Author: hulda98

22. July 2018

Today is a warm wonderful day here in Penela.

This summer is the coldest in 30 years and no wonder that I keep complaining!

But, today is wonderful.

Yesterday evening the sky was full of beauty and the colours dancing around even though just few meters away there was dark cloud sulking and wanting to spread water all over.

The water did not come. I think the angels are on holiday now.

Yesterday there were fires about 200 km away from me. People panicked and left their cars remembering last year’s tragedy when people lost their lives in the fires. Some left their cars and began walking.

You would think that a summer like this one would provide us with fireless year, but no, that is not the case. The arsonists find their way.

So, what is new?

What is on my mind?

Why am I not writing every day?

I am struggling with my heart. It is sick and I am tired all the time. I don´t know how this will end but now I beginning to worry a little bit. I should visit my handsome heart doctor soon, but I am still hoping that I will recover.

Anyway, have you ever thought about all the ads that tell you if you buy this and that you will be young forever and not to mention how beautiful you will be?

We open the TV and there the ads are.

We open the newspaper and there they are, all the offers to make you wonderfully healthy and beautiful in just 10 days or maybe less.

If only life was so simple or maybe it would not be as much fun struggling with the wrinkles and extra fat and everything.

I think our minds are the most important. Keeping a healthy mind is what makes us young whatever age we are at.

I love the saying here in Portugal that people have this or that many years. It is somehow so dignified instead of saying I am this and that old.

Old is wonderful if you are healthy.

I am grateful for every day and Friday I had a singing lesson which always makes me feel better. My energy is down. My breathing is strange and I have forgotten and made mistakes since my last lesson. Then it is just like everything else in our live. I stand up again. I refresh my memory and pick up what I already know and practise again. Repetition, repetition and more repetition is the goal.

It´s the same with a new language.

Repetition is what pays off. Everyday practise is what is needed.

Walking slowly when tired is better than not walking.

Drinking a lot of water when not thirsty is good!

Finding your balance with simple exercises is super.

Making time to meditate and think about nothing is even better.

There are no quick solutions but if we believe in them that is ok.

Patience might be the word for me today. Patience and optimistic might walk hand in hand these days and become prosperous.

It feels good to be able to put on a summer dress and listen to the birds singing and watching the flowers bloom.

Gratitude is good. I love the beautiful flowers and their wonderful colours. Because of the cold summer the colours are brighter.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

 

18. July 2018

The summer here in Portugal has been cold.

There have been days with no sunshine and feeling like a cold spring day.

The upside of this is that we don´t have many fires on the mainland so far.

Today is a cloudy cold day here in Penela, which is nothing new this summer.

I hope the fires in Sweden wont spread too far but everyone has to be prepared if the wind takes off and spreads the flames.

If we are not used to the fires we think everything is so far away that we are ok. Just be careful and make sure you have got enough water close to your house.

I saw that there have been heavy rains in Fuzhou.

When I think about it, the Chinese government did me a favour when not granting me permanent residence.

The main reason is that had I lived in China now I would not have gotten my pension from Iceland.

The rules are ridiculous and if I live outside EU and not in US or Canada I would not get my pension.

So living in Portugal, not in the beginning, by choice, is a blessing. Here I get my pension from Iceland and pay my taxes to the Portuguese society. I do sometimes think about what happens if I get old and need help with the paperwork to Iceland. That is complicated and might become a problem. I just hope I won’t get that old.

I have been struggling with my heart for some time now and sometimes I am worried, a tiny bit, but then I look at my pendant and know that I will not be kept alive if something happens. I will just pass away peacefully, without any interference. That feels good. My father left this earth in his sleep. I would like that.

I have to admit, once again, that I am worried about our planet, having Trump in the White House.

Seeing him standing next to Putin was horrible. There was one powerful man there, and that was not Trump. You could see on Putin´s face how happy he was and he acted like the one in control.

What is it that he has on Trump? There is something, I am sure about it.

The pathetic explanation Trump gave yesterday about him saying that he believed that Russia did not interfere in the election was something you would not be able to make up.

He is pathetic and his wife even worse, putting up with everything just for the money and power. There is no way she can be enjoying the beast.

Well, this is me just rumbling and I need to make something to eat and then there is singing and exercising.

