those!
We would still have been there now..if it hadn't been for 'recession' and parents bad health.
I didnt have little ones like yourself. My son was schoolboy of 12. But we loved it..miss it greatly..and are now planning to spend at least some winter/spring months there on long stays.
I do wish you every success and happiness in your new life(I feel a little envious ),,and Im sure you'll have a great life there!
Will you be living in CVO?
Our home was in Lagoa..and after just a couple of months there..we really did feel like 'Lagoans'!
All the very best to you.....Ellie

Hi Kteee and Ellie

Hi kteee first of all!
We do want to feel like we fit in, so I don't know if an ex-pat lifestle is for us. I personally want to get to know people no matter where they are from. I don't like the idea of going to live in a foreign country and then setting yourself apart from the locals and just living amongst the Brits. I don't see the point in that.
Anyway, yes I may find it easier getting to know people when I take the kids to nursery or mum and toddler groups etc. which I hope to do. I'll have to think of other ways to get to know people too.

And Hi Ellie!
I'm not from the South, no, but (and I hate to say this) I do find the people around here are very ignorant and very slow.
We're from Nottingham originally but have moved around a bit.
We don't know where in the Algarve we want to live yet, we've done a lot of exploring and do like Carvoerio. I guess we'll have to decide fairly soon as we're looking for a property!

Thanks for the replies!
Debs

Love the post michael,whats that they say about virgin brides,"if shes not good enough for her own,then shes not good enough for us"

Hi Debs!
I think you will do very well in Algarve.....you have the right attitude.
We had the same determination when we went there...and that was... to live in and fit in with the Portuguese.
We didnt want to live in an ex-pat exclusive area. But to be in amongst the Portuguese folk.Our intention was eventually to really feel a part of the place and to think of ourselves as 'Portuguese'..thats the honest truth..and we did begin to feel that way..when thing started to go wrong!
But I would just say..be prepared to be very patient there....something I had to learn..and also be prepared for bouts of 'homesickness' which can strike quite unexpectedly..this I found the hardest to deal with!
There were times we got fed up with wall to wall sunshine ..unrelenting heat..specially when working...and longed for some cool breezes (and rain believe it or not!).
But if youre working and youve got little ones to tend to ..you will get throuigh those times and I sure all will go well for you

one of the dangers i have noticed over the 12 years ive lived here, is that many from UK or whereever they have come from, once they move here "go native"....in my experience some of the worst jobs and tardy people who live here are not the portugueses but foreigners who move here and become "oh tomorrow " will do style of living. even for the portuguese tommorow does come and they come and do what they were asked...sadly not always the case with some of the foreign legion who live here. (note i said some not all)

whilst im sure your move here will be for a variety of reasons, keep your standards..

When I lived in Naaarfalk folk there said that if you lived in the Fens you would hang yerself if you could find a tree to do it from!

Apologies to SOUTH Lincolnshire folk!

Hi again Ellie

Sorry to hear things went wrong for you. I really do hope that things go well for us. I can't wait to move. I absolutely love the heat and can't imagine getting sick of it, but that's easy to say when you don't have it! Its a lot milder than some of the other places we've considered. Portugal won though!

And Guest, I can see your point about becoming too 'local' and too complacent. I don't intend to let me standards slip either! I am a hard worker and so is my husband (with a boot shoved up his backside sometimes admittedly but then he's a man!).

Oh and you don't need to apologise to us in S Lincs, Biffa, I am moving to Norfolk for the last few months we are in the UK....... well that's if we ever get out of Norfolk alive then!!!

Debs

Guest ?
I dont know what youre referring to ,when you say 'keep to your standards'?
The way I was brought up....meant I had standards/principles by which I live ..and where ever I live!
I simply meant..that our intention and we stuck to it..was to live in amongst the local people..get to know them and learn some of the culture and ways and language..That was 'US' and what we chose to do. Others may feel and do differently.
What I cant stand ..is those who 'patronise' the Portuguese!...I heard many times in my stay there ..ex-pats speaking of the Portuguese ..as 'very sweet' (yuk).there are good & bad in all countries.one snotty English woman even said 'oh, if you give them a couple hundred escudos theyll do all your washing /ironing for you!'
That attitude used to drive me bonkers
I made lot of friends of all nationalities...but the Portuguese ones remained always loyal and kind..and still are

Hi ,hope ye don,t mind if i throw in a bit here.Really sorry to read your feelings on where you guys live,mainly yourself ellie,must be tough to yearn for other places.i know when i came down here from dublin it was a hell of a change,i loved it for the first couple of years but it is all so different and the trouble is you don,t have your life long mates(and i don,t mean friends)near you you know ,the kid down the road that you never spoke to but his da knew your da and every body remembers the day the coalmans horse peed on mad larrys go-kart,so when you move not only do you lose all them but your new mates have a whole liftime of horse pee and go karts that you will never have so from the word go your kind of an outsider,but it gets better and easier as time goes bya and the day you stop feeling like an outsider is propably several years after the locals stopped thinking of you as an outsider so take heart.my mam died in dublin about 4 yrs ago, we kind of kept it to ourselves a bit,sure very few people here in tip would have known her but i was amazed at the people who traveled the100 miles to her mass(this is at six pm)and then drove home again,and these are irish roads,and the weeks following being stopped in the street by people you think of as strangers butwho think of you as one of their own,sure whose goin to come up to you and out of the blue say ellie living across the road from you has been great ,your a great neighbour and i,m really glad your family moved over here,lets be honest when was the last time any of us did anything like that,so guys maybe your more welcome then you think.Don,t be afraid to be english,people like the english,jaysus i,m irish and even though yis stole all our land murdered our chickens burnt our houses starved us and destroyed our way of life religan and spoken word sure we don,t even think about that we still like yis as long ,and this is the thing,as long as ye don,t start telling us your granny met a sailor from cork and your really irish,the last thing we need is a load of irish with english accents.
Ellie if your really that unhappy sell the house ,buy a big camper van,let the young fella stay put or go with you,sure he must be about 19 now,and travell up and down the algarve your bound to find enough work to keep yis going and in fairness its so cheap over there yid live on the leavings of tinkers and if ye get fed up now and again ye have enough friends on this site alone that would throw yous the keys of an oul villa for a week or two when its quiet,or better still swap the van for a week or two if ye got a bit of work in an area.jaysus theres an idea.No matter what any of yis do i wish ye the best of luck,
gerry

Ellie you havn,t got a name and phone no. for yer wan with washing and ironing.At the moment i,m doin, it for nothing

Gerry, I don't want to fall out with you, but is it possible to split your longer messages into readable paragraphs?

I keep losing track of what line I'm on and thus am leaving greasy finger smudges all over my monitor!