Empathy, community, and sharing are values that we have to bring back. — Leaving school on an autumn day and seeing the change of season. Watching the day fade away to make way for the night that was now coming earlier, then the walk home on that early winter afternoon and after a day at school, crossing the dark, dimly lit village road. …

Cold winter days, the family by the fire, or bathing in the summer river while the crickets sang in the fields. All this (is) will be a vague memory. — My younger cousin recently had a baby girl. She named her Francisca Francis in English. For a moment, I was happy, and I sent her a text wishing them all the best. …

1929, 2008, and the next one tomorrow? — Do you remember 2008? Yes, when the (Western) world was shaken by the economic crisis that took hold of our lives, and we all went bananas with what seemed to be the first economic crisis ever!? (Please… you should watch this:) It’s always funny to see how things unfold…

So what until then? — Things aren’t going well, are they? If you say yes, I’ll call you an idiot optimist. Only a madman could be happy with the world adrift, with the graphs showing us the temperature meltdown we’ve already reached, and with the predictions that by 2030 at this rate (possibly even earlier)…

Or how a trip to a neighboring country made me rethink traveling — Once, an ex-boyfriend told me he no longer had any ambitions to see the world. He kept talking, saying how comfortable he was in Italy and how he would rather spend the rest of his days getting to know his country. This shocked and upset me. …

Portugal is for sale, can you afford it? The majority of us can’t! Million-dollar houses, miserable salaries, a hostile climate, and a drifting government. Do you still want it? — Of the various newspapers and magazines I read last week, one common theme was the exorbitant prices of the real estate market in Portugal. …

Speeches that don’t inspire, wars and diseases that are normalized, robots that steal our art, and rich people who boss us around. Welcome to 2023. — Recently in Portugal, a famous female TV presenter said, once again, something quite ridiculous. I will show you the context while offering my reticence in criticizing her. Why reticence? Well… This is because she was a woman of humble means who actually managed to get very high in life, become…

A tale of a torn-up man — It’s a widespread phrase to say that people don’t change, that they are forever stuck with their personality, and that maybe those less desirable traits in someone can be detected forever. For a long time, I believed that. Especially every time I looked directly into my father’s eyes and saw…

What holds us to life? — It was maybe last Thursday or Friday that I saw Mr. Estevão walking slowly right next to my old elementary school. I don’t remember where I was coming from, but I drove past and waved to him. …