This blog was meant to be published a month ago, but, well, life and Morocco happened. A long, wet March had us all looking forward to sunnier days. Even the seagulls seemed to wish for a bit of shelter. April brought big improvements, but today on May 1st, an uncomfortable chill drifts in through the windows and wraps itself around me. There is gusting rain, mixed with bits of ice pellets. It’s a pull-out-the-homemade-vegetable-soup kind of day.

It’s Been a While

January launched a 3-month hiatus that involved flu (we call it gripe), a relapse, then a stubborn UTI that required multiple rounds of antibiotics. The wet, chilly winter inspired the urge to hibernate, and that’s what I did. I’m back now, at full speed, getting in lots of walking between rain showers.

Wine Tasting at Portus Wine

^{Left, my friends Ryan and Eric; center, Sergio flames Portuguese sausages to enjoy with Douro reds; right, Eric shot me shooting him. Gratitude to Ryan for organizing this event; we raised another good sum to benefit the Family Planning Association of Portugal.}

In February, our Porto Kind! group gathered for an evening wine tasting at Portus Wine. The owner, Sergio, is one of the top wine sommeliers in Portugal. He presented some wonderful Portuguese wines, paired with delicious traditional appetizers prepared by his wife, Carla. Although Port wine and Douro wines get the most publicity, Portugal produces a wide variety of quality wines from every region. Sergio has a passion for showing them off. If you come to Porto, this is the perfect place to experience a wine tasting. It’s small, intimate and non-touristy.

Busted!

Last April my Stop That Thief blog described a jewelry store robbery where I unsuccessfully tried to slow down the thief so he could be apprehended. Two weeks ago, a detective from the Polícia de Segurança Pública (National Public Security Police) rang my doorbell to inform me the culprit had been arrested. He requested that I come to police headquarters to give a witness statement, which I did on Tuesday. A translator assisted us as he carefully typed out my description of the event, then had me sign it. I will be called to serve as a witness at the court proceedings, which should be interesting, since I don’t know anything about the processes here.

Detective Moreira said they identified the thief from the phone that I retrieved on the street. A search to apprehend him for the theft of over 53,000€ (about $57,000) in jewelry ensued. Then his girlfriend called in a domestic abuse emergency. When the police arrested him, they learned he was wanted on the robbery charge, and off he went to jail. “I hope his girlfriend is done with him,” I said. “No,” replied Moreira, “she is visiting him at the jail now. She has his baby.” And so it goes.

Fazer. Eu faço. Tu fazes. Ele faz. Nós fazemos. Elas fazem.

I’m deep into the swamp of conjugation memorization in Portuguese. #Ann Hardee, you know how fun that is! It’s more fun than filling out tax returns. Less fun than cleaning grout. Speaking of tax returns, I’m navigating the Portuguese tax system for the first time. What’s it like? Let’s just say it makes me eager to go back to memorizing regular and irregular Portuguese verbs in all their glorious iterations.

This is the current state of my Portuguese language skill. Just because I can manage to say something understandable, it doesn’t mean I’ll comprehend their rapid-fire, “we’re not in language class” response. Liz and Eduardo from Talk the Streets give me “much improved” feedback, and it’s a fun community of students.

It Runs in the Family…

The urge to see what’s over the next hill runs in our family. This is my brother, Bob, taking a break on the Trans America Trail. He outfitted his 4Runner for camping and rough terrain, then drove from Hatteras, North Carolina to Port Oxford, Oregon, on the most remote and rudimentary backroads available. He was accompanied on the first half of the long haul with Pokey, the family heirloom cat, but the second half was deemed too rugged, so Pokey lounged at a kitty resort while Bob forged westward. He documented every mile with his GoPro, and his videos reveal extraordinary American landscapes. It’s another of many reasons I’m proud of my big brother.

Whoa! I See Blue Sky.

Time to grab a jacket and hit the streets! Thanks for reading this. Just click Subscribe below to be informed about future articles. See you next time.

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