friday 13

Today might as well be my friday 13:

- woke up in the middle of the night by the loud sound of a cell phone alarme clock;

- couldn't fall asleep because of a tooth infection that had been building up during the week and today became unbearable;

- the thought of having it pulled out haunts me; 

- it's cold and rainy which usually are two conditions that don't go together;

- got a parking ticket;

- had to go to the docter and he perscribed an antibiotic, plus pain killers, plus some other stuff for my stomach... Hurray!!

On the brighter side, (cause for me there is always a bright side) I'm looking forward to a pleasant evening of whatever may come.

old books and dried flowers

Unexpected things are so nice.
Lately I have been spending much of my time flipping through old publications searching for photographs to illustrate the book we’re putting together about the Portugal's First Republic.
In a portuguese dictionary from 1882 I found a lovely dried pansy flower. I had this habbit some years ago to place poppy flowers within books so I can return to them years after and surprise myself.

I don't really have to worry about what music to listen to at work: I have N. to do the thinking for me and for which I always appreciate the choices. Heres one from today's playlist that I absolutely love!!

The art of waiting

The art of waiting is sublime. Waiting is having the ultimate capability of endurance, it is about resisting and enjoying that feeling. Knowing that it is in your power to make it happen quickly, but deliberately decide to take the long road. Learning to wait is a self-taught process and I have been learning to wait. In doing so, I added another item on my list, perhaps the most subjective one and certainly the only one that does not depend on my will to be accomplished. (Though I truly hope I can check it off by the end of this year…)

Having this list is also about waiting: for a certain event, for an opportunity, for time, for me.

Waiting was never a strong feature of mine. I am the type of person who wants to know how movies end and always is the first to open whatever is meant to be kept closed. Reeducating myself to wait still means I will arrive late to places and everyone will always wait for me!

But mostly, waiting it’s about expectation, it’s about slowing down, it’s about being patient, it’s about breathing in and holding it in, it’s about anxiety, it’s about knowing it may never come.

Waiting is hard and I know I am going to wait a while for it.

One

A year ago today.
I think he doesn't remember and I almost forgot.

Sandra: this one's for you!

Sandra and I were born on the same year, same month but different days, I see her every second year when she comes visit us in Portugal. Though separated by an ocean, in Vila Fria we are neighbors. A couple of years ago on her last visit, Sandra would get up early in the morning, cross the field that separates our houses and still in our pajamas we would have a complete early breakfast sitting on the picnic table under the persimmon tree.

I remember when we were kids and they came to visit us in Toronto. I always thought she was so lucky because her mom would let her grow her hair long and she could braid it all up in the evening and the next morning it would be fussy and wavy, so in style in the 90’s!! My sisters and I we had to keep it short.And now she's got the nicest natural curls!! B---h!!

Sandra always came to Portugal for summer holidays which meant beach, sun, and Olá icecreams. But this year was our special Christmas, so she came in the winter. Of course she spent the whole month saying “Gosh it’s so warm here!” Followed by: ""Aren't you hot?!" Crazy Canadian!

(And to think this was going to be the Christmas tree...)

Aside from the weather and opening the gifts at midnight, Sandra is almost a full grown Portuguese: she sometimes speaks right, she enjoys a good cup of starbucks coffee and listening to english Christmas carols!

One thing I enjoy about having Sandra over is that after breakfast, after lunch and after dinner we were always expecting a knock on the door followed by an "Olá"! Somehow my parents house seemed to be alot more fun! I pity not being able to spend more time with her here. But Sandra, next visit must be either Los Angeles or New York!! See you in the states!

mitochondria, apoptosis, metacaspase

My younger sibling has taught me so many new things! With Helena I have learnt original and interesting ways to improve conversation engagement:

- There is no better pick-up line than: “Did you know that metacaspase is directly related to cellular apoptosis?

- Or, I can now go to my local bakery and suggest: “Did you know you should strengthen the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in order to enhance your current production?”

- Or even, when we have guests over for dinner and suddenly run out of conversation topics, I can always rescue the evening from certain boredom with: “How about those mitochondria proteins..? Aren’t they so essential to multicellular forms of life?”

Anyways… what I am trying to say is congrats Helena on her hard work, endless sleepless nights and no social life for the past year it got her an 18 on her master’s thesis today!! Hurray!!

Unfriend

Every year the Oxford University Press announces the “Word of the Year”. The impact of online social networking conceived a new form of disconnecting: unfriend became word of the year for 2009.
I never thought I would disconnect someone from my list of friends from Facebook. But today, and by special request, I unfriended a long time friend. It doesn’t feel right, but I understand the circumstances.

The pilgrimage

There are those who take their pets for daily walks and those who walk themselves religiously to Sunday mass and there are those who go every Saturday to the feira da ladra…

Anna in Andalucia

We met last year. She was our guest through couchsurfing. We became friends and decided we should get together again but this time in Andalucia. She flew and I drove all the way to Malaga. It became a weekend road trip from Malaga to Marbella, to Ronda, to Seville and back to Malaga.

We talked, we laughed and ate tapas and drank claras and discussed our cultural differences: Anna is Russian, by the way! She spoke to me of her Christmas and New Year’s with her sister Julia, of her work as a photographer and her desire to be a mother. I spoke to her about my work, my list, my life in Lisbon.

We strolled around Malaga and came across Funny Beach; slept in a cozy hostel in Marbella’s casco antigo; almost swam in the Mediterranean; found our way to Ronda and nearly lost our car; got lost several times in Seville even with a map; I slept like a baby in an 8 dorm room and Anna wished our Italian dorm buddy would stop snoring just for 5 minutes; we watched flamenco and were very disappointed with an aqueduct.

At the end we had that awkward good-bye situation and promised to meet again but this time in Brussels.
До следующей поездки, возможно, немного больше земли к северу от Европы!