We need to remember that food is important, but getting fat is not necessary.

I love cooking for myself and it is wonderful not having anyone grunting over the healthy diet.

Today I want us to remember the word GRATITUDE. It is important to be grateful when times are like they are now. It helps us to make it through the day.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

15th of July 2018

The weather is strange.

One of my friends said to me yesterday that we would perhaps have summer in December instead of Christmas.

Here in Penela the forecast is for the next 7 days less than 27 every day and even rain tomorrow in the forecast. The flowers are happy but the people want hot days. We were reminded some days ago what it feels like to have 30 something and my oh my, it felt wonderful.

Yesterday I was walking at 2 o’clock. Just imagine, this should be the warmest time of the day but felt amazing with 20 something, i.e. for walking.

Yesterday I went to Espinahl.  Just few minutes drive and I am in heaven. I like to walk there. It is beautiful. The people are nice and not dogs on every corner barking like hell.

It´s interesting to see the names of the roads. Names of people who have made a difference for the small village.

Of course water needs to be part of the company. I would not go far without the bottle.

The sun was shining, the little statues in the gardens smiling and the lion taking care of the first house. The lions remind me of my China, but here there was just one, but the garden is amazing.

On my way back I took a wrong turn.

Can you believe it? wrong turn from Espinahl to Penela. It´s impossible, but as you all know I am a genius.

There was no way I was driving half way to Miranda do Corvo and broke the traffic rules like there was no day tomorrow.

Today is the final football game and I don´t care which team wins. They can both win. Maybe France will but I will be happy for both of them.

The idiot is going to Putin and will hold his hand just like he did before.

I am not sure he will be able to top the stroll with the queen, that was something and if I ever had a hope for him listening to anyone it passed away while I watched him visiting the queen.

IT will be interesting to see what he promises Putin. It is also interesting why he is so much for Putin. Does he have something to hide? Of course he does but will it ever come to the surface is another question.

I can not say what I want to say. I just think it.

I hope you all have a great day and your week will be prosperous and we will all wake up to a better and safer world one day in the future.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

15.júlí 2018

Ég er hætt að skrifa um málefni eldri borgara þar sem sú barátta virðist gjörsamlega vonlaus og engin ástæða til þess að reyna að koma þjóð sem kýs yfir sig aftur og aftur svartasta íhald í skilning um að það voru þeir sem á undan komu sem byggðu upp og lögðu grunn að þjóðfélagi sem átti að vera fyrir alla.

Það er vonlaust að koma þeim sem hafa það fínt og spóka sig á Davíðs eftirlanum í skilning um að margir á þessu guðsvolaða landi lepji dauðann úr skel, eftirlaunaþegar, öryrkjar og láglaunafólk eru þar efst á blaði.

Nei, þjóðfélagið færi á hausinn ef ljósmæðrum væru greidd almennileg laun.

Þjóðfélagið, sem á forsætis puntudúkku sem stendur næst fyllibyttu á Nato ráðstefnu og hristir á sér hárið og sleikir sólina, getur ekki séð fyrir öllum, það getur bara séð fyrir sumum.

Svo verða kosningar aftur og frú forsætis setur upp bros og lofar út og suður og allir voða ánægðir og kjósa aftur sama sukkið.

Ástæða þess að ég sit hér nú og skrifa eru ummæli Gunnars Smára í útvarpsþætti á Sögu fyrir örfáum dögum.

Ég hlusta aldrei á þessa stöð, og yfirleitt ekki á íslenskar stöðvar þar sem ég bý ekki í landinu, en ég sá á facebook vitnað í þennann þátt og ákvað að hlusta.

Rætt var við Hauk, Helgu Þorberg (Thorberg) og fleiri ásamt SIGGU í Portúgal.

Umræðuefnið var: Kjör eldri borgara og væntanlega öryrkja, fyrst talað var við SIGGU í Portúgal.

Allir nema þessi SIGGA í Portúgal komu fram undir fullu nafni.

Hvers vegna ætli það hafi verið?

Hvers vegna kom SIGGA ekki undir fullu nafni? Ég bara velti því fyrir mér.

Það er tvennt sem ég ergði mig yfir í þessum þætti, sem annars var að mörgu leyti ágætur.

