Patricia Westheimer, author, teacher and business writing consultant, is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She currently lives in Cascais, Portugal and in Paris, France. She is the principal author of Scott Foresman's Executive Writing Series. In addition, she writes a bi-weekly column for The Portugal NEWS (
To find out more and how you can contribute please follow the link: 
The mission of Americans in Portugal, founded in 2000, is to enhance the quality of life of expatriate Americans, their spouses, significant others living in the Lisbon area and to promote favorable relations between Americans residing in Portugal and the Portuguese community.Feel It
dated 2010-06-29 | posted in columns | topic People | permanent link
Feel It!
Last fall, on a Guincho beach cleanup a man I barely knew said, “ Hey Pat I heard you are looking for a bridge partner. I know someone who wants to play too.” After a little more probing I learned that this person, we’ll call him Rocky, was a good player and wanted someone to accompany him to the Bridge Federation in Lisbon. I answered that I was just a beginner then contacted three good bridge players I knew. All women. (I al ...
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
dated 2010-05-25 | posted in columns | topic People | permanent link
I spent the past week randomly looking, listening and observing in this part of Portugal. It occurred to me recently that I’ve never seen a black person working in a bank, insurance company, or in any firm of importance except to clean them up. It’s true that I live in Cascais, often referred to as the “Beverly Hills of Portugal”, but when I asked my banker if she knew of any black managers or tellers in Lisbon, she looked at me with a “ not ...
Who's Fiddling Here
dated 2010-05-10 | posted in columns | topic Economy | permanent link
And the Band Played On
If Nero fiddled while Rome burned, the Portuguese are not far behind. In the USA, where I spent the past two weeks, CNN blared the news about Greece and continually asked “Who’s next?” I cowered as commentators talked about Portugal, “a tiny country that can’t handle its debt.” Other journalists lumped Portugal with Spain. (Many Americans don’t know that Portugal is a separate country.) The two, broadc ...
Open House
dated 2010-04-20 | posted in columns | topic People | permanent link
My parents were educated, generous and inhospitable. They welcomed our nuclear family of four in our home, but no one else. As a young girl I played jacks at my neighbor’s house, spent the weekends at the country home of a friend and studied in the basement of my high school beau. It wasn’t that my parents disliked people: they just didn’t want them in our home. We had a large living room with a white, designer rug that spoke “Stay out.” Ev ...
Motherhood
dated 2010-04-06 | posted in columns | topic People | permanent link
I don’t know what Portugal does for unwed, indigent mothers, but I can tell you that my God daughter is lucky to be living in France. Susanna, 18, left this country in September, two months pregnant and poor. She took the advice of the SOS Village in Bicesse where she was raised from age 3, to go live near her father in France. Initially she was afraid: “What if he rejects me?” she said between her tears and fears. But after several phone calls ...