(while reading please enjoy some pictures I’ve taken!)

“Try not to smile at people on the street… to us it’s a little freaky”. This was one of the top five “don’t do these things while you’re in Portugal” items during orientation with my sponsoring organization FLAD (Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento) made sure to emphasize. It caught me completely off guard because what do you mean “don’t smile”? While there are plenty of cultural differences like mealtimes, language organization, and work life balance, “don’t smile at people” seemed like an odd “requirement”. However, the meaning behind it is somewhat poetic and a reflection of Portuguese society and social norms. 

It is often assumed that the Portuguese are warm and welcoming people, and many are “disillusioned” when they arrive and are greeted with what seems like a cold shoulder, not realizing that the warm welcome they expect lies beneath a “shell”. The very common American custom of smiling at strangers on the street is not received well here and is instead met with confused and sometimes irritated looks. For the USA, this smile is almost a recognition of existence, noting that you and the other person made eye contact and acknowledged each other. However, here in Portugal, a smile to a stranger on the street is so out of place it may as well be a polar bear in the desert. For the Portuguese, this acknowledgement of existence comes through a simple “bom dia” (good morning) or “boa tarde” (good afternoon), while a smile communicates familiarity and camaraderie, which you often don’t have with any given passerby. This is one of millions of examples of how the Portuguese view personal relationships differently than the US.

Here in Portugal, the initial interaction with a person may seem “sterile”. Communication may be blunt, simple, and to the point. However, as time passes and you get to know people, like coworkers, more and more, you start to see them open up, become more personable, and generous. In comparison, the US can sometimes operate the opposite way in which you are open, giving, and kind in first interactions and then can become distant or guarded after this first “meeting”. This directly correlates with “street smiling” in Portugal. While you may smile on the street at a stranger, it is “without basis” and falls flat, but if you see a coworker or a friend, it is welcomed, invited, and may lead to a larger conversation. 

These small minutiae of cultural differences can have an incredible impact on not only how you are perceived in a different country, but also how you consider and unknowingly judge a different culture. Recognizing another person’s existence doesn’t have to always come in the form of a smile, sometimes it can just be as simple as saying “hello”.