1. Gunnar gerði lítið úr því að verið væri að reyna að koma í veg fyrir bótasvik.
2. Og, hvers vegna kom sú sem býr í Portúgal ekki fram undir fullu nafni.

Varðandi bótasvikin vil ég segja þetta:

Það má ekki tala um þau og nú verður allt vitlaust í minn garð en verður að hafa það.

Hvað eru bótasvik?

Ég lít á það sem bótasvik þegar fólk sem býr erlendis meira en 180 daga á árinu og er komið á eftirlaun og skráir sig til heimilis á Íslandi til þess að fá meðal annars heimilisuppbót, sem er félagslegur styrkur fyrir eftirlaunaþega sem búa einir.

Já, en það eru nú ekki margir sem gera þetta! gæti einhver sagt.

Er það ekki?

Ég þekki ekki neinn skara af fólki en get þó nefnt í kringum 30 manns sem ég þekki og svíkja út úr kerfinu á þennann máta.

Það er fólk sem flutt hefur til Spánar og hreykir sér af því að svindla á íslensku tryggingakerfi.

Það er fólk sem hefur búið í Bandaríkjunum árum saman og ekki stigið fæti á Ísland en er samt skráð til heimlis á Íslandi búandi eitt og fær heimilisuppbót ofan á eftirlaunin.

Ég ætla ekkert að segja um þá örfáu íslendinga sem búa í Portúgal.

Ég veit að ég borga í skatta hér Portúgal þetta árið rúmlega 70 þúsund krónum meira en ef ég greiddi skattinn á Íslandi og kemur það til vegna hagstæðs gengis krónunnar á síðasta ári. Ég borga skatta í þráðbeinu hlutfalli við gengið. Sé gengið óhagstætt borga ég minna og sé það hagstætt borga ég meira. Þannig er það bara og ég er ekkert að kvarta, þetta er bara staðreynd.

SIGGA í Portúgal talar um 400 evrur í húsaleigu sem getur alveg staðist. Húsaleiga getur verið hærri eða lægri en það.

Hún talar um að hægt sé að kaupa í matinn fyrir fjölskylduna fyrir 10 evrur og tekur fram að kjúklingur kosti 4 evrur og eitthvað fleira sem hún tiltekur. Þetta getur alveg staðist, það er auðvitað ódýrarar að búa í landi þar sem meðal laun eru innan við 600 evrur á mánuði.

Ég veti ekki hvar SIGGA í Portúgal býr en þykir ekki ólíklegt að hún sé á Algarve svæðinu.

Það svæði er dýrara en meginlandið og dýrara en Spánn.

Einhverjum sem setti komment við þáttinn langaði að vita um læknisþjónustu og lyf. Gunnar spurði ekki um það.

Ég ræddi fyrir nokkru við íslenska vinkonu mína sem berst í bökkum og er öryrki og býr á Íslandi. Ég lagði til að hún skoðaði möguleika á að flytja til Spánar. Þar þekkir hún fólk og þó hún tali ekki málið er þó nokkur nýlenda íslendinga sem hún gæti farið til.

Ég benti henni þó á að hún mundi missa allar aukagreiðslur við það að flytja.

Vinkona mín sagði þá:

“Það þarf enginn að vita að ég hafi flutt, margir búa þarna og eru skráðir á Íslandi”

Ég fékk fyrir hjartað, þetta var vinkona mín og henni þótti það bara sjálfsagt að stunda bótasvik, á sama tíma og Gunnar Smári gerir grín að því að yfirvöld á Íslandi hafi verið að reyna að hafa upp á svikurum.

Ég nenni ekki að hlusta á fleiri þætti en er nokkuð ánægð með að farið sé að ræða þessi mál af alvöru.

Haukur er ekki á því að hækka megi eftirlaun upp í rúm 400 þúsund á mánuði. Það gæti sett þjóðfélagið á hvolf að hans áliti.

Af hverju er ekki talað um skattpeninga sem koma til baka og aukna neyslu sem hlýtur að skila sér væri afkoman bætt?

Það er yfirleitt talað um brúttó hækkun og allir fá fyrir hjartað.

