I'm still here.

Worst week ever. Complete 180° turn. Life shaken, if not stirred. Recovering. Feeling better. Rising slowly from the flames. Will be stronger for it. You just whatch me.

Take the pebble from my hand, grasshopper....

I trully believe that H is a superhero. For real. The mild mannered graphic artist (and a good one at that, check his Blog, link on the right.) is probably a Kung Fu fighting, spandex wearing, masked caped crusader, jumping over the nightime city's roofs. Either that or he has a cybernetic endoskeleton, and he's here from the future to kill us all. Jury's still out on that one. Oh, and he dances salsa and kizomba and the like. Actually, he teaches them. See what I mean? Seriously, if you see him around, try and see if he's wearing the utility belt by mistake (I haven't had any luck yet). But in his secret identity he's an amazing guy and even better friend. And he's T's husband, so that's another point in his favour. Whatch the night sky, that's all I'm saying....

Portugal is the best place on the planet! (more or less)

Well, almost. There are minor drawbacks. The health system. The justice system. The endless burocracy. The stone-boyling heat in the Summer. The cost of actually living there (cheaper than UK, but we earn much less). But there are good bits too. Mild Winters. Very friendly people. Great art and history. Fantastic beaches. Amazing food, the healthy kind. (If you like cod, we have 365 distinct ways to prepare it - really!) Wines that are at par with the best in the world. I'm really proud to be portuguese. I think its a great place to grow up and live in, and although destiny brought me to England, a bit of my heart wll always be there, basking in the afternoon Sun. Os tugas sao os maiores! :)

By the blind eye of Odin, I think I'm going native....

I was born and raised in a place that is green and lush with plant life, that has geckos in every stone wall over the Summer, and were people eat loads of fruit and veg. And meat and fish, obviously. Really, really good stuff. What we don't do, however - although were big on both of them, separately - is put milk in tea. Ever. You might as well slap your grandmother or kick a small child. It would be ruining a perfectly good cup of milk, and a equally perfect cup of milk. I read somewhere that is the way the Indians (Subcontinent, not native Americans) had tea, and the British just picked it up. And yeast extract, ye Gods, that sounds like something that would be a side-product of beer making, and the concept of putting it on bread would not have occurred to anyone. However.... I must say that, after 4 1/2 years of residence, I like both of these products. Yes, yes, I know. I'm still surprised by the British on a daily basis and bits of their culture will never make sense to me, but I started to like both milky tea and Marmite. I still prefer coffee and butter and cheese, but I have found that there is room for the local traditions. Does this mean I'm going native? Maybe. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. I just wish I could see the Sun more often around here....