The good kind of wandering

"Not all those who wander are lost."

– J.R.R. Tolkien

Tamale Pie and white wine at my house with my really funny and down-to-earth coworker; a Corpus Christi procession in downtown Lisbon; me listening to Mariachi music at a Mexican restaurant in Algés, with mi corazon. 

What I've been doing lately...

...among other things, "folcloring"!

As of December, Daniel and I have been trying to learn Poruguese folclore dancing at the Rancho Folclorico Casa do Minho em Lisboa. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ698QGscXQ). We haven't learned the dances well enough to be able to dance in the shows this summer, but we stand on stage dressed up as the newlyweds. These are the traditional bride and groom outfits from the most northern part of Portugal, Minho. It's so fun!

Portuguese angst

I thought this graffitti I saw on the train last week was funny and sad, but a perfect summary of how Portuguese people feel about government and life:

"The government of Passos Coelho [current Portuguese prime minister] and the BPN gang (Cavaco's friends) [Cavaco = current Portuguese president) ruined our lives! Sons of *?!$*!"

Except, of course, some people express it more eloquently. 

Grace and gift

"Love and life according to the Gospel cannot be thought of first and foremost as a kind of precept, because what they demand is beyond man's abilities. They are possible only as the result of a gift of God who heals, restores and transforms the human heart by his grace: [...] we are speaking of a possibility opened up to man exclusively by grace, by the gift of God, by his love." (Veritatis Splendor 23, 24).

Pictures from the Alentejo this weekend...

England, France, Saudi Arabia, America, Portugal...?!

Hanging out with my sister's crazy English and French colleagues, plus a Saudi Arabian, at an American diner while drinking Welch's Grape Soda... in Portugal? Divine. I loved hearing the "habibi" (sweetheart in Arabic) being tossed around everywhere and finding out about the VERY different culture called the MIDDLE EAST. I mean really, I didn't even know what kinds of questions to ask someone who lives in a country where all women wear burkas. Crazy. So I asked who is top suggestions for Arabic music were. And they are: Mohamed Abdo (Saudi), Om Kolthom (Egyptian) and Karmin Suliman (Egyptian)... winner of Arab Idol (?). 

Pictures of us at the diner and overlooking the Cascais marina.