Ég legg til við Gunnar Smára að hann komi á framfæri þeirri hugmynd að hætta að ljúga að almenningi og halda því fram að heimilisuppbót sé partur af ellilífeyri. Hún er það ekki. Hún er félagsleg uppbót fyrir þá sem búa einir, rétt eins og bílastyrkur og fleiri styrkir.

Heimilisuppbót hefur hækkað margfalt meira en venjulegur ellilífeyrir frá TR.

Þessi heimilisuppbót er rúmar 60 þúsund krónur á mánuði og nota ráðamenn hana óspart til þess að fegra hina skammarlega lágu upphæð sem venjulegt fólk komið á eftirlaun nýtur.

Þeir sem skrifa daglega um bág kjör hinna verst settu af miklum móði tala ekki oft um hvernig þeir sem hafa sparað í lifeyrssjóði allt sitt líf hafa það litlu betra.

Nei, það er allt í lagi og tekur ekki að tala um hvernig lífeyrisjsóðs tekjur niðurgreiða eftirlaun frá TR.

Margir þeirra sem eru á þessum aumkunaverðu strípuðu töxtum eru þeir sem hafa svikið undan skatti meira og minna alla sína ævi. Ef það eru ekki bótasvik þá veit ég ekki hvað er.

Auðvitað er meirihluti fólks heiðarlegt en það er talað um hina ríkustu og að þeir feli um 30 prósent tekna í skattaskjólum. Það er auðvitað glæpur.

Það er ekkert minni glæpur að svíkja út úr kerfinu, hvernig svo sem það er gert.

Bótasvik eru stunduð.

Þau eru nokkuð algeng hjá þó nokkrum sem hafa flúið landið.

Bótasvik má ekki nefna.

Þau eru bannorð.

Ég legg til að þeir sem talað er við í þáttum eins og Gunnar Smári var með komi ALLIR fram undir fullu nafni.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

9^th of July 2018

The miracle is ongoing.

The boys are being rescued from the cave one by one.

The attitude of the Thai people is something we could take as an example of humanity.

The parents and the relatives are sticking together like one. They are supporting each other and they are not playing the blame game.

This is the attitude I recognise in my Asian friends. They support each other and try to make everything well again.

When I write this there is night in Thailand. The rescuers are resting preparing for tomorrow. Lets just hope the rain will stay away one more day.

I wish we could learn from the Thai’s experience, and stop the blame game. Had this happened in Europe or America I am sure there would be shouts about who to blame, trying to find the scapegoat.

Does that solve anything­?

No. It does not, it only makes everything worse.

Today there is summer here in Penela. The temperature went up to 30 and felt like 34. Now it is cooling down but tomorrow there is another summer day with 30 something.

I like the summer but this one is different. Global warming? Most likely and Trump going to Europe this week. We should be worried, I think.

Having someone that has it as his highest goal to ruin everything that has been done by his former president is frightening.

The weather, the power of the Trump and all the extremes remind me of what I read in the Bible when I was a teenager.

Are these the times when the maniac rises and destroys us all?

I don´t know. All I know now is that I hope the rest of the boys will be rescued tomorrow with their coach and that the world leaves them alone to heal.

PST is nothing to take lightly. It needs to be treated as soon as possible so it does not follow the boys through their adult lives.

Let´s just pray for the boys and the coach. That is the best we can do and let us leave them in peace to heal the wounds.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

 

7^th of July 2018

The world cup is on and I sacrificed 24 euros to be able to see the final 8 games. Yes, I know it´s a lot of money but what don´t you do just to be able to participate in the madness?

Anyway, yesterday I saw Belgium and Brazil. What a game! I don´t dare to support any team but to tell the truth I hope England will not win. Why? I can´t explain it.

These days I am tired all the time. I am most likely wasting my blood supply and have to get some help from outside! Although I am trying everything else first, eating the right food, taking supplements and so on.

The weather is strange and one of my dear friends in Norway told me it is Climate change and I believe her.

The summer did peak here in the central Portugal for few days but went on holidays again and has not decided where to spend this July. We do have wonderful spring weather here in Penela but would like to have summer.

Of course Algarve is different and I am not going to talk about that.

I am still contemplating about where I will spend Christmas this year. I still want to go to Denmark but then there is my heart to think about.

