The Invisible Army

Taking down all the lights and decorations from the festivities. Not much health and safety here - these guys were about twenty metres from the ground.

Title borrowed from the cover article of this week's Visão news magazine, reporting on the immigrants - from Nepal, India and Thailand who keep most of the agriculture going; from Indonesia who keep the fishing going; and from Brasil, who keep the hospitality industry going. All the resident foreigners (including us Brits) in Portugal still only come to 7.5% of the population - as opposed to the fearmongering created by Chega, the far right party gaining popularity in the country.

Photo taken on the way back from Feijão's funeral. There were hundreds, maybe a thousand, standing outside the church in the cold for way over an hour because we didn't fit inside, and then the long, silent walk behind the coffin to the cemetery outside of town. Rich and poor, old and young, everyone sombre, many sobbing. Ermelinda reckons that most of Mourão, except for the bedridden, and many from outside, will have paid their respects over the last 24 hours. And not a single person that we could see with their phone out (so no photos from us either).

Will come back to Gratefuls in a bit, got a Zoom...
Back!

Gratefuls:
- seeing our house in England on FT, and it looking reasonable after tenants leaving
- also, chatting to our neighbour there, Tom, who seems like a good guy
- an enjoyable and profitable Zoom tonight, with great folk