Wednesday, 7 November 2007

Cling film

There are some standard questions that people considering moving here, or buying a second home here, always ask. In no particular order, these are:
  1. How long have you lived here?
  2. Where did you/how did you/how long did it take to learn Portuguese?
  3. How often do you go back to England?
  4. What do you miss most about home?
I have off pat answers for all of these, but I have been giving further consideration to number 4 recently. In the past I have missed music (but FNAC and Itunes have got that covered now), technology (FNAC and Ebay solve that), the pub (no real solution) and the odd friend. But yesterday, whilst in the kitchen, I realised there is something I miss more than all of these, and something that is nearly as infuriating as the poor standard of driving here. It is cling film.
I like things that do what they say, ergo cling film should be a film that clings. Not here. I looked cling film up in a Portuguese dictionary, and the definition was "a clear membrane, that will not stick to anything except itself. Useful for annoying idiots who try and cover food etc with it. "
I think it is a bloody conspiracy, as you end up using loads of cling film and wrap it around the plate 3 times so it sticks to itself. So, I am using 3 times as much cling film.
Someone, somewhere is an evil cling film billionaire. I'll get my revenge one day.
Update: I have just read that cling film accounts for 8% of Portugal's GDP. The plot thickens.