Maybe I just stay in Portugal. It is just one day and does not matter too much. December is the month that counts and this one will be different.

I have changed my charity and am not going to spend time with those who have been using me for a while.

Well, back to normality. I was talking to a friend the other day. Our conversation made me pause and think about how terrible grieve can be.

Losing a loved one is painful.

Losing a child is painful.

Losing a spouse is painful.

Losing a dog can be painful, if you have been close.

Every loss is painful, the question is if you let it destroy you or if you survive.

After talking to my friend and feeling her pain I have somehow gone through some of my own pain without wanting to do that.

Maybe the pain never goes away. Maybe we just learn to live with it. Maybe it is just the top of the iceberg we manage and the rest is louring it´s ugly head ready to surface when we allow it.

I have to believe the pain will diminish, it has to.

I have to believe what I told my friend, that the pain is there but it will hurt less, as time passes.

The mind is clever.

It does not let us remember until we can tackle the feeling and we can get one step closer to self-realization.

It is a challenge.

A dear friend told me once that the mind is clever and does not bring up memories until we are ready to look at them, analyse them and accept and let them go.

True friends are rare.

If we have some we should treasure them and be grateful for them.

The conclusion today is this:

Be grateful for everything, accept what happens and become a better more independent person. Don´t let people use you. If they do, they are not true friends and you need to get rid of them.

Sounds simple but is in reality rather complicated if we allow it to be. It does hurt a bit but in the long run it will be one step closer to emotional freedom.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

29^th of June 2018

Watching the world cup is great!

Yesterday I saw Belgium – England playing.

Boring game and strange that England loosing is in fact a winning for them.

Who understands this?

Anyway,

Some nights ago I did watch Portugal play and listening to the commentators here in Portugal was something. Every time the Portuguese touched the ball the commentator shouted RONALDO!

I wonder what happens if Portugal plays the finals, how the commentators will survive. It will be interesting and memorable. Maybe Ronaldo will cry a bit and then smile a lot.

Well, Russia is on map these days and the man who told his supporters few days ago that “the media is the enemy of the people” has got his wish fulfilled. A madman shot 5 and injured 3 of these enemies of people.

The senators grilling FBI director yesterday sounded like children in a kinder garden.

The yellow one is meeting his best friend, Putin, after few days and he will definitely tell everyone they are in love.

What is it that Putin has on the yellow one? There must be something.

Making America alone again is wonderful in the yellow one’s mind but is it really great?

I just hope he won’t manage to destroy the world. There is something very bizarre going on in his head and maybe the pills to grow the hair are the ones to blame. What do I know? I know nothing.

Now Melanie is at the border. Did her husband send her? Does she really care? I wonder!

The summer is on holiday here in the mainland AGAIN. Now it´s rain and more rain with cold and spring what the future holds for us.

I said yesterday that I am not going to complain more about cold and rain.

Now I will just be happy to wake up every day and grateful for the world still standing.

It might not take too long for the madman to destroy everything and then there is no problem having rain every day. We will all be dead.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

27^th of June 2018

When does the orphan become whole?

In 2015 an article was shared on Facebook and published in some trash paper.

A woman tells her story or at least part of it. She is 31 years old or maybe 32 years old.

The title is

WHEN DOES THE ORPHAN BECOME WHOLE?

The article begins like this:

“I have been waiting for about 31 year to experience me being whole. It has been a difficult task to balance this life and make it work from the day I realised for the first time that probably I was not in the home that would provide the security and the love which I needed to survive”

I have to say I admire this woman and her maturity. Just imagine being just one year old when you discover that you need to escape from your parents. I assume she was living with a parent or parents. I did not know that geniuses like that existed, but of course I am just an idiot.

The genius continues:

 

“Many people have come to me through my life and told me “How amazing how wonderful you are after everything”

“I have always considered this to be a compliment and thanked the persons with a shy smile like a true Icelander should do. At the same time I have asked myself for a long time when I would experience myself as a whole person and not an orphan with living parents. You see, for the first time this year I dared to say these words out loud. I am an orphan of living parents and you know I don´t have to be ashamed of that. Fabulous! A wonderful feeling you get when you can kind of breathe again. It did not take more than approximately a week to stop freaking out after I dared to say these words and stop being ashamed for my parents mess. It was their mess, not mine, and they had messed up big time, not I”

 

Wisdom from a perfect “orphan child” 32 years old. We should all be happy for the poor 32 year old one; I just wonder when she will grow up!

