Um, hard to tell, each individual is an individual. I'm Portuguese and I find my girlfriend controlling too, she acts jealous for no reasons and I find that insulting - fortunately, there are many things I like about her, but all that being so possessive really bothers me. On the other hand, my ex-wife, who was French, seemed not to care enough. And she ended up betraying me. There must be some balance somewhere... Ok. Let's see, step by step... You being American (you are American, correct), maybe your makeup can be somewhat tacky in European standards. Of course, I don't know you and I simply can't say. Saying you "look like a stripper" sounds like an exaggeration to me... Being "too busy to talk to him" may seem like you don't care. What if he's too busy to talk to you too? Does that sound great? Hanging out with friends at night... That sounds like something that my ex would have done at times. I'd go "ok". It bothered me somewhat if she came back late but I believe in freedom and responsibility put together. And that also gave me some freedom to hang out with a couple of dear very old friends I play music with on friday nights, so... But in the end, she betrayed me and I can't help thinking that she may have betrayed me before. Oh, well. Now you're saying "you're better off without her". I agree. But still, she put me through a lot. Of course, you may be much more trustworthy, I grant you that. He wants to know your plans for the day... Hmm, nothing special about that, maybe, it may simply mean he cares. Or maybe he's being controlling. Who knows for sure? You do, more than me, that's certain. And, of course, you need to have plans. If you don't, like I usually don't, well, at least not exactly, it obviously gets harder to tell them to someone. It's different with me but my girlfriend, for example, talks a lot about what she did during the day, she has anecdotes and so forth and I appreciate that. Then she tell me I keep my things to myself. But in fact it's just that maybe I haven't got that much to say. Or maybe I tend to forget most things. Or maybe I'm afraid that she may feel jealous for no reason. He told you to call him when you got home from work... Well, maybe he just wanted to be with you, speak with you, maybe he wasn't really trying to keep tabs on you, maybe he just wants to keep in touch, that seems fairly simple to. So, are the Portuguese men possessive? I don't know because it may be a bit subjective. Maybe they are to a point. Maybe I am too. Or maybe I'm not. Subjective. Personally, I find Portuguese women to be possessive. Naturally, the difference between caring and not caring may lie there as well. I just wish people knew how to keep things in balance.
EDIT: I'm also forbidden to play the slots even though I like doing it from time to time. I do understand that I save money that way and that's the good point. The bad point is that controlling thing. If my gf finds out I ever go to a casino, she will break up no matter how much it may cost her. And what about this? I am a poet and I have a poetry blog with almost 400 entries by now. One of these days I was showing her my latest poems and then I noticed a new link to another poetry blog by some girl from Lisbon. Then, she went gloomy for a while and started "you don't really love me". And I said: "I don't? Of course I do". "Don't tell me you didn't know about that internet friend of yours. And she had that image of a young girl and I bet she's much older". And I went like: "What? I'm interested in as many links as I can get. That means more people will visit the blog. I couldn't care less if it's a guy or a girl. Blogs aren't meant for getting dates". And she went: "You're really not from this planet!". And I thought: "Wow! I'm glad I'm not!". To me, all that is surreal! And, yes, it may be a bit common. So maybe the Portuguese - men and women alike - are indeed controlling.
