awakened life project central portugal

A few days ago Pete and I needed to go to Coimbra but first we were going to stop in Benfeita at the house that our friend Nancy is in the process of buying.

First thing you need to know is that even though Nancy hasn’t bought the house yet and won’t for another couple of months Alice (the owner of the house) has already turned over the keys to us. Nancy (and Alice) has given us free use of the house so when our generator decided to stop working which means our washing machine has no power then we decided to go and check out Nancy’s washing machine. What could be better, drop in a load on our way to Coimbra and pick it up on the way back? How organized is that?

So we drive to Nancy’s house. As we arrived (we hadn’t been there but once or twice before) people start came out of nowhere. All of a sudden the lady down the street (Alda) was there, then the next door neighbor, and then others we didn’t even know were there, lots of activity for a Saturday morning! We went inside to figure out how to use the washer, when I say ‘we’ I mean all of us went inside!

First the cord from the washer doesn’t reach the electrical socket and we don’t have an extension cord so one man says we can borrow his and off he goes to get it.

He returns and we plug in. Using the ‘group mind’ available to us we figured out all the buttons and the machine starts chugging away, the crowd dispersed at our success. Pete and I both look at each other and exclaim, “Esta Bem!’ (That’s good!) and at that very moment the electricity goes out. After several attempts with the circuit breaker Alda reappears and asks what the problem is. She figures it out and says that Alice probably has the power turned on the lowest setting to save electricity and we wouldn’t be able to change it until the next week when the EP office is open.

So one minute we are in ‘esta bem’ land and the next we have wet soggy clothes and no where to wash them. AHHH but wait – Alda is right there with a solution, she says bring our clothes to her house and she will wash them for us! We actually couldn’t believe it, not wanting to take advantage of her we picked out the clothes we needed washed the most and would leave the rest for later.

We took these to Alda and she said to get the rest of the clothes and take them to Alice’s house for her to wash them! I have to say I hesitated to show up unannounced at the woman’s house who Nancy is buying her house from with my dirty clothes and asked her to do my laundry! Alda says ‘nao problema’ and takes us to Alice’s house. She explains the situation and Alice says sure bring the clothes down. Talk about Portuguese hospitality!

But wait, there’s more!

We arrive back in Benfeita after our trip to Coimbra a bit late, around 6:30 pm. We first go to Alice’s house. Not only did she do one load of our laundry but she did two! We talked a bit around her woodstove and then headed to Alda’s. Alda wasn’t there, we checked in her garage but didn’t see our clothes so we set it up with Alice to come back the next morning around 11 to pick them up.

Once we got home I hung everything up. We have limited line space and no sun so getting laundry to dry is a marathon adventure.

The next morning I drive back to Benfeita. It’s a beautiful, bright sunny morning. I pull up in front of Alda’s house and I hear Alice calling me, she’s hanging out her window telling me to come down.

When I got to Alice’s house she took me inside. She had a beautiful sheepskin coat that was given to her and was too small. It was brand new and she wanted to give it to me. I loved it and was happy that it fit perfectly. I’m not sure if she thinks I’m not such a snappy dresser but she also said she has a lot of family and they have a lot more clothes that would fit me – at least that’s what I think she said, since my Portuguese is pretty basic, I figure I’ll just wait and see what happens!

So off I go to Alda’s house in my new coat to pick up my wet laundry, wondering where am I going to hang it all up! When I came to Benfeita the day before I hadn’t planned on doing all the laundry in one go, I had the ‘phased approach’ planned so this was going to take some creativity.

Alda meets me with a big smile and takes me to the back of her house where the last bit of my laundry is happily hanging on her line in the sun and the rest is neatly folded on the table! In one way I wasn’t surprised and at the same time there was something so sweet about all that was happening I just had to smile.

You have to understand women have very defined rolls here and laundry definitely falls under the woman’s role. They take great pride in laundry, cooking and cleaning so I wasn’t surprised when Alda went on and on that she hung the clothes up so they wouldn’t wrinkle and which ones were a little wet still and how I should separate those from the dry ones. One shirt of Pete’s she wanted to make sure I ironed it correctly; I didn’t have the heart (or the Portuguese ability) to tell her I didn’t have an iron. If I did I’m sure someone would give me one on my next trip.

