Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Challenges and back to swimming ;)

Not much in the last couple of days, although the weekend was really great but until I finish doing Vodafone’s challenge I don’t want to get lost and unfortunately a certain site my best friend showed me has been doing such ;p

I started swimming again today and my first exercise was doing 1000 meters without stopping to get my base pace, which I accomplished with some cheating ;) as you can see:

500 meters in 12 minutes
1 minute rest
200 meters in 4 minutes
1 minute rest
200 meters in 4 minutes
1 minute rest
100 meters of cool down swimming (which I normally never do slowly enough)

Base pace: 2 minutes and 20 seconds per 100 meters

I really suck I know, but that is way I’ve decided I must really regain my physical fitness and now that I’m unemployed I can go to the pool during the mornings/afternoons and not at 9 pm!


Before and... Posted by Hello


...after! I had a problem with Hello, but finally I can show you what happened to Mitsy last week! Poor thing she was so frightened when she arrived from the vet! It was the first time her hair was shaved, but she had so many knots that there was no other alternative ;) Posted by Hello

Friday, May 27, 2005

Algumas das ideias mais marcantes para mim...

até agora (ainda estou a meio) do livro de José Gil, Portugal, Hoje: O Medo de Existir, Relógio D'Água Editores, 7ª Edição, Março 2005. Recomendo vivamente o livro, é excelente e o Sr. José Gil foi considerado com um dos 20 maiores pensadores vivos, por isso expandam a vossa mente e criem novas perspectivas da vossa realidade!

"(...) muito se herdou e se mantém das antigas inércias e mentalidades da época da ditadura: desde o medo, que sobrevive com outras formas, à «irresponsabilidade» que predomina ainda nos comportamentos dos portugueses. (...) no tempo de Salazar «nada acontecia» por excelência. Atolada num mal difuso e omnipresente a existência individual não chegava sequer a vir à tona da vida. E o que era uma vida, nesse tempo? Aquilo que ditava o ideal moral do Salazarismo: uma sucessão de actos obscuros, com tanto mais valor quanto se faziam modestos, humildes, despercebidos... Onde inscrevê-los, senão na eternidade muda das almas, segundo a visão católica própria de Salazar?
Nisso como em tantos outros aspectos, o Portugal de hoje prolonga o antigo regime. A não-inscrição não data de agora, é um velho hábito que vem sobretudo da recusa imposta ao indivíduo de se inscrever. Porque inscrever implica acção, afirmação, decisão com as quais o indivíduo conquista autonomia e sentido para a sua existência. Foi o Salazarismo que nos ensinou a irresponsabilidade - reduzindo-nos a crianças, crianças grandes, adultos infantilizados." Páginas 16-17

Esta última frase nunca poderia ser mais verdadeira, é o perfeito exemplo da mentalidade do deixar tudo para a última hora e a do "outro": a sida, os acidentes rodoviários, as gravidezes inesperadas, os preservativos rasgados ou furados, a hepatite, etc. acontecem sempre aos outros, nunca a nós ou a culpa é sempre dos outros, nunca nossa. São puramente incapazes de assumir as suas responsabilidades, o que explica, em parte, as taxas de infectados e mortes nas estradas no país.

"(...) a lentidão da «aprendizagem da democracia» (...) pelo povo português. (...) refiro-me ao medo, à passividade, à aceitação sem revolta do que o poder propõe ao povo. Como se, tal como antigamente, a força da indignação, a reacção ao que tantas vezes aparece como intolerável, escandaloso, infame na sociedade portuguesa (tolerado, aceite, querido talvez pela maneira como as leis e regras democráticas se concretizam na sociedade, quer dizer no húmus das relações humanas) se voltasse para dentro num queixume infindável quanto à «república das bananas» ou «a trampa» que decididamente constituiria e essência eterna de Portugal, em vez de se exteriorizar em acção." páginas 39-40

Exemplo disso é a passividade do povo perante a incompetência dos últimos governos, povo que se deixa deslumbrar por Expo's, Euro's e afins e que deixa que a corrupção e incompetência os governe até à falência.