I have to confess that I admire people who can blame others, without blinking, for their adult life and even go public and be proud of their doing.

Would it not be wonderful if all my difficulties were someone else’s fault and I could hold my head high and be proud to be perfect, because I am perfect and they are not?

Would it not be amazing to be able to put all the blame on those who gave me life and not have to take any responsibility for anything because it was after all not my fault, it was their fault? I am perfect, they are not.

Of course I am not a genius who saw when I was born that I should not be where I was and I needed to escape and find refuge from the bad people who made me!

No, only geniuses think like that from the minute they are borne. Idiots like me see that they are in a perfect place.

There are some idiots like me that believe they are in fact the ones who chose the parents. The parents we chose are perfect. They are the ones who can help us on the path to perfection and self-realization.

I decided who I wanted to be my parents and they were wonderful. I did not always see eye to eye with them but they were perfect for me.

My mother was a wise woman.

One day, I was about 18 years old, we had a discussion, I and my mother. I don´t remember exactly what it was I was complaining about but it was something about my upbringing. Can you believe it? Not perfect upbringing or childhood?

Anyway, my mother told me this and I will never forget the wisdom in her words:

She said:

If there is something in your upbringing you are not happy with it is now your responsibility to fix it.

Yes, she was a wise woman, my mother.

People who have the urge to go public telling how wonderful they are and how horrible those who provided their life are, are pathetic.

These people are trying to ease their guilt.

These people are not whole, they are broken and they don´t want to be healed. They prefer to play the victim. The victim’s role is not easy. It must be horrible to struggle with the conscience and trying to shut her down when she roars her ugly head and there might be something not possible to blame on others.

What is so devastating for people like the writer of the article about the “Adult orphan” is that there are always 2 sides of every coin and maybe the orphan was not perfect after all and maybe that is what bothers the poor thing.

Hulda Björnsdóttir

27^th of June 2018

Just a thought

I am Icelandic but I don´t speak Icelandic every day, in fact I speak the language quite seldom.

When I think about all the foreigners that live in other countries and don´t have the opportunity to learn the language, the one in the new home land, I wonder how they adjust.

How do they communicate with the officials?

How do they communicate with the people?

In Spain there are at least 10 thousand Icelandic people living at the moment and they are most likely more because these numbers I have are 2 years old.

What happens is that the immigrants make small communities and they don´t mix with the inhabitants.

Sad, but in many cases true.

So, my point is the importance of learning the new language to become independent.

Learning a new language can be complicated

Some are used to one, English, and others are just not motivated.

What I find interesting is the different attitude I get from the locals.

Some are friendly and really nice when I make the mistakes and conjugate a verb wrong. These people correct me and tell me how difficult the Portuguese verbs are. Those are the ones I like the most.

Then there are those who make fun of the mistakes and that discourages me to speak their language. I don´t like those people but to tell the truth, they are foreigners that have been living for a while in the country and think they know everything. Those ones have never spent Christmas with the locals. Those people go to the bars where the foreigners come and those people are the ones who blamed me for Iceve. I.e. they are British.

I don´t mind those above too much.

They are just who they are and I don´t mix with them.

Then there are the people you consider your friends and you think are supporting you.

These friends can sometimes be a bit bizarre. They pretend to support you but when you rely on them they turn out to be something else and even using you, because you are an idiot and allow them to use you.

I am an idiot, I know that.

It is not the friends who use me; it is me that allow people to use me.

Strange and sometimes it takes a while to look back and realise that you did not get all the information you needed or you did not get the support you needed and you were told when you asked why the situation was like it was, that this was the Portuguese way.

Well,

True friends help you when you try to learn the language where you live. It can be complicated or it can easy. The support is the most important thing.

When I feel distraught and afraid to make mistakes using my new language I know I am not among friends.

When I feel confident and make mistakes, grammatical mistakes, without blinking I know I am among true friends.

My point is this:

Help the people to adjust to the new community by helping them to practise what they are learning. Don´t make fun of the mistakes. Correct them without degrading them.