Anyway as I drove away from Benfeita I was warmed by the hospitality and realness of the people here. One day I have a bunch of dirty laundry and a washing machine with no power, the next day I have a bunch of clean clothes, a new coat, a smile on my face and happiness in my heart. Everyday I learn more and more from the people here about how important it is slow down and be kind to each other. In contrast I feel my own speediness and am thrilled to have such beautiful people to learn from.

So a funny thing happened on the way to Coimbra…

Cheers!

Cynthia

A while back we were looking for a woodburning stove. We didn’t want the generic ones we saw in the stores, we wanted something more unique. So as it happens here in Portugal we put the word out to a few people and low and behold our friend Dick knew someone who knew someone who sold stoves!

This is how we found John. What a character and great guy. He’s American and lived in Denmark for 20 years. 2 years ago he moved to Portugal and brought with him a truck full of German, Dutch, Swedish stoves, most are antiques.

He is passionate about stoves and going into his house is like a stove museum! He also is passionate about motorcycles so mixed in with the stoves is a Harley and BMW. If one goes there you will also meet Jessica the blind English Bulldog.

Prices range from 300 euros to 850 euros. Please give John a call 239 971 039 if you are interested in seeing any of his stoves. Heres’ a few photos! Cheers, Cynthia

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The deal is done, the sale is complete! On December 3^rd we became the official custodians of Quinta da Mizarela. It’s been a beautiful process getting to know the owners and the people of the surrounding villages. The final process proved to be just as beautiful.

We met everyone at 2:30 on a Monday at the Notary Office in Arganil. When I say everyone I mean everyone! Because we were actually buying from two sets of owners everyone who was involved with the ownership had to sign the official papers.

So we had Antonio (the spoonmaker), Antonio’s mother Celeste, and Antonio’s wife (Fernanda) there.

Then there was Elsa’s bit of the property. So Elsa was there, Elsa’s grandmother and Elsa’s husband.

As we waited in the office it was very sweet. The men were at the counter and all of the women sat in a row in chairs. Fernanda was crying as it hit her that they were actually selling the property and I knelt in front of her to tell her how happy and grateful I was to be buying the quinta. I’m not sure she really knew what to do with me as we had never met before but I didn’t care, I just wanted her to know that I loved the land as she did.

Elsa’s grandmother and Celeste spoke of their love for the land (and of course how great the water is and how big the potatoes will grow!). Elsa said she had a dream that her grandfather was angry with her for selling the land. She told her grandmother and her grandmother told her she was crazy!

With my limited Portuguese and Elsa’s limited English we were able to communicate; although most of the communication was through the heart. They were so beautiful and I could feel their happiness, sadness, joy and trust. I told them I would take very good care of the land and they didn’t need to worry.

When we handed the check to Antonio he also was in tears. He’s such a sweet man and it means a lot to him to not only sell the land but also to have the land revived. The tears were quickly followed up with helpful suggestions on how to prune the olive trees.

I felt very honored to be trusted by this group of people as they entrusted us with the land they all loved so much.

It was finally time to go into inner office. It was all very formal and official as we sat around a huge table. The notary sat at another table in front of us and read all the papers in Portuguese and then in English. It was quite a ceremony and it continued to hit me the responsibility that Pete and I were taking on. We were not just signing papers and paying money, it was much bigger than that. The weight and joy of the responsibility came over me.

Celeste was first to sign and we found out that she couldn’t sign her name so she used her fingerprint. After that one at a time we all signed the papers.

In a way it was very simple and non-dramatic and at the same time something very beautiful occurred. Pete and I both feel the obligation that we have to create this project not only for the people in the room that day but to the higher power that has guided us here.

For me it is quite something to have the sale completed. I woke up the next morning and felt deeply happy. The first chapter is now complete and we are on to chapter two. Doors continue to open for us; I can’t believe how full our days are. So much to do, sometimes completely overwhelming but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, doing anything else!

Thank you to everyone who has supported us through this process! Stay tuned…

Cynthia