As frieiras

Also known as chilblains, or kylmänkyhmyt.

From Wikipedia: Chilblains is a medical condition that occurs when a predisposed individual is exposed to cold and humidity, causing tissue damage. It is often confused with frostbite and trench foot. The cold exposure damages capillary beds in the skin, which in turn causes redness, itching, blisters, and inflammation.

Me as a Finn I am used to the cold weather. Suffering from the cold has never been something that I have done but oh boy. In Portugal the coldness is way different. I have no problem waiting for a bus in -20'c but hanging out here with friends in +10'c is really nasty. It's the moisture that makes the coldness rough and going through your bones. Wearing lots of clothes doesn't help that much since the clothes are moist as well and there is no warm layer of air inside the clothes layers.

Because of the cold I have now experienced something I had never even heard before. Chilblains. Couple of weeks ago my finger started to be red and sore. In the mornings it's hard to bend it. My boyfriends family told me it is probably a spider bite which is normal here. I totally bought it. The weird feeling in my finger didn't go away but instead I noticed the same feeling in two other fingers. I had a conversation about this with my friends Lia and Rui and I got the answer: "Aaa, it's a frieira! From the cold." Rui had the same thing on his middle finger. I was a bit confused. Me, who is used to handle the coldness, chilling with -10'c, had never heard of this condition. I was familiar with frostbites (that is more serious condition) but I had never heard of chilbails before.

Swollen red fingers. 

Luckily they sell this specific cream to cure these frieiras, called "Friax". So today, I am heading to the drug store and to Forum to buy gloves. Hrr!

It feels like home

I have settled down here quote well. I have been working on My Story Hotel Ouro now over couple of weeks and I have learned many things at the reception. I still do mistakes - for example today I almost gave the guests un-checked room (cleaned, but not checked), but I guess it is normal at the beginning since I am a trainee. First standing still for 8 hours was a huge pain in the back but now I am already used to it. Back in Finland when I was working for Hilton (just a small comparing: Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, over 200 rooms. My Story Hotel Ouro, 51 rooms) I used to walk all day and I was moving constantly. Standing still is surprisingly hard.

Mostly I have been doing reservations and guest profiles. I am starting to be good at check-ins but I still need more practice to be more self-confident with the guests and remembering all the things that we are supposed to say at the check-in.

We also have had couple of Finnish guests. It's always funny when they notice that there is another Finn greeting in Finnish and I'll tell you something - It's even more funnier to my co-workers to listen Finnish. Another day a waiter from the restaurant was listening the conversation I had with the Finnish guests. After that he came to me and ask what language was that. Oh, Finnish...

On the weekends I have been just chilling and laying in X-position in Barreiro with P. The next weekend is supposed to be sunny, so maybe then I'll go to Lisbon and explore just a bit more.

Now it's time to go to sleep and let's see what tomorrow will teach me. Boa noite, todos.

The first day

Today was the day I visited the hotel for the first time. Originally I was supposed to start in My Story Hotel Rossio, but since the opening delayed I started in other hotel, My Story Hotel Ouro, owned by the same chain. The plan is to be there for a month and I will be part of the opening of Rossio-hotel. How exciting is that? The hotel staff seemed really nice and welcoming, which made my day a lot easier.

My future every-day route to work is a bit different that I am used to in Finland. Since I am staying at Barreiro, I have to take a ferry every morning to Lisbon over Tejo-river. Fortunately the hotel is really near to Terreiro do Paco, the place where my ferry arrives, so it doesn't take so much time after all.

Anyway, today I was introduced to the hotel and the the policies that they have. Also I had a possibility to see the hotel in Rossio that they were still building. It was a really interesting experience. It would have been cool to add some pictures here but I really didn't feel like taking my phone and starting to take pictures middle of the introduction. I also got lot of information about old buildings and how challenging it is to renovate them. The other problem is that the rooms are not same sized.

Aaand yeah, everything is going fine. I got my Portuguese phone with a contract and tomorrow I will get my traveling card. On Friday me and P are moving to our own apartment. It's in the same building as this current one but on the lower floor. It has been really nice to see Portuguese friends again and hang out with them (greetings if you read this lol). I haven't got a mental breakdown yet, which is always a positive thing. 

Making of rasta. 

A preparação

So the time flies. Couple of months ago I started to search places in Lisbon I could perform my five month on-the-job learning for Helmi Business & Travel college. After many (I kid you not, I sent nearly 100 of applications) e-mails, I finally got a positive answer from one hotel. At that moment, you really couldn't see all what was coming. It was just somewhere in the future and I didn't have to worry about that for a while. The apartment in Portugal was already arranged since I am staying at my boyfriends (I'll call him "P" in this blog) parents place and the place is already familiar.

Before my departure I had to do some arrangements. Small details, but important. Taking care that I have enough meds I need for five months, buying enough contact lenses, ordering accounts to my other bank account (couldn't use it through internet), changing the type of my Finnish mobile phone connection and things like that. I also needed a bigger luggage bag, that I got for free from my aunt.

Luckily, we are still having the apartment in Finland. We were living together with P with one of our friends, so during these next five months we are still paying him a small rent, just to keep our stuff there and have a place to return.

Anyway, here we are now, just couple of days before the departure. To be honest, I am not really waiting for flying right now. I guess everybody who reads the news even a bit, knows about the accident that happened to AirAsia couple of days ago. I know flying is the safest way to travel, but still, these kinds of news aren't making me comfortable.

PS. I am not really enjoying writing this blog in English. Even though I'd consider my skills pretty okay, I am still struggling a bit. In the future when I am living in a country that doesn't use either English or Finnish, it would be nice to share own thoughts on my mother language.

As a cherry on the top, here is a picture of something I am really waiting for. The best beer ever, lovely and delicious Super Bock.

Até logo!