small things

I made a little "bola de trapos" as a present for my new nephew. I got the idea from an old art book on popular art in Portugal. I will get the full title and authors and post later. (sorry) I have some ideas for "marjubantes", the saloia word for dolls (c. 1858). I hope to get one done this weekend???!!

Tomorrow will be one week that I met Fatima, little Laura (8 mos.) from London and Maria Adelaide, Fatima´s mother, who lives in Mangualde. Fatima came for the weekend to be with her mom who lives by herself on an acre of land with hundreds of olive trees. We met for "lanche" in Lisbon. It was very wonderful.

When Fatima´s daughter was born she wanted to buy her a special doll . She did a search on the internet and found Rosa Pomar´s. Like many of us she became a fan of Rosa´s blog and once when reading it she saw me mentioned in a post. The fact that I was born in Boston and lived in Portugal caught her eye. Once she commented that she saw the "rancho" that I danced in dance in the late eighties, early nineties, and that we most likely we crossed paths then. Since then we have emailed and talked on the phone. I was lucky to meet her and her family last Saturday. Mundo pequeno mesmo.

She also has a fascination for Portugal and has lived many of the experiences I have growing up in a mixed culture. We consider ourselves very lucky for this. She also understands the nostalgia that I have overdone this week on my blog! Yikes!

This past week has left me a little "abalada", with earthquakes and all. It will probably be Christmas before I see Lucas. Something wonderful to look forward to. Have a great weekend everyone.