The other guys are going to talk about the Jantar D’espirito Santo (Dinner of the Divine Holy Spirit) at an overview level, so I wanted to share a few of my favorite memories of the three days we spent on this project.

Sunday Morning Sopa Delivery
After getting up at 6 AM on Sunday, we made our way over to the local church to begin work by 7 AM. The first task of the day was to deliver the traditional sopa (soup, made of beef broth, beef chunks, heavy bread and fresh herbs) to most of Almagreira, as well as shut-ins and others in the surrounding parts that would not be able to attend the Jantar—between 100 and 150 orders. This involved loading up tureens of piping hot soup into the back of a pickup truck, climbing in, and driving through the streets of Almagreira. At every second house, the truck would stop and four of us would jump out, arm ourselves with a tureen, and knock on the door. When the door was opened and a resident appeared (often with a stunned look and less than full attire, especially right at 7 AM) we would exclaim “Sopa D’Espirito Santo!”, give them the sopa and then wait for them to put it into another pot and give us the tureen back. After a quick “Obrigado!”, we’d get back into the truck and head to our next delivery.

The sopa delivery was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Flying back to the church to reload on soup with the cool wind (and the occasional rain) blowing by us as we looked upon the Almagreira countryside from the back of the truck was an awesome experience—likely my favorite of the day.

Sunday Afternoon/Evening Serving
We were on the front lines for the dinner at the church. Every 30-45 minutes we would have a sitting for the sopa, where we would ensure that everyone had enough vinho (wine) or somo (juice) to drink and enough sopa to eat. Once the dinner concluded with a cheer led by Paulo amongst others (“Viva Espirito Santo!”, or “Long live the Holy Spirit!”), everyone left and we cleaned and re-set the tables. Rinse and repeat for 7 hours.

While this was also a lot of work, it was great to see the community of Almagreira and surrounding areas come together to share good food and fellowship, the rich and poor alike.

The Monday Cleanup
I won’t say too much about this one, as it wasn’t very interesting for the most part. However, one of the tasks I took on (along with Dan and Jamie) was the cleaning of the eight 60 litre cauldrons used to cook the soup. We used degreaser and wire brushes to go at it, and the cauldrons were looking much better after we gave them a good scrubbing. Unfortunately for me, much of the scrubbing moved the blackened and baked-on grease from the cauldrons onto my shirt (the same white shirt I used for serving the day before). Needless to say, I looked like I’d been caught in a snowstorm of black greaseflakes.

Monday Night Dinner
As a final wind-up for the weekend’s activities, the entire family and all the volunteers got together for a dinner of kebabs and lots of other good food. It was a nice way to finish off the Jantar D’espirito Santo, and made it easy to forget the numbness that occupied my feet a day earlier.

That’s all for now—I need to register for my university courses next year. Take a look at our photos to get a better idea of what the Jantar was like, and please keep the comments coming. Bom Dia!

The time has come to share a few more observations and experiences of our time in the Açores. Today I shall regale you with tales of the Portuguese Age Factor, and my new nickname.

The Age Factor
One thing we’ve been noticing as of late is that up to a certain point, most everyone here seems to appear older than they actually are. It’s been somewhat surprising when we’ve found out the ages of some of Paulo’s cousins’ girlfriends, as they’re younger than expected. One in particular had seemed to be about 24-26, until we found out she was 20—younger than any of us! I’m not exactly sure what to attribute to the “Age Factor,” but we have been theorizing that it’s because people here still have to work harder physically on a day-to-day basis compared to the average person of the same age in Canada/North America.

My New Nickname
When we first met with Paulo’s parents to ask any questions we might have had about our voyage, the issue of our names in Portuguese somehow came up. Paulo and Dan (pronounced like Danielle over here) had names that worked relatively well, but my name was a bit too North American for direct use—many of the letters in “Steve” are not pronounced the same way in Portuguese. This prompted Paulo’s dad to suggest a more Portuguese-friendly pronunciation: Estevsh (the first “e” is quick, the second “e” is soft [as in not hard], and the sh is slurred together with some “j”). It didn’t stick that much in Winnipeg, but it has really caught on over here and is now the reference of choice for Paulo, Dan and Paulo’s dad.

