Férias

Holidays. Long awaited, and they begin today. I’ve headed to Portugal. I’ll meet treasured family members here at the start of next week (meeting geographically in the middle, ish, at a very creative stretch) and have come early to justify the long journey.

Judging by how the departure lounge (in reality more a stark tiled hangar) filled up, everyone else had been informed of the delay on the Maputo-Lisbon flight. In eagerness to start my holiday I’d arrived with more promptness than usual and had to wait for five hours until we eventually took off.

I came to Lisbon with my friend Ruby in 2016, and we loved it. It seems Lisbon and Porto have further built on their tourism renaissance, judging by the amount of Facebook enthusiasm I’ve witnessed in recent years. My first reaction upon arrival was to silently pay homage to Mozambicans and the way they speak Portuguese. The terms I’d use to describe immediate impressions of Portuguese spoken in the motherland: nasal, lightning fast and lacking diction. I’d planned to practise my Portuguese lots whilst here by lurking close to random people and eavesdropping on their conversations. Understanding them will be difficult.

I found my way to the room I’d booked and went for a late night stroll to find food. I couldn’t believe the amount of hard drug peddling on the streets. Last time I was here Ruby must have been a moderating influence so that we weren’t approached. Now due to the number of drug offers I’ve had over the years I accept that I fit the profile of a user, or in the case of peddlers in Lisbon, a gullible German tourist. On occasion it would be beneficial to look more Mediterranean and swarthy.

I researched drug laws in Portugal and realised that personal use has been decriminalised, but it seems that selling is still illegal. I couldn’t believe how blatant it was. It must be so rife in Portugal that the police have deprioritised tackling it. I’m very anti-drug because it’s a world rooted in exploitation of both the poor and those who are addicted, but on this trip I’ll have to rein in the indignation at being offered cocaine on every street corner.