Shopping Madness

The apartment that we are renting is partially furnished. In this case, it has beds, armoires, bookshelves, and a dining table with chairs. In the kitchen, there was a stove, but we supplied the fridge and the washing machine. That’s it! And the beds… really uncomfortable.

So we are basically starting from scratch. This may actually be the first time I’ve done this, because when I got my first apartment my family supplied the basics. And I’ve never been one to replace things for decorative purposes.

When we came here in early July, we bought the aforementioned appliances, as well as a mattress and bed frame, pillows, sheet, pillowcases, and towels; a couch and chair; some pans and basic kitchen items. The large items were delivered, and since we had a large haul even without the furniture we took an Uber back to the house because the Mar Shopping Center was a long metro, walk, and bus ride away.

Now we’re here for good and settling in. We are trying to live in a Portuguese way as much as possible. Using the fruit and vegetable vendors on our street and the nearby mini-mart. Buying bread every other day. Oh, that bread is good.

Instead of Mar Shopping, we go to a nearby mall (only a few stops on the metro and a short walk). No Uber, just buying what we can carry in our bags. And oh, yes, the old lady cart:

Does this shopping cart make me look old?

There is a “hipermarket” at the mall, which is like a Super Target or Walmart – food, housewares, plants, office supplies, toiletries, pillows, laundry baskets, and much more.

All of which we’ve bought at the hipermarket over the past week. We also stopped by the vodafone to get the voicemail on our phone fixed, the “Gato Preto” housewares store, and something called the Laughing Tiger. The Laughing Tiger is like a super-tiny IKEA with a maze and a similar feel but crammed into a small shop.

So: plates, bowls, glasses, more kitchen linens, and food storage. Small plants, pots, and potting soil.

Whew! We’re just getting tired of that place. It’s more time in a mall environment than either of us has spent in more than a decade.

I’m very aware as we’re considering what to buy that this is a great opportunity to keep things simple. To not load up with tons of extras that will need to be decluttered later! It does take some extra work and thought. An old blog post I wrote, Maximouser to the Rescue talks a little about the difficulties of buying things when there is so many options available.