A lot happened in November.

First of all, I lost my job.
I didn't have a contract so technically they could just ditch me any time, with no explanations. Aaaand that's pretty much what happened.

No reason, no warning, no conversation. 
It was like being dumped with a message, but without the message.

This thaught me the valuable lesson that, in this economy, all employers suck and will treat like you are disposable. All of them. Even the ones that used to be nice and make small talk and offer you a beer. Even those.

Clearly, I still have a lot of anger inside and, according to my friends, have spent the last month emotionally exploding at the oddest occasions:

Got infuriated about some new sexist lottery campaign and almost cried in the streets,
 
 
screamed at other people's facebook status,

and discovered the concept of passive-agressive cleaning.


A few days ago I went back to pick up my things from the hostel. Kind of like in the movies when the person carries back a little carton box with framed photos and the plant they had sitting on the desk.
Except that all my belongings were a tower of empty tupperwares.

it says a lot about my priorities

And suddenly I'm back to having people ask me about what are my plans now ? (Nobody did that in the last few months because maybe they really thought being a low paid part-time receptionist was my life plan.)

Having to repeatedly explain why I'm not working anymore and how clueless I am about what to do next isn't exactly helping my grim mood. But, luckily, a few nice things came in the way this month to distract me from turning into a grumpy monster:

Started vintage jazz classes.
They do jazz hands. Not ironically.
I'm fairly tall and thin and vintage jazz is the sort of dance that always makes me look like a clumsy grasshopper, even when I'm doing the steps right. 

Which can be both awkward and liberating, depending on the day.



Went to TWO Autumn parties.
"Let's all celebrate the season and roast chestnuts in our tiny and weak student-apartment hovens!"

Gave a talk in my old faculty (while with a fever.)
In my defense, I didn't know I had a fever because it had been 8 years since I had been that sick. I just felt weird and thought it was nervousness. Immediately after the presentation (that went surprisingly well, by the way!) I fell ill and stayed in bed for 2 days watching nothing but crime series. all. day. long.

Started working on a french translation of my book.
The publisher sent me the translated text last week and it's really funny to read my own material in a new language. 

 

In spite of all that, I'm glad this month is over and I'm very ready for December's present-giving, mulled wine drinking, and blinking lights. This year I'll need a full shower of Christmas spirit. 

or at least this suit:

Baby, it's cold inside.

Let's say you're an erasmus who moved to Porto this semester. Or you're just living on your own for the first time and never experienced the reality of student apartments. Welcome. I made this guide for you, and it's a collection of all the knowledge that kept me warm kept me from freezing this last 6 years.

ADVISE FOR SURVIVING WINTER IN PORTO.

Fix your room.
Porto's housing prices are pretty low compared to other cities in Europe. You probably got excited about renting a huge room for only 200 euros per month, right? 
You were very happy about having large wide windows, and so much space you could fit a whole mariachi band in there.

But now winter started and you discovered bigger rooms are colder rooms.
Don't worry, there are still a few things you can do to make both your room and your house better:

    - Buy rugs. They are magical.
    

    - Check if wind is entering through the windows and doors. It probably is, in that case buy some of those sand-snake thingies (I don't know the name, they look like this.). There was a time I just rolled some teatowels and put them along my window frame and it worked too.

    - Close the blinds at night.
    If you are foreign there's a big chance you never used those ugly blinds almost every house in Portugal has:

They are there for a reason. Usually windows are not very thick and they don't close so well. The blinds will protect you from the sun and heat in the summer and the cold in the winter.
 
Get a heater. 
Here are the choices:
Oil heater: it heats up slower but it's less energy consuming.

Space heaters:

They warm up a room much faster, but consume much more energy. Unlike oil heaters, this ones consume the oxygen in the room. So there's a risk of monoxide poisoning if you're not careful.

If you can't afford a heater, let this english sailorman teach you how to build your own with nothing but a bread tin, ceramic flower pots and Ikea candles:



Alternative/complementary heating devices:
Electric bed cover - They stopped selling this in a lot of countires, but not in Portugal! Just remember to turn it off before going to sleep, because they may lead to some fire hazards.

If you don't trust yourself with a bed cover maybe just stick to a hot water bottle.

a classic

and, if you are a super clumsy human being and always end up spilling boiling water when trying to refill them, there are microwaveable heating bags made of lavander and seeds that are safer and smell good. If you're crafty, you can make one yourself: Fillings can include rice, wheat, millet seeds, flax seeds, beans...

Let me introduce you to polar fleece 
Maybe you never had winter pyjamas. Maybe you never even bought pyjamas, at all. 
Well, in Porto you'll need them.

"What do you mean You sleep in your underwear?"

Nowadays you can buy bed sheets AND pyjamas made of polar fleece. That's the warmest combination invented my man. Also, polar fleece maintains the heat, so if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night you'll come back to a really warm bed!
There's only one downside to it: it's too effective. 
When I first bought polar fleece sheets my bed was so warm and confortable it got much harder to get out of bed in the morning, and I missed classes more often.

Exercise
I never really did this. 

But I lived with a girl who would go to her room and exercise with a pilates ball when she was cold. And it worked. 
I'm more in the lazy side of the spectrum and rather just wear more clothes and eat hot stuff, but her technique is probably the healthiest and you may want to consider it.

United we'll make it
Call your friends. Get together in one room (preferably the kitchen) cook something in the oven. Celebrate the winter, hug and be hugged because this is the best weather for that!