Moving to a new country is definitely a challenge when the culture is not exactly the same as yours. Change is challenging and for me it was no different when I came to Portugal. Let me get this straight: it is a beautiful country but its people behave in certain ways than differ from my home country, Ecuador. Sure, our culture is similar or has common origins (which is true) but for many reasons, our culture have shifted slightly. Continue to read my culture shocks in Portugal.
This post started from my original post about Portugal and why I decided to come to this country. Check it out here so you can read in context.
Table of Contents
Safety
From my background, Latin America is usually a region of the continent that is not safe to walk on the night. There is more crime generally regarding to burglary or scams and sometimes we have our houses with fences placed and windows with a metallic grid, to pretend thieves to get inside. Naturally, this doesn't happen everywhere, like in the countryside, and there are cities more dangerous than others! Nevertheless, the ‘average' sensation of safety is lower.
On the other hand in Portugal, (most places) are very very safe to walk no matter the hour. In my experience so far, I have walked back home at 1am or 4am and I haven't felt threats or assaults from thieves. It amazes me to see people using the cellphones in the street or in public transportation without worrying about their devices to be snatched away. Also, it is common to leave many stuff nearby, like your backpack, while training or doing exercise nearby. It is amazing! Some classmates complains that I always take my backpack wherever I go with my computer. Many places, like the university, don't have a fence to keep people from outside during the night.
There are some invalidations, of course. As any country, there are places you should avoid, like the neighbourhood Buraca, near Lisbon. Other situation was when I was having a conversation with a female classmate from the university and I told her that I walked 30 minutes back home one night at 4am. She told me that she would never do it by herself and for me is different because I am a man. Finally, many classmate have experienced lost cellphones because of skilful pickpocketing. There are more chances that you lose it by pickpocketing that by an assault with a gun or knife.
This is one the most important culture shocks in Portugal.
Night Life
Safety in Portugal was already explained but my shocks go further. If there is security in the streets, one business could thrive, for sure.
At least in Lisbon, discos and clubs start at 1h30 in the night usually and people will show up after 22h00 in the streets for start drinking beers, meeting friends, having conversations, eating, etc. If you attend a house party, it is considered to be a pre-party, so they begin before, like 20h00 or 21h00 and after it concludes some people will go to another party (like a disco) and others will go home. How long do discos and clubs in Portugal lasts? I have stayed usually until 04h00 but some of my classmates like to stay until 07h00.
For me this is nuts! This is probably one of my favourite culture shocks in Portugal. Normally in Ecuador (depending on the city) parties usually start at 22h00 or 23h00 and lasts until 2h00 or 3h00, when they are legally forced to shut down. Moreover this way you could have your need to party satisfied earlier so it doesn't deprive you from the morning the next day. Yeah, I know, sometimes we are going to have some hangover but that is our responsibility. So when do people in Ecuador show up? It begins generally with a meeting before for drinks at 20h00 or 21h00 and then into the club at 11h00 when it was at its peak. There is one noticeable exception to this norm and it was when I assisted a disco party organized by my bachelor's degree classmate at 15h00 in the afternoon… yep, you read it correctly haha. I was amazed myself that I was having fun so early in the day and when I quitted at 19h00 I didn't feel tired or anything like that. As I went to any other event.
There are of course parties in Ecuador that start at 1h00 and finish at 6h00 or 7h00 but they happen normally on January 1st for New Year’s Eve or in other cities but they are not the norm. And to finish, let's quote this interesting and contradictory phrase from Hesiod.
Wretched who sleeps in the morning.
Hesiod
Parties inside the University
As a side note, do you imagine yourself having a party inside the sanctuary where you learn an study? This is fact a reality in some universities in Portugal.
Internationalisation
I was amazed as I arrived in Lisbon to experience a cosmopolitan city. Around half of my classmates in the university came from other countries (mainly from the European Union), I have met with people from all continents, many bars or local places have menus in both Portuguese and English, people riding the metro come from different backgrounds, in the streets you hear languages beyond Portuguese, like English, Italian and others that comes from south Asia that I can't identify.