Learning the language makes the new ones confident and happy. They can contribute more to the community and they feel good.

Making the immigrants welcome could be a worthy goal.

To my friends in my little village and the ones around the country that have accepted me and my limited knowledge of their language I say thank you. From day one the people in the village have been encouraging and they have never mocked my effort.

The people in Rua Coimbra, the people in the library, the people in the city centre, the people in Porto, the people in Coimbra, the people in the hospitals and everyone else who has been supportive to my language study I send a big thank you.

The weather is changing.

The summer is going on holiday again here in the central Portugal.

How can this happen?

Just a few days ago we had over 30 degrees and now we are down to 20 and a tiny bit more during the day.

Rain in the forecast for at least 5 days.

I don´t like this. I don´t have connection with the power that controls the weather but living in a catholic country there should be someone who can talk to the boss.

My winter clothes are still upstairs. Usually they would be in boxes downstairs, in the garage.

Not many summer dresses have made it this year from the garage to the hangers. Most of them are still in boxes.

Well, at least I don´t have to carry anything upstairs and make my heart complain. There is always a bright sight if I just make it through the day without hoping everything was different!

This morning I slept late. I woke up at half past 10. Seriously! That was really late and I was still tired.

My heart is complaining.

I think it is time to visit my handsome wonderful heart doctor in the hospital if he is not gone on holiday, which I think he is.

Yesterday I managed to go to the supermarket and do the monthly shopping and even managed to carry the bags upstairs. That is quite an exercise.

At the moment the sun is trying to shine and there is a tiny bit of blue flakes on top of the grey massive cloudy sky.

I have to go out but I would rather be in my bed, resting. Not normal. Not good. Not healthy.

I have to do something about this, I cannot change the weather but I do have an umbrella and I also have got a car.

Maybe I will go out and practise my Portuguese.

There is a lot left of the day and I should use it.

The football was yesterday and today is nothing, just peace and quiet.

I wonder, is Portugal going to win? At least Ronaldo can play since he did not get a red.

But the argentine goal keeper was amazing.

Perhaps I should not watch too much football; it might not be good for a delicate sick heart

Hulda Björnsdóttir

24^th June 2018

Yesterday I went to the beach. It was hot in Penela and that is when we take refuge at the beach.

Praia Da Vieira Da Leiria is my favourite and has been for many years. I came there seven years ago and fell in love. The people are wonderful, the beach is beautiful and the food in some of the restaurants is amazing.

Perhaps this will be my only trip to Vieira this year but even so it was worth it.

It was 30 something here in Penela when I left in the morning. It takes about 90 minutes to drive to Vieira and slowly it got cooler. The windows open and the wind blowing through made the drive quite pleasant. When I arrived at Praia it was just 25 degrees. Wonderful!

Usually, when going at this time of the year to Vieira it would be packed and difficult to find a parking spot.

I had been a bit worried about that but hoped I would not have to walk too far if I was not feeling too well.

Strange, it was just like an ordinary day and not like it was June, when I looked at the cars. I drove through the village, just to make sure. Yes, something was different.

Few people at the beach and not many were walking around.

I don´t like sunbathing. I find it boring and walking around is interesting. Since my skin is delicate and I have already had skin cancer there is not much that drags me to lie down and lick the sun. I have always a hat in my car and most of the time I forget to put it on, and if I put it on my head it goes off quickly. Hats are hot, I mean they make my head hot and I don´t like the water running down my face!

This time I forgot the hat, so nothing to worry about there, except the women I passed all had a hat on their heads and I admit I felt a bit guilty not taking care of myself.

My legs are like white corps, they never get any colour, but I like having them without socks when it is hot, like yesterday. Of course I am wearing healthy shoes. Since I broke my shoulder I am extra careful with my footwear and really don´t care if they are beautiful or not. Comfort is the word.

Breathing in the smell of the sea is something.

Listening to the sound of the waves dancing around the beach is the love of my live.

The fishermen were preparing to go out again. This was the second time; they go early in the morning and then again more or less at lunch time.

The boats are not big.

They are small and I always wonder how the brave men dare to go out on these tiny vessels. The sea is rough. When I watch them, the boats, disappear and I think about how far away they are I get a knot in my stomach and pray they all come back.

