Calheta de São Miguel in Cape Verde solidarity project (cont.)

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Two more children have got themselves school "godparents", as Rita Santo 's brother decided to help another girl (underneath on the right) and Cláudia Pimenta and her young daughters opted to help the girl on the left.

I've started packing the presents and getting things semi-organized today though I fear I won't be able to carry everything with me, despite counting on Noëlle's "available" weight. Amongst my several concerns regarding the trip I got some really good news as the new Mayor of São Miguel and I ended up talking to, thanks to my dearest friend Graça who then put me in contact with the city councilwoman who will ensure we get picked up at Praia and are driven to Calheta. 

My former boss's family let me know they'll "look after" yet another two small girls and hopefully help them through, once they start school in a few years. I was handed some presents for them which together with the presents I bought for those whom nobody had "selected" filled part of another suitcase ...

I may look rather calm on the outside but I am getting extremely nervous because knowing myself as I do, I'll have to work out a way to effectively take everything with "us", which at this moment in time seems impossible once I haven't been handed out half of what I should, so far ... together with the fact that Noelle and I don't know how it will be humanly possible to distribute what we have to for every child, being just two days and a half in the community of Calheta, with the meeting at the Council, the Carnaval parade, the trip to Assomada ... etc, etc. ...


May we be successful in achieving that and have "school godparents" and children alike happy ...

Calheta de São Miguel in Cape Verde solidarity project ...

Within a rather short period of time I have (almost unexpectedely, I must say) got the support of a few colleagues and their families in regards to the children of Calheta de São Miguel's project which helps the children in their basic school needs, as well as provides them with school material, clothes and a few toys, which Noelle and I will hopefully be able to transport onto the island.

Because of the ongoing work I don't feel I am as "organised" as I have been in previous years though I am happy to announce that  adding to the already existing list of a few hundred children the following ones will be supported as from this moment on by the marvellous people who have crossed my way and have joined the project.

Elsa Gomes and her daughters will look after these four children needs.

Lucia Casqueiro and her mother will be in charge of little Javison's family and the youngest little girl in the picture above on the right.

Isabel Pinto Bastos will be in charge of this little boy's needs.

Two of Beta's friends will be in charge of Jessica's youngest sister (above on the left) Dulcilinda's youngest brother (in the centre photo) and the young boy in the above photo on the right.

Manuel Santos' family will be in charge of the little girl (left) and Fatima Maruta the little boy (right).

Lena Monteny and her father will be in charge of these little girls  respectively.

Rita Santos and her family will be in charge of these children plus another child in need.

I have also been given money by Luisa Silva to "ensure" the school needs of 6 adolescents, as well as some by Mariana Carvalheiro and Azevedo for 4 other children, plus a huge bag of toys kindly provided by Rosarinho, clothes by Elsa Gomes and a number of goggles by Arlindo Santa to distribute to the boys who do diving to catch fish to sell in the community.

On behalf of the children of Calheta I would like to openly thank all of those who have been in the project for some time and welcome the ones who have recently joined in. May our joint efforts and good will provide these children with a better education and  allow them to be equally "children" (in their own right) who can finally read story books (not available in the community) and play with toys (still considered as non-necessary goods and almost non-existent on this part of the island). 

The latest book I have read ...

Despite having been initially hesitant as to whether I should buy the book on Van Gogh's ear cutting episode by Bernardette Murphy I must now admit that apart from being very compelling it did shed some light into not only one of the most controversial episodes related to the life of Van Gogh but also in regards to other details that may have been "misinterpreted" over the years, thus creating a myth that only such an intensive detective-like type of approach on the part of the author (may she be praised for the endless research years) could have brought a thorough revelation onto.

I feel this may be a very interesting and "eye opening" book not only for Van Gogh art lovers to read but just anyone, whether they are into Art or not.

I felt I knew quite a lot, not to say almost everything that there was to be known, about Vincent van Gogh, having previously bought most of the books written about him but the truth is there were questions I had never asked myself (nor even considered asking) about certain events that took place in his lifetime, which the author did as a starting point for her long quest ... a quest that provided "clearer" answers and interpretations to some of the reasons behind many of those. 