According to Statista (link below), Ecuador receives around 2 million tourists per year. Furthermore in the city where I live, Cuenca, was nominated many years ago to be best city to retire (at least, in South America) by some magazines; I will leave some links below. This meant that I have experienced many foreigners in many ways in the last years. However, it is not even close to what I see here in Lisbon. Most of my classmates in school, high-school and bachelor's degree were Ecuadorians, not even from neighbouring countries, like Colombia or Peru. There are foreigners working in public facades like restaurants and in some offices but all of my friends who I hang out are Ecuadorians. Although there are foreigners living my city, there isn’t such variety and quantity like in Lisbon.
To make it clear, when this topic was discussed with some classmates, I was not surprised to hear that this doesn't happen in all of Portugal. Of course, since Lisbon is the capital, there are going to be a lot more activity, foreigners, employment opportunities and so on than in other “less touristic” places across the country. Don't expect to find this on Alentejo, for example.
Scarcity of Real Estate
The first two weeks that I arrived here, it was such a mess to find a place to rent at least short term (more than 1 or 3 months). There was such demand for rooms that so many were already occupied until 6 months ahead. Definitely not cool. I couldn’t live from only renting rooms in airBNBs forever, so I need to find something.
Here are some websites where I look for:
- Idealista.
- Uniplaces.
What I found more practical was to actually go to the university and check the a blackboard or something chart where they were shared apartment advertisers. From all the 40+ numbers that I contacted, I’m sure this one actually worked out.
Respect for Pedestrians
In my opinion, this is bug one related to culture and education for people that isn’t in a equal motorised vehicle.
In Lisbon, I have experienced that crossing Portuguese streets (through the zebra crossing) is safer than Ecuadorian streets. 90% of times any car driver will stop to let pedestrians cross until the end and then they will continue their way. Amazing!
In the other hand, in Ecuador generally people are more aggressive at driving and with “territorial” mindset when it comes to cars. The pedestrian usually has to wait for cars to pass first and then they can go. Also the streetlights for pedestrians aren’t available in every neighbourhood because most people don’t use them anyway. One of my greatest culture shocks in Portugal for sure.
In fact, in Portugal they are also ignored many times but still more used than in Ecuador.
Public Transportation
Portugal isn’t known for their coherent nor organised transportation system. Still, it is better than Ecuador.
In Portugal, you have many many transportations methods to choose from:
- Boats and Ferries,
- Trains,
- Buses,
- Metro,
- Trams,
- Airplanes,
- Scooters (trotinetes) for rent,
- and so on.
Buses are specially impuntual, I wouldn't rely on them on weekends because of previous experiences. Also, in every stop they have maps and indicators what bus lines goes in which direction, (approximate) circulation times, roofs and chairs to sit (depending on the place) and other relevant information for the ride. That's nice. Furthermore, you get a lot of information of the internet as well. This is why it was one of many important culture shocks in Portugal for me.
In Ecuador, there isn't so much information or related services. Many times there is just a sign of a bus stop… and that's it. Good luck with that! Fortunately, with the miracle of internet, there are many services that are coming online.
Friendship takes time
The Portuguese are generally friendly, but opening to a new friendship takes time. I was thinking that since our cultures are similar in many ways, it was not going to be a challenge to make Portuguese friends or to have a recurrent friend group with natives. Furthermore, our language is very similar. But how wrong I was with this.
In a future post, I will write about how I have overcome some of this social issues.
Conclusions about Culture Shocks in Portugal
There you go, some cultures shocks from someone from South America. As I continue to live here, I will add other aspect from this experience.
Have you ever been in Portugal? Tell me some culture shocks that you have had compared to your country.
Check out other Articles
Here is a list of some links that go along with what was discussed here.
- Safety in Turkey. Link.
- Wikipedia page of Portugal. Link.
- Wikipedia page of Lisbon. Link.
- Wikipedia page of Cuenca. Link.
- “Number of international tourist arrivals in Ecuador from 2000 to 2021”. Statista, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. Link.
- “Retire in Cuenca, Ecuador”. Expat Exchange. Link.
- “How Cuenca Became One of the World’s Biggest Expat Retiree Havens”. U.S. News. Link.
- “Cuenca is famous for its colorful festivals, distinct food, and breathtaking scenery”. International Living. Link.
- “The Evolution Of Cuenca, Ecuador, Into A True Expat Haven”. Live and Invest Overseas. Link.
- “Retired Expats In Ecuador: What Life's Really Like For Them”. Forbes. Link.
- “Why Cuenca Is Still One Of The Best Places In The World To Retire”. Overseas Property Alert. Link.
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