My First Rodeo

August 18, 2024

Right now I’m writing by the pool while Teresa cleans her car to my left and Sam sings Adele and Elvis karaoke to my right. It’s the typical dynamic around here I’d say—Teresa is the levelheaded host, I am usually chilling, and Sam is being Sam. It makes for a fun time.

Sam and I started working on Monday, and we’ve spent most of the week sampling grapes (picking them in the vineyards then doing titrations to measure acidity, brix, density, alcohol potential, ph, etc. in the juice) then cleaning and cleaning and cleaning some more. I’ve never seen a winery sparkle so much. I love it. Harvest starts this week, so our restful hours are going to become less and less, but for the past few days we’ve had a perfect work-life balance: we work 8-5 and spend the evening reading, then she makes dinner and I do dishes and we head to bed.

On Friday night after work, Teresa took us to a small town nearby to see their local fair and go to corrida de touros (a bullfight). It was wild—and it was so fun to get so immersed into Portuguese culture a little bit. We arrived and walked around a bit, checked out some little market stands, ate at a food truck (I love that they eat so much meat and fish here), tried ginja em copo chocolate (a shot of cherry infused fortified wine poured into a little chocolate cup, where you eat the whole thing in one bite), stuffed ourself with churros, then headed into the arena to watch the bulls. In Spain, these  things go to the death, but thankfully in Portugal they don’t. They’re much more humane.

As a kid I grew up watching “Dancing with the Stars” and always loved the Paso Doble, so seeing matadors twirl the cape around in real life was a dream of mine. Other than that and the stunning horses and the music, I wasn’t a huge fan of the event. It was fun until I nearly passed out from fear of the bull hurting the men too much, or vice versa, so I had to leave after a few rounds. Overall though it was a great time!

On Saturday, we all slept in then had lunch at Teresa’s grandparents’ house, which is a stunning old castle full of eclectic furniture and Portuguese tile. We ate local food from a nearby restaurant (meat, fish, rice, and potatoes), sipped wine from the winery (their reds are some of the best I’ve ever had), and chatted till it was just about time for dinner. The girls and I took the four-wheeler on a quick ride around the vineyards, then we heard back to the fair for more meat and ginna and vibes. When we got back I went to brush my teeth and by the time I came back to the living room, Sam was asleep on the couch with her book in her hand. I crashed shortly after.

Today we woke up well rested for the first time since arriving in Portugal, which is good considering that harvest starts this week so we are going to be working nonstop. We enjoyed our last day of rest, spending it by the pool then having another long lunch with Teresa’s grandparents. They are the best hosts!

I am loving my time here so much, and I can’t wait for the week ahead. I’ve already learned so much and I’m excited to learn even more!!