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Articles Tagged ‘Braga’

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São Gualter and Other Surprises

Friday, July 28th, 2006

The lights in Guimarães are not ALWAYS lit. This happens to be the biggest celebration in the town in 100 years. The patron saint of the town is St. Gualter (St. Walter in his English manifestation), and on the first weekend in August since 1906, there has been a big celebration, homecoming, festival, hoopla. That´s why I had to leave: every room in the town is booked for the weekend. That´s why the streets are full of lights and people. The brochure for the event (available only in Portuguese) quotes Jose Saramago as follows, “a memória que temos e a responsabilidade que assumimos porque sem memória não existimos e sem responsabilidade não mereciamos existir.” I love his dry sense of humor. This morning as I left Guimarães, the streets were not sleepy, as usual. They were packed with people shopping, hauling great plastic bags of things up hill and down hill, buying flowers and foods and gifts for relatives arriving from out of town. There was a feeling of intense excitement. There will be food and music and dancing in every square of the town tonight. I´d love to be there, but it can´t be, so I´m on my way to Melgaço, which apparently is the one place in Portugal nobody else wants to be this weekend. [read on]

Posted in Portugal | 2 Comments »

Braga! Public dancing, bed bugs, Bom Jesus

Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

Christopher´s reply on bed bugs is very helpful. I did some research on the internet myself yesterday and was reminded of a few helpful things. First, the bugs are visible (and I remember what they look like from Africa), so I inspected everything I own and didn´t see any, which is good, although as Manko can tell you, my vision sucks, even with glasses. Second, they lay eggs which hatch in two weeks, and I almost certainly have eggs in the backpack, my journal, etc., so all that stuff will have to go just before the two-week mark unless I can find a reliable insecticide that will kill the eggs (unlikely). Third, clothing can be salvaged if washed and then dried at high heat. Given that I may encounter still more bed bugs before the trip is over, I have decided to keep everything for two weeks. I walked two miles to the university area this morning and found a coin op laundromat and washed & dried (hot) everything I own except what I had on. I discovered that very hot, almost scalding water, applied to the bites, helps more than the ointment I bought at the farmacia yesterday. I didn´t yet have the right word for the bugs (thanks Christopher), but I called them insectos de cama, and that got the point across. Otherwise, this is the best part of the trip, with song, dance, and great joy. [read on]

Posted in Portugal, Seth | 2 Comments »

Bed-bugs! Yeow! And a sad day in a beautiful place.

Friday, July 21st, 2006

The day started out with a sad omen: I got up with a few of what I thought were very itchy mosquito bites, went to breakfast, and the TV was on. There was Kofi Annan, saying the UN has three missions right now: to prevent more violent deaths, to give refuge to those who flee the violence, and to help negotiate a lasting peace. I broke down and sobbed. Such worthy missions. So unlikely to be successful. There I was trying to eat my bread and milk, sobbing. And then the “mosquito bites” began to blossom, swell, and fester. At first there were only three along my pantyline, two on my neck, and two between my fingers. Now those are hard lumps, rashy on top, yellow underneath, and surrounded by large red rings about the size of a fifty-cent piece. During the day more have appeared. Perhaps the critters are eating me as I write this. I have a new one on my right ear lobe and on my right wrist. Please, if anyone who is reading this has experience with this, will you send me a comment? Must I destroy my backpack and all the clothes I have with me and start over? Does the journal have to go, too, and the postcards and envelopes? Is there anything I can do to salvage my clothes? If I have them in my hair, will a shower and a headwash help? [read on]

Posted in Portugal | 2 Comments »