Olá! My first HopeMail from Portugal

: on day two of moving to Portugal (or should it be living in Portugal?), getting my head together, processing everything new. Two new drawings.

Jul 01, 2022

Writing from here.

This is my workstation in our temporary tiny house for the next two months.

Image: Photo of a wooden bar table with a bronzed gold colour MacBook Air, a white Apple Magic Mouse, a cheery yellow oversized coffee mug and two Moleskine notebooks on the left. Two white windows, with white tied-back curtains, are in front of the table, and overlooking the patio outside with some plants. There’s a glimpse of a folded Brompton bike underneath the table at the bottom left. — Trying to drum up some romanticised Hemingway writing moments.

This is a rare writing moment where I’m writing and publishing HopeMail within the same day. I could have written this issue in advance. But, I wanted to share with you some of the experiences, moments and changes from the first two days of moving to Portugal1.

I’m still processing the fact that, yes, we’ve indeed moved to Portugal.

This is not our usual travels. I caught myself by surprise sometimes—we’re living in Portugal?! As if the reality of it, is playing catch up with my mind, my habits, and what used to be my familiar world.

It is a day & night difference when you realised this place that you are in is your new home.

But, as my favourite note-to-self goes: one step at a time, one day at a time. And this is how I’ll be navigating through this gigantic change in my life.

Just a few of the changes (and the many more waiting for us)

Our breakfast spot

Changed from this

Image: photo of a long, oak bar table, with a side window and trees outside, a glass of coffee on the table

A bigger house with no outdoor seating.

To this

Image: photo of a breakfast scene, a small outdoor table with two plates of rustic bread, someone is buttering the bread, two mugs of coffee, two oranges, a tub of butter, the background are some trees and wild grasses; above, bright blue Mediterranean sky.

A tiny house with lots of space outside.

View from my devotional time spot

Changed from this

Image: close-up shot of Rick Warren’s devotional book, Open Doors in the foreground. The background is a view of a work table and window which opens up to lush greens outside.

To this

Image: photo of a wooden staircase, a jacket hanging from the staircase rail, two white windows on the top, and on the right, a black colour suitcase and a black colour backpack. — I think this photo is philosophical 😆. The suitcase signified that this is literally a temporary house, and a reminder that our house on earth is also a temporary home.

Easing in.

Our first lunch in Portugal.

Image: photo of a plate of vegetarian lasagna, a big bowl of salad, and two mini bottles of Superbock (Portugal beer) on the patio table.

Easing in with ready-made meals at the patio outside our tiny house. Saying ok to ready-made microwaved meals for a few more days until we get our groceries done.

Image: text divider. Handwritten word “ new drawing” and a black & white line drawing of a hand holding a compass, drawing a circle.

16 and 17/24 new drawings for HopeMail

Memories of home, self-portrait

Home is where the heart is. So, I guess, home has no geographical boundaries. Here’s a self-portrait of me, doing my thing of gazing out from our windows, saying goodbye to Ollie the yellow oriole for now.

Image: A watercolour painting of a lady with her hair tied loosely in a bun, drinking a cup of coffee. She’s seated in front of the windows, her legs casually propped up on the window sill, and seemingly lost in thoughts as she gazed at the trees outside, which surrounded all the three big, windows.

This idea came as I was idly staring out the window during one of the nine days of self-isolation—a self-portrait with the lovely trees in the background. Something to remember the moment: COVID, leaving, moving, missing, anticipating.2 I only had the energy to resume my painting a day before I flew off to Portugal.

Memories of home, husband trimming his nails

I noticed an ordinary, mundane moment of my husband trimming his nails, as I was typing away writing this HopeMail issue. Here’s the view from the window.

Image: A sketch with a black fine liner pen of a man partially seen outside the window with curtains, he’s enjoying the morning breeze on the patio, while trimming his fingernails.

His first nail grooming in Portugal. My first writing, and sketching in Portugal. Instead of taking a photo, I opted for a rough sketch to capture the memory.

Here’s to many more memories to come.

That’s all for now, folks. Thanks for sharing these moments with me through reading. Feel free to leave a comment or ask questions. See you in the next HopeMail issue on July 15! Take care.

💖 Melinda

PS We wondered if we’ll be able to hear the sounds of birds in our temporary house, like how we do in our home in Malaysia. I ran out in delight when I heard this.

I’m moving from Malaysia 🇲🇾 to Portugal 🇵🇹! (Wait. What? Wow!)

The COVID & moving to Portugal diary

Neera Mahajan

Jul 4, 2022

Congratulations and good luck. You have done well. Even wrote a newsletter on the second day. I am still recovering from jetlag after 6 weeks in Europe.

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