Greetings everyone!
Finally, we have a new laundry room. The windows/doors to enclose our kitchen balcony were finally installed a few weeks ago, which allowed us to move our washer/dryer out there, giving us much more space. Our previous closet/laundry room measured 4' 3" W x 3' 4" D. We had 2' 3" of space between the w/d and the wall to load and unload the laundry ... so it was a bit of a tight fit. The old space is now our new pantry.
Politics In Portugal Today
As we get nearer to the election, scheduled for March 10th, there are lots of strikes taking place on-again/off-again basis, i.e. teachers, prison guards, medical techs; to name a few. Police are striking, which may interfere with the election, because police are responsible for transporting ballots for counting. It is also affecting futbol games here in Portugal because there are not enough police to manage the crowds. Yet all in all, I'm not as concerned about the elections here as the ones in the U.S ... 'nough said.
We toured the University of Porto administration building recently with Nick's language class. The building is downtown near the famous bookstore Livaria Lello. I was most impressed with two paintings there depicting the Schools of Math and Science. Both paintings were done in 1917 by a famous Spanish painter, Veloso Salgado. Women dominate both of the paintings. In the science painting in particular, you have three women doing research: the woman at the microscope has a copy of the Origins of the Species on the shelf below the table, as well as a cage of rats. The women working on math problems are doing calculus and trigonometry. The various schools of study are actually located all around the city rather than on one big campus. They utilize space where they can find it, basically. Currently, they have over 35,000 students. Tuition for a Portuguese resident is approximately 700 Euros a year, which is staggeringly inexpensive. The school employs over 3,600 teachers/researchers of which 86% have doctorates and 46% are female.
(These photos are a bit distorted because I couldn't get a straight shot at the paintings but you get the idea).
Yesterday, my language instructor organized a tour of the Military Museum here in Porto, which was home to PIDE (the government/political police) during the Salazar regime. This is the same building where dissidents were interrogated and tortured, many of them journalists. When the regime fell on April 25, 1974 the "prisoners" were then released.The displays cover the whole history of wars including WWII and include a vast collection of miniatures that were once considered toys. It was mind boggling how many miniatures they have (12,000) and some even depict the Civil War in the U.S. Behind the main building is a large, more modern space where they display guns, swords, uniforms, tanks and even a bunker with sound effects that were rather frightening. There were lots of photos on display taken during the war in Angola, which was a Portuguese colony. I chatted with a gentleman in his 80's who actually served in Angola prior to the fall of the dictatorship. He told me that he married his girlfriend before leaving so that she would get his pension in the event of his death. Most of the men serving had never been outside of this country. Many of them were from small towns/villages in the center of Portugal and had never learned to read and write, so letters home had to be written by someone in the regiment who knew how to write. It was an interesting tour.
Climate change is affecting different areas of this tiny country much differently; case in point: it rained more in the north of Portugal, specifically around the Lima River area (north of us) during two weeks at the end of October to mid-November of 2023 than the past two years in the Algarve.
Finally, I'm making a little progress speaking Portuguese. In the past week I've had two conversations with a couple of Portuguese folks, one at the bus stop and another on the bus. Neither of these people spoke any English, and I stumbled my way through each conversation, but in both cases they were so kind and complimentary, not to mention excited that I'm learning their language. At the bus stop, Luisa, who initially engaged me in conversation about the rain, much of which I couldn't understand, started telling others who showed up that I was learning the language so I had a crowd excited for me. She then asked a young teenage girl if she knew how to speak English (yes) so she asked her to explain what she had been telling me ... that even the Portuguese people can't understand the bus schedules. Later, on the bus, it was Jose who was complaining about the slow traffic. After explaining that I speak very little of his language, he continued talking anyway. I was able to understand that his wife is German and that she had to learn Portuguese as well. He also mentioned the neighborhood where he lives, and I was able to tell him that I have a friend who lives in that same neighborhood. Small steps.
Wishing you all good health and a peaceful month ahead.
Adeus, abraços, e beijos.
MaryLou