To be or not to be... Portuguese?

So I was procrastinating and generally wasting time a couple days ago (as I am, in fact, doing again right now) by wandering around Ipanema. In the course of my amblings in and out of stores I had not one, but two different people, in different places, at different times, think I was Portuguese!

In the first case, I was in some super-expensive store (full, of course, of jeans and shirts all faded and ripped to a perfection that justified their R$500 price-tags) in super-touristy Ipanema, and a sales-lady I was chatting to asked where I was from.
"California"
"No way... Seriously? I don't believe you!"
"Why? Yeah, I'm from California. Where did you think I was from?"
"I thought you were from Portugal!"
[Whoa! My Portuguese is good enough for someone to think I'm a native speaker??? Awesome!]
"Seriously??
[Oh wait a second... does that mean I have a Portuguese accent? The Portuguese-Portuguese accent is hideous!]
Wait a second - are you saying I have a Portuguese accent?"
"Yeah, a little bit"
"That's terrible! Portuguese accents are soooo ugly!"
"Uh... my entire family is from Portugal."
[Ahhhhhh crap.]
"I'm so sorry! I... uh... you know, this R$430 shirt looks way nicer all of a sudden!"

So it's official. I can put my foot in my mouth in TWO languages now!

(Gotta love Google Image Search)

The second instance wasn't nearly as... eventful. Another sales-guy in another store just asked me if I was Portuguese. I said "No, I'm from California" and asked what about my accent made me sound Portuguese, since it was the second time that day. He gave me some explanation which I only half-paid attention too, because I have the attention span of -- Hey look! There's a pretty bird outside!