"Porque o 25 de Abril não conseguiu abolir a divisão instruído/sem instrução (concordo totalmente, daí que em Portugal um licenciado é logo o Sr. Doutor ou o Sr. Engenheiro, dono de toda a verdade e sabedoria e se ele diz que é assim, é porque é assim, afinal de contas estudou, mas infelizmente os livros não ensinam a viver e por vezes os "sem instrução" tem tanto para ensinar) que correspondia mais ou menos ao par poder-saber/pobreza-ignorância do tempo do Salazarismo. Porque na sociedade portuguesa actual, o medo, a reverência, o respeito temeroso, a passividade perante as instituições e os homens supostos deterem e dispensarem o poder-saber não foram ainda quebrados por novas forças de expressão da liberdade." página 40

E aqui homenagear Estaline como um herói não é uma expressão da liberdade, mas mais uma vez o exemplo da passividade da sociedade portuguesa perante as instituições e os "homens poder-saber".

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Resignation letters

This morning I went and give my boss and the employment center (that was co-financing my internship) my resignation letters, so supposedly from the 31st of May I’ll be officially unemployed :) Officially, because I’m already at home as my boss didn’t want me to work the remaining days.

Today I said goodbye to my co-workers, the oldest one even hugged me, such a sweet lady :)

I will really miss the other girl who was doing the internship with me, but as she lives really close to my hometown we will still see each other! I just hate the fact that I made her lie for me, without her knowledge, to my boss saying I went to accompany my mother to doctors, when most of the times I was going to job interviews… I really regret doing so, but my parents really wanted me to keep the job… Anyway at least 2 or 3 times she did tell the truth, as there were sometimes I really had to take my mother to see a doctor due to her back aches.

The best part was really arriving home and going to bed again ;)

Once again "Glorioso SLB" ;)


Photo by Paulo Amorim - Lusa

Here are some photos of the party I missed, but I lived 5 years with the both stadiums as a view and they didn't win, as soon as I return to my parents' house they win and I miss the huge party :(
Posted by Hello


Photo by Paulo Amorim - Lusa

The heroes Posted by Hello


Photo by Paulo Amorim - Lusa

The winning team parading through the streets of Lisbon, from the airport to the stadium, way after 2 am
Posted by Hello


Photo by Andre Kosters - Lusa

The party at Marques de Pombal, the main central square in Lisbon! Posted by Hello

Monday, May 23, 2005

Another job interview and quitting my current job :D

Today I went to do tests at P&G, but I really don’t know if I was lucky, they were more difficult than the ones I did last Friday at Galp. But hope is the last thing to die ;)

As doing these tests meant getting to my job only at 3 pm and I was really sick and tired of missing half days every time I wanted to go to a job interview and being forced to always invent lies to my boss, I decided to inform him I wanted to quit the internship!

It was the best thing I ever did! I was getting everyday more and more unmotivated to get up and go to a work where I hardly had anything to do, were I would never stay even if my boss wanted and even if the salary was attractive! I only had more 2 months of internship to do but that would mean not going to work more times to go to job interviews and being forced to lie not only to my boss but to my co-worker, which was horrible as she is such a nice girl and has always been honest to me! Lying like this was making me very guilty as it was totally against me ethics!

My father reacted better then I expected, as the main reason why I kept working was because he was making some pressure for me not to quit as the salary was quite good. Otherwise, oh boy, I would have quit a long time ago! Money isn’t everything in live, job satisfaction is the most important factor for me and having hardly anything to do, starting to feel completely stagnated and with the sense you are not learning anything and you won’t ever learn much in that place… Then being in a place where your boss talks about loads of projects and how he intends to expand and so on… But then seeing the months pass by (nearly 8 months) and nothing has changed due to lack of decision taking of your boss, working nearly 7 months sharing a computer with your co-worker starts to get on your nerves and throw you down!

So I was really glad when I told my boss I wanted to quit was to most freeing thing I’ve done in the last months and I came all the way back home with a smile on my face!!!

