Friday, March 31, 2006

Last Day´s in Lisbon


Friday, March 31, 2006


Well it is been some time since I entered the blog…I have been very busy…walking, walking and walking.

A few days ago, I went downtown and saw the Lisbon contingency of demonstrators
Marching in support of the young workers of France. Those marching were vocal and passionate. But, the crowd was small.

I saw about four young people standing and asked them if they spoke English. Almost all of them did. When I asked why they were not in the protest…they responded that it would not do any good. “Portugal does not pay attention to her people,” a young lady said. The rest of the people agreed. So I challenged them! I asked them why do they not get involved and determine that they do have a voice…well you know me...within a few moments; several other young people joined the crowd and listened. Now it was a small crowd listening to this man from America. As I started to leave, I told them that I would be back in twenty years and would like to see them and ask them what they have done to contribute to change in Portugal. They were very gratified to have had the discussion with me and thanked me.

As I walked away, I realized how happy I was…. how much joy it brings to me to help clarify some vision for others. This experience has made me realize that I am capable of doing that and how I must embrace that part of who I am. I share this with you because for most of my life I have denied that part of me….This is a personal learning experience and I thought I would share it with you.

Yesterday, Vanda and I spent the entire day…walking…we visited the castle of King George… It was pretty impressive. As usual, I approached someone who was speaking English and found them to be from San Francisco. They were not Giant fans and good for them. We really had a great time. I took some great quality photos, many of them of Vanda. I realized that I really enjoy photography. It is very relaxing and allows me to share some of my personal moments with special people such as you. I hope you have enjoyed my photos as much as I have enjoyed taking them.

My photo blog has had almost 4,000 hits within the past six and half weeks.

I will be leaving Lisbon tomorrow for Porto, which is in Northern Portugal. I do not think I will be going to Rome after all. It is a bit much…I am tired. I have lost 10 pounds. The trick is to keep the weight off. I want to find some small towns in the north so I could rest up and write….

Prior to my departure on April 16th back to L.A. I would like to visit Father Juan Santillan who is buried in Northern Spain. I would like to pay my respects to him on behalf of The Wall-Las Memorias Project and the many other friends and family members that he has left on this earth. We will see if I will be able to visit him. I will keep you informed.

I was constantly told and it was suggested that I was going to go through a transformation while I am gone from the day-to-day work of the office. I am experiencing much on a daily basis and sometimes I do not realize it until several days later. I am changed and will continue to change. I hope to capture some of that in the next several days. I would like to share it with you…if I do not bore you…

Tomorrow is April fools day. Ah… and Monday it is time for Dodger baseball…boy am I going to miss that…This will be the first opening day that I will miss in about twenty five years or so. It is problematic for me since there is no twelve-step meeting for baseball fans in Europe.

Will talk to you soon…..

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