London Portugal London

A paragraph from Rui Tavares's editorial in the portuguese newspaper Publico about leaving 2007 behind is an exacte portrait of my situation on the morning of the 31st:

(loosely translated) " ... before an unpostponable journey but with the suitcases unpacked, in the middle of an untidy room with all affairs still unresolved..."

The problem when a person like me, who tries to do too many things at once, is living in a country only two hours plane away from her own, is that it is easy to fall into trying to live in two countries at the same time. Which of course is impossible and as always when you try do too many things results in not doing any of them properly. Living improperly in two different countries is not half as much fun as it sounds. However, a couple of hours leafing through my housemate's Time Outs is helping to settle me back in London.

My theme this year seems to have been change, and the resulting strong desire to avoid it: January moved into my current flat, February had my PhD viva, May got my degree, June left my old job, August started my current one. All these happenings pale in comparison to the mini winter theme, which was babies. Perceived this in Portugal where the current government concerns about the falling birth rate were definitely NOT apparent as all my friends are surrounded by babies either out or still in... Although this theme became apparent to me in Portugal, in reality it started here in the end of November, whilst talking to a friend who became a father a bit earlier than the average age, and carried on through the holidays to the New Year party, in conversation with another guy about his kid who unfortunately lives with his mother in another country. But shining example in all this is Jodi, one of my English Capoeira friends, who six weeks after giving birth (and by cesarean!), left her husband at home taking care of her daughter, and came to party with all of us into the morning, without forgetting her stunningly-creative-as-usual fancy dress.