I’ve been neck-deep in Portuguese paperwork these past few days (weeks) so have neglected many things, including Substack. I’ll spare you the details, but mostly I have dealt with very friendly and helpful people in the local Loja de Cidadão and the Social Security office.
Frustration comes in waves. Laws have been changing rapidly here and the systems are siloed and not catching up fast enough. Everyone is confused. These are lessons in patience and patience has never been my strong suit. My friend reminds me that we are surrounded by lush green and the blue sea. We have wonderful friends and butter.
Sitting in the social security office today, I watched the woman helping me as she signed and stamped, signed and stamped, signed and stamped. She put the papers in order and tapped a few keys on her keyboard.
Her pleasant meticulousness reminded me of playing library with my sister when we were very, very young. We set up a whole system, taping pockets for the “check-out card” to the inside front cover of dozens of our books. We “signed” books out and “stamped” them with a due date. I can’t remember if we charged late-return fees, but I imagine we did, because what fun—punishing such irresponsible literary citizenship and counting coins. 😆
Sorting through my things before I moved here (and each time I return to the States to tackle and get rid of more of my life’s possessions), I sometimes come across one of our childhood “library” books. How sweet.
So, despite the system being so SYSTEMY here, today I was taken back to that lovely childhood play space, the gigantic mod Zenith TV (pre-remote control!), the screened in back porch of many a summer birthday celebration, and the creek where the water skeeters raced. I am a child of books and nature, and while I wait for the administrative dust to settle, I’ll sit outside, open Ocean Vuong’s The Emperor of Gladness, and chill.
In the meantime, here’s this week’s visual prompt.