We'll have to ...

Mia and I have shared moments of absolute joy and also moments of sadness throughout the years which have beyond no doubt got us closer ... as if we could be best friends  (which we are) despite being mother and daughter ...

 

 

 

Among those were our regular Saturday Japanese lunches followed by cinema sessions, our multiple prolongued weekend low cost trips within Europe ... our cultural ventures ... our endless phone communications ... our emotional "dramas" ... our little secrets ... our everythings ...

 

 

 

We could talk without the need of words ... a simple look ... a mere gesture ... would do ...

 

 

 

The moment Mia stepped into Portuguese territory we picked up the "routine" of every previous weekend, despite there being only one ... before she had to get back to "her" new "foundland" ... 

 

 

 

We have planned  to meet half way in-between countries ... in what could soon become a new routine ... we had the pages of both our passports "revisited" and "destroyed" by the Passport renewal department (not before we managed to have some of the pages photographed) ... and soon we had to say good-bye ...

Upon Mia's arrival  from the UK on the 8th of January

We'll have to urgently "reinvent" new moments of joy ... whether they'll be registered on passsport pages or not ... we'll have to further add a few more precious moments to our memories ... we'll just have to ...

My weekend adventure at Aix-en-Provence, France - (Day 3 late morning and early afternoon) - On the way home - The 22nd of January 2017

My first adventure of the year was over in no time because as I was getting used to the "brightness" of Provence it was time to head back home and soon immerse myself back into the airport routine teaching tasks, which I nevertheless couldn't fully get "rid of", once I stepped out of the Aix-en-Provence Marseille connecting bus some of the photos I instinctively took were precisely of the tower and the flight operating procedures.

Aix-en-Provence Bus Terminal

Any trip is a "repeated" trip in the sense that there's always tiredness, airport waiting procedures ... an "imposed" return ... and a further anticipated trip in one's mind ... 



The ones that will follow this Lisbon-Marseille-Lisbon "adventure"  are already scheduled ... but they will last longer and will certainly not be leisure-oriented ones  ...

My weekend adventure at Aix-en-Provence, France (Day 2 evening) - Concert - Schubert en mirroirs at the Grand Thêatre de Provence - The 21st of January 2017

I didn't know what to expect from the evening concert despite the fact that the Marseille  Musicatreize Ensemble interpreting Franz Schubert 's Nachtgesang im Walde and Gesang der Geister über die Wasser, as well as two contemporary composer's musical scores (Philippe Hersant's Illuminations after 4 poems by Rimbaud and Michel Petrossian's Amours Sidoniennes based on an inscription found at a Sidonian cave in Gallilee) under the direction of Roland Hayrabedian, have already earned their worldwide noteworthy musical recognition. 

Schubert's celebratory evening deserved to see me at my best and it is precisely with that spirit that I walked into the premises of the Theatre. The  stage had been expanded to accommodate the number of musicians and members of the choir, which unexpectedly saw me on the second row rather than the 4th I had expected to be sitting at, but what might have seemed a rather odd seat arrangement had me and everyone sitting so close to the stage feel the whole concert in a completely different type of mood ... it was as if we were on stage ... surrounded by the amazingly beautiful male voices intermingled with the instruments' sounds.

Both parts were  interesting though the second one "stepped" into the intimacy of the public's frame of mind due to the complexity of the text that was behind the lyrics' interpretation and an ever present absence lingering on despite the words of negation together with the broken-like accords of the instruments. I was impressed by the way some of the musicians interpreted Amours Sidoniennes visually, which led me to conclude they themselves were " disturbed" by the fascinating and rather unique text and what his composer did with and around it.  Some of the male voices were more "imposing" than others ... but that's also  what in my opinion created the whole surrounding atmosphere as in preparation for the "high pitch" moments.

It was an undeniably magic evening that had the public of the almost sold out concert room applaud the Musicatreize Ensemble, Roland Hayrabedian and Michel Petrossian (who was called onto the stage four times) for minutes on end.

Note: I would like to thank Xavier de Lignerolles (Musicatreize Ensemble tenor) for having kindly authorised me to use the above seen photos of the concert in the blog.