Another Weekend

That's right. I spent another weekend over in Porto with Bill and Tina and Riverside Porto Church. We had a Barbeque on Saturday afternoon - luckily the sun came out for us despite having thrown down a lot of rain in the morning. Lots of absolutely splendid meats and salads and puddings on offer. Lots of great people - many faces I already knew, and many new people (especially people from the America Club). I even went for a swim in the pool! Until I got attacked by Caleb and Emily, two little kids. What is with that, eh? Sunday was nice and relaxing - late wake up, read some of 'The Shack' (but didn't manage to finish...), had comfort food in front of the Turkish Grand Prix (what's with Jason Button doing so well these days?) and then had a great meeting in the evening. Played the djembe again in the band, Bill gave another good message on Romans 7, and then Anna-Theresa and I were 'sent out' and prayed for at the end. She's going to Brazil for a couple of months to do some mission work with a youth charity out there, then going to Hiedelburg, Germany to study Law. Muito fixe. Being 'sent out' by Riverside was odd though - I was also prayed for by the Submerge community in Guildford back in January (thanks guys!) and now being sent back from a church I've barely been a part of. What a community!

On Monday I planned to go to Lisboa for the day with Sofia and her friend who had come up for the weekend and was going back that morning. Unfortunately, we arrived at Campanhã station at 10am to find the next train was at 10.52 arriving at Lisboa at 14.00. I thought it would be a bit of a waste, as I'd have had to get a train back at 4 or 5pm in order to be back at the Refuge not too late. So, instead, Sofia and I spent the morning in Porto. I found this really refreshing - it's been a while since I've walked around the place. We went to the Palacio de Crystal and walked around the gardens which were lovely, before walking down to Ribeira for lunch (cachorros especiais - like a francesinhas but in hotdog form). Seeing the run down houses and the dirty streets once again reminded me how much Porto has expanded beyond what it could manage well, and has left many poor people. I felt once more the feelings of excitment, pain, passion and care for the city - it was very refreshing. I feel more than ever that God wants me here - I don't know for how long, or when, but I've got an idea as to what. It's exciting.

Most incredible bookshop: Livrario Lello

The view across to Gaia from Palacio de Crystal€

I had a go at cutting the grass with the machine, finally. Got the hang of it after a while, so that was good. I didn't feel so useless. Then the lady came back, took over from me, and was so much quicker. I followed behind, raking and chucking the cut grass. Agora parece muito mais bonita :) I guess the biggest news now though, is that the men had laid the astroturf for the footy pitch! Não estou a brincar! Finalmente - é fantástico! All the gree grass, white lines and yellow basketball lines are out. The sand is being laid (well, not right now, because it's raining...) and then 'as balizas' (the goals) will be put in place. It's dead exciting! A new access ramp will be made up to the pitch, so I had to cut some of the vines that were in the way. Look out for photos on the way... Não posso esperar de jugar o primeiro jogo nesta campo.

The beginning...

Middle...

More middle...

And end of the footy pitch creation!

Tambem, foi Feira Medieval no sexta. Fantástico! Todos as escolas estavam ali. Amazing time. All the children of all ages (3 years old to 30 years old and more!) were dressed up in medieval clothes. There were monks, nuns, crusaders, knights, peasants, beggars, farmers, belly-dancers (no, I don't know either), jesters and clowns, and more. What a sight! We all collected in Termas, a nearby town, and then paraded from there to a school a couple of kilometres away, people lining the streets, cheering from the balconies and dancing alongside. It was amazing. At the school we were greeted with a huge maypole, and loads of medieval type stalls selling shoes, medicines, food, a Taberna and even live animals ! Great show.

The entrance to the school

An array of monks, nuns, crusaders, peasants, farmers, beggars and even belly dancers!

Typical cockerels for sale. Very Portuguese.

Foi o aniversário do Marcos no sexta passada. E porque fui no horário da noite, jugámos o jogo do chocolate, e o jogo com maçás na agua. Encantaram-o :) (It was Marcos's birthday last Friday. And because I was on shift for the night, we played the chocolate game and apple bobbing. They loved it :)) Agora, tem 10 anos.

Playing Pear Bobbing on Marcos' Birthday

Acho que tenho mais um blog que logo vou a compartilhar aqui. É uma pena; meu tempo quase acabou :(

(Também, I am horrified to hear the BNP got not only one, but TWO seats in the Euro Elections. Come on, chaps! What's going on?!)