So with that, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Estevs.

This is the last update until at least Monday, as we will be working all weekend for the Jantar de Santo Espirito (Dinner of the Divine Holy Spirit), where we’ll be helping to serve a feast made from 2 cows, 200 loaves of bread, and countless other beverages and supplies. Catch you on the flip side.

This trip has been my first opportunity to really experience the ocean, and experience it we have—we’re on an island surrounded by the Atlantic. While “really” just a layer of salty water covering part of our planet, to those of us used to the landlocked life of the Canadian prairies, the ocean is a magnificent spectacle that seems to take on a life of its own.

Swimming in the ocean is almost completely unlike the usual Lake Winnipeg that we are used to. The water is clear, cool and salty, often a bit shocking when you first dive in due to both temperature and taste. Once over that, it’s quite enjoyable. The water has been choppy every day since we’ve been here (a hint of the power that lurks within it), which has made swimming quite enjoyable. Attempting to ride the crests of waves with our bodies like a surfer has proved to be a lot fun, but also results in nose and mouthfuls of salt water.

Life near but out of the ocean is also pretty good. While eating dinner and relaxing at São Lourenço or going for a walk outside the Beach Parque at Praia Formosa, the ocean is there providing a background ambience of crashing waves. There are also tides! Again a foreign concept to us prairie-folk, the ocean level does change noticeably throughout the day. We are still trying to figure out when high-tide and low-tide actually occur, as we only typically see the ocean in mid-afternoon and the late evening.

There’s far more to say about our experience, but this is all for now. I hope you’ve been enjoying all that we’ve had to say thus far.

Hello and good day from the island of Santa Maria in the Açores. This trip has been an amazing one thus far, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s up for an adventure. For the non-Portugese types, having some Portugese assistance on your side certainly helps and is also highly recommended.

There are many differences between the North American and Açorian lifestyles. The adjustment has been going well, but there are still some interesting differences between our cultures.

Pace of Life
The pace of life here in Portugal is much more laid back than in Canada. While we’ve only been here for the weekend and thus can’t really speak on how life is during the week, it certainly seems as though life is lived in a more relaxed way. Lounging on the beach, late lunches and dinners, and hanging out in cafés for hours contribute to this.

Coffee
Coffee, called café here, is espresso all the time. Asking for one in a local coffee shop yields an ounce and a bit of very strong coffee in about 20 seconds, and in 10 more seconds it’s on a saucer along with a packet of sugar sized perfectly to the coffee and a specially-sized stir-stick. It all fits together extremely well. The coffee here is some of the greatest I’ve ever experienced, and it’s making me think about moving to Europe.

Casual Drinking
It’s hard to avoid having a drink daily around here. The Portuguese are far from a nation of alcoholics—they simply enjoy a drink with their meals and when relaxing in the afternoon and evening (like most other European cultures), and don’t think twice about it like many of us do in Canada. We aren’t consuming copious amounts of alcohol, as the “portion sizes” here are smaller. It’s just the custom, and I could get used to it. Red wine is good for you, after all.

Driving
Driving in the Açores is most certainly an interesting (read: sometimes treacherous) experience. As you will see in our photos, the roads here are narrow and often winding. Roadways more-or-less one and a half lanes wide become two lane roads, and to keep drivers on their toes, people often park in essentially one of these lanes. All of these factors lead to a phenomenon known as car shrinkage that often prevents accidents. Needless to say, car shrinkage occurs more commonly here in Portugal than in my collective North American driving experience.

That’s about all for now, as it’s about time to get back to the relaxation here. Life’s good, and we’ll continue to update as we can. Enjoy the photos!