There was still some fish at the market but since I did not have anything cold to bring them in back to Penela I did not buy anything, but it was tempting.

I was getting hungry and had decided to try something new.

While I was contemplating where to sit down I passed an elderly lady sitting on a chair with an umbrella to shield her from the sun. She was trying to get her jacket around her shoulders and I asked if she needed help.

She looked at me and smiled. 2 teeth smiled at me. She was grateful and showed me what she wanted me to do for her. It can be difficult when you get older to move your arms around to put the jacket around the shoulders, and then it is good to have some strange foreigner passing by who can ask in Portuguese if the lady needs help.

The wind was blowing from sea and although I found it pleasant she did not. Just an ordinary day!

I came to the restaurants. Last year I had already been in the first one and had a salmon, which was ok but today I needed something special.

I looked at the menus; the waiters came and asked if they could help. I told them I was thinking.

After thinking and walking around I came back to the one at the corner, the salmon one. Everyone was sitting inside, the view is amazing from there but I wanted to eat and prefer to watch the sea from outside. I could have the whole aria outside for myself!

I looked at the menu.

50 euros for one person!

That is too much!

I’m not going to eat for 50 euros plus water and desert and everything, I would end up paying 100 euros and I can eat for that 10 times at least. The waiter came to me. I looked at him, perhaps a bit devastated and he said: Look, we have something amazing not so expensive.

There was a pricelist on one of the pillars.

Yes, this was different. 7, 5 euros and up to 10.

Of course this was just the main menu but who cares. I might end up paying 16 for everything, including desert and I knew the food was good.

I ordered and got snails for appetiser with bread. They did not have goat cheese and I did not want the olives. The olives are everywhere.

My God, the snails were yummy. I will definitely have them again, the next time.

Then it was time for the main course. It was some kind of fish, I have no idea what, but it was delish and white beans with wonderful sauce and white rice. I asked for the rice, I like rise with my food but sometimes, well most of the time, here in Portugal it is cooked to hell but this one was not. It was fluffy and wonderful.

I could not eat half of my main course but that is simply because I don´t eat much. I asked the waiter to give my compliments to the cook.

For desert I had a Brule. Oh, my day was just like in heaven.

The cook in this restaurant is an elderly Portuguese lady. In the other restaurants the cooks are young and in some of them even not from Portugal although making “Portuguese food”.

Usually I don´t like Portuguese cooking. They kill the food and it does not taste of anything except salt and oil. Sorry.

Yesterday was different. The wonderful lady that is the cook in my now favourite restaurant knows how to make proper food.

It was not too salty and it was not too sweet. It was not floating in oil. It was just perfect. I have to meet her the next time. I want to see her and give her a hug. It is so rare to get Portuguese cooking like this.

The waiters, 2 of them, told me what I could have next time and I am definitely going to take their suggestions into account. Fish on spear! Yessss! And not filthy expensive, just a tiny bit, but well worth trying.

So after dinner I left and walked around, met some people and I asked them why there were so few people at the beach this time. They told me that this year and last one fever tourist came. They did not know what happened but this was the case.

One young man told me that when he and his friends were children they got into the pinewoods for playing. He said with so much sorrow in his voice that his children would never see the pine woods. They would never be able to play in the woods like he had. He shed a tear. Just imagine the tragedy of the destruction of those old trees which takes centuries to rebuild. The cleaning has begun and it is devastating to look at the gaping holes.

This is where I came every summer and collected pines for the winter to use in my fireplace. No more pines there. No more live there, just horrible manmade destruction. Madness and nothing else!

Will the criminals be put in jail?

I asked the young men I was talking to.

They said no.

The criminals have got money and they bribe the judges, they said.

So sad, but the reality is in front of us when we drive through the destruction. The history has been put on fire. Lives were lost and nothing can be done.

The criminals get away and everything pretends to be normal again.

I will go back to Vieira later in the summer. There is no way the criminals will keep me away. They cannot!

I hope all the brave fishermen came back yesterday and next time I will go down to the boats and talk to some of them. I want to know more about the fisherman’s life in my little land.

I might need to bring sandalias with me next time!

 

Hulda Björnsdóttir