Time for the second half of this recap – the emotional ups and downs of a month in Portugal. 

I had some wonderful experiences, including the boat ride in the Algarve, the exploration of the Gulbenkian Museum, and listening to the mesmerizing Fado music, which are found in previous posts.  Here are a few more to the list of highs:

Singing:  People are often surprised to hear that I sang with a band when I was in university.  It was so much fun, yet so long ago!  I tap into that joy occasionally with a cruise ship karaoke night in front of strangers, or more often, while cooking or cleaning my house, alone.  One of my bucket list ‘someday’ items, is to learn guitar, and I day dream about jamming with other musicians, knowing how to adjust keys for my voice and generate harmonies.  But for now, music in my life takes the form of having a reasonably fresh playlist on my phone.  So when a message was sent around that a Remote Year alum and a Remote Year staffer, were playing at a local bar AND wanted to know if there was anyone who wanted to step up for a song, I had to say yes.  I had to know what it would feel like to stand up again in front people I knew and sing.  I thought I would be nervous, but I don’t think I was.  I messed up lyrics, but whatever.  We weren’t producing a record, we were entertaining our friends, and ourselves.  It was so so so much fun!  And a little addictive.  So we’ll see what lies ahead.

Yoga:  The first day I got to Lisbon, I did some research for yoga studios nearby.  I found the Ministry of Yoga which seemed like a decent walk, through a different part of town than the co-working space.  Their website described the dedicated studio as well as a philosophy-based approach.  So I showed up that first Monday morning, got my butt kicked in that first class, and signed up for a monthly pass.  I made a commitment to myself that if I was in town on a weekday, then I would go to a class.  I was amazed, though not surprised, at how much weaker my left side was after all the time in the boot for the broken foot.  It felt good to gradually challenge it and start building it back up.  I was also curious about new poses, and I got a real rush of accomplishment with my assisted head stand, and a forearm stand with my feet on the wall.  These gave me a good dose of positive body image and gratitude for what my body can do, and all of the ways it makes my journey possible.  I think all of the yoga helped me walk a little taller, breathe a little deeper, and feel more peaceful.  I hope I can keep it up in the countries ahead.

Painting Tiles:  I had a special chance to spend a morning with an instructor, who shared the secrets of Portuguese tile painting.  This was a real high for multiple reasons.  A) It was a creative outlet which let me get in touch with my inner artist.  It felt good to just play and amaze myself with the results. B) It gave me a deeper appreciation for all of the tiles that I saw on the buildings in Portugal, especially the oldest ones.  The methods I used to paint a flower, were a continuation of the methods used centuries ago to paint flowers.  It is amazing to be part of that kind of continuum in a place with that depth of history.  C) It reinforced some of what I took away from my visit to the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum).  I got an even stronger appreciation for handmade tile work versus factory-made, and a greater awareness of how modern designs still connect to tradition.  

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Workshop with The Hum:  I saw a small note at our co-working space about a workshop that was being hosted in another co-working space in Lisbon*.  Given I am designing a new business related to workplace culture, the title “Patterns for Decentralised Organising” was quite intriguing.  I did some research on the trainers, watched one of their presentations**, and registered.  One of the ‘highs’ about the two day workshop was being immersed in topics that I have recently realized are what I have wished to dive into for many years.  I felt like a professional in this field, engaging in collaborative discussion, learning from everyone in the group, and making intellectual connections as well as reflecting more on my own perspectives and patterns.  One of the other ‘highs’ about the workshop was meeting some really fascinating people and by sharing this kind of interactive experience, they now hold a unique place in my network.  And as the universe works sometimes, I happily discovered that the woman I happened to be sitting next to, was a true kindred spirit – so much so I wished we had been able to spend more time together.  I am about to fly further and further away from Europe, but hopefully we will cross paths again soon.        

Those are some highs.  But life is never all highs.  Here are a few more reflections:

Rain and a Head Cold:  It felt like every day for the whole month, the default was to assume chilly and rainy unless deeply proven otherwise.  Even if it looked sunny and dry, within 15 minutes, that could notably change.  Having now sought out historical data, I know that Lisbon in November 2019 had more days of rain than any previous November in recent years.  And it had the third highest total amount of rain for a month in that city, in the last ten years.  Yikes!  But you may say, “Ann, it’s just some rain.  What’s the issue?”  Well, there are multiple issues.  A) Walking on their lovely cobblestone streets is pretty intense when they are even the slightest bit wet.  My healing/healed foot wasn’t bothering me, but I did not want to fall again so soon!  I’m sure my slow and methodical shuffle both uphill and downhill entertained a number of locals, while testing my core strength.  B) A number of destinations that are fun to find, hidden within courtyards and pedestrian centers, are not convenient for door-to-door taxi/Uber pick-up and drop-off.  If you are drenched just from walking around the corner to the street, then you may as well just keep sloshing along and save your money.  C) A drizzle that grows to a real downpour while you are walking to yoga, can really show you the exact moment when ‘water resistant’ needed to be ‘waterproof’ when it comes to rainwear.  D) Maybe the simple head cold I had over the weekend three of us went to Porto was independent from the weather, and maybe not.  But when you are already trying harder than usual to keep your energy up so as not to bring down the rest of your travel buddies and arranging the schedule to fit in a nap, it somehow feels even harder without rays of sunshine for a boost.*** I did, however, discover that drinking port (at least in Porto) has the effect of quieting a cough – fun fact.

Community Disconnects: Our first month together as a group had a heavy focus on getting to know each other.  Back in Split, we had lots of activities, lunches, and gatherings.  The layout of the co-working space made it pretty easy to do a quick scan to see who was there and offer some nods of acknowledgement.  The city was compact enough that quite regularly we would cross paths with each other in the Old Town, along the boardwalk, or at the beach bar.  It was exciting to figure out the commonalities and differences within our group and build our community.  In Lisbon, however, it being a very large city, the serendipity of crossing paths was extremely rare (and I didn’t hear of it happening.) The layout of the co-working space made it pretty hard to scan for friendly faces as there were two levels plus a roof top – it was quite a commitment to head all the way up there in the hopes of an “I see you” moment.  The calendar of activities was hampered somewhat by half our group taking the opportunity to hop over to Morocco for a week.  That trip in itself had the unintentional consequence of dividing the group, with a large gap in shared experiences that week.  We also went from the roommates being the ones we knew best and spent the most time with, to having friends in other apartments and meeting them for meals more often than strengthening new connections.  (The fact that I could not in the least figure out how to work the oven/microwave also dampened my initiative to cook full meals.)  And. We started the month grappling with the fact that a member of our group had left because of a code of conduct infraction.  After a month of embracing the concepts of community, inclusion, and respect, we were each suddenly forced to figure out if our community had a boundary.  Was he fully excluded from being “one of us”, or did we each still have a relationship with him as he takes his new path?  Entitlement (we are paying for this), reputation (Remote Year is a business), and empathy (he has some tough stuff to tackle and support can make a big difference in how successful he is) – these are hard to reconcile yet alone talk about, especially for a community that basically just met each other.  So overall – it was a weird month for the group dynamics.

That’s the recap for Lisbon, Portugal, and the second month of traveling.  It started to stretch our relationships and how we build our community, but it also gave us some chances to go out on our own more and try being a little more independent than in the first month.  I truly enjoyed Portugal, and expect I will return – though maybe in a drier season!  Obrigada!

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* The workshop was in a repurposed industrial building, within the now ‘hip’ area named the LX Factory.  It has street art, start-ups, a bookstore in an old print shop, a combo juice bar and physical therapy business, and plenty of restaurants and beer festivals.  Definitely worth checking out!

** Here is a link to Nati and Richard’s presentation (18 minutes) at the 2018 Intersection Conference: <https://youtu.be/ttxt1iyzciY>

*** At the pharmacy, when I asked for cold medicine, I started to use the camera feature on the Google Translate app I wrote about in a previous post, and the pharmacist was so amazed that she called her colleague over to see the magic that let me fully understand the package of pills.