So know here I’m once again unemployed, about 1800 euros poorer but happy :)

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Glorioso SLB

SLB, SLB, SLB, Glorioso SLB, Glorioso SLB!!! 11 years after, we are once again champions!!! 6 million Portuguese and some more benfiquistas (our club is considered one of the 10 mystical football clubs by FIFA because there are about 14 millions benfiquistas all around the world) won't sleep tonight, but I've a job interview tomorrow so there will only be 6 million less one ;) For those wondering, Sport Lisboa e Benfica (SLB) is the biggest and best ;) football team in Portugal!

Sweet red dreams ;)

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Another case of injustice...

Our government has started a huge inspection operation aiming shops and restaurants owned by Chinese. That is fair; as if they want to do business in a country they should obey the laws of that country. However the truth is that this operation only happened due to pressure from Portuguese retailers and restaurants and here comes the unfairness: the same people who in most cases don't obey Portuguese laws!

In fact if our government went and check the Portuguese shops and restaurants that are next to the Chinese ones it would receive even more money in fines and I can say that hardly any restaurant in the country would remain open. Laws don't only apply to foreigners; it's only fair that Portuguese should also obey them. Closing down foreign businesses because they do the same thing as Portuguese owners isn't fair, it's highly disgusting in a country that should be tolerant. It seems that Portuguese have forgotten quite fast that they also had to leave Portugal looking for a better life for those that they loved.

I know Chinese constitute a threat too many Portuguese businesses, but Portuguese have also done nothing to prepare themselves. China has a competitive advantage in cheap labor, something that used to be a competitive advantage of Portugal, but it was obvious it would never be sustainable in the long term and what did Portuguese do? They bought luxurious cars and houses with the money they received from EU instead of investing in the modernization of their businesses and then buy the cars and houses with the profits they would eventually receive.

The solution is not to close Chinese businesses in our country based on the fact that they don't obey our law, as I can tell you loads of places where Portuguese sell counteract products and have cockroaches in their restaurants (at the very least), so law should be fair and close down all of those who don't obey Portuguese laws: including Portuguese owned businesses.
What I think that the world should do is take the advantage of the fact that Chinese want to get into the world trade (and benefit from it) and pressure it to finish with the violation of Human Rights in their country, not only of civilians but also of the conditions in which its population has to work (long hours for hardly any money or none at all), as well as implementing environmental friendly policies. This would of course mean work better paid for Chinese and less emigration as well as less competitive prices in the world market and more fairness in the world trade (the same applies to protectionist policies of the richest countries which only hurt poor countries, such as Latin and African ones).

O Avante - Portuguese Communist Party's official newspaper

I was so chocked to read these articles in DN (http://www.dn.pt/), one of the most read newspapers in Portugal, on Monday. It seems that our Portuguese Communist Party decided to compliment Stalin, saying he was a great man; a hero and implying that the "20 million deaths" he was accused of (by his own party, by the way) were excusable (with the "" saying more that it's not true, it was only a conspiracy against their hero).

I know we live in a free country and everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion, but for me that only applies when your opinions/actions don't cause any harm to nobody. Freedom does not mean you can say whatever you want and that you can do whatever you want, freedom is being free yes but respecting those that surround you and their own freedom, and it must be a responsible freedom.

I shiver when I read these news and think of the kids that read this stuff. What are we trying to do erase history? Stalin was one of the worst monsters who ever lived in the world, he was has bad as Hitler, he just was intelligent enough not to invade other countries and to kill all those who were against him, even those of his party.

20 million victims cannot be forgotten, nor the families and friends who lost them, millions who survived gulags and concentration camps, who had to survive the pain of losing family and friends. History cannot be erased like this, people must never forget the atrocities committed by Hitler, Stalin and such other monsters, and they must never forget how evil human beings can be.

Yes Russia was a great ally during the Second World War but that doesn’t excuse Stalin and what happened in Russia and the regions under Russia's control. Helping to win a war against Nazis is no excuse for becoming a Nazi!

And I can't believe that Portuguese don't go out to the streets and force this idiotic editor to resign and chuck him and his journalists out of the country, because defending monsters is something our country should be ashamed of!!! What I find quite amusing is the fact that Portuguese had no problems to manifest against George Bush and the Iraq war, but don't have the balls to do some justice in their own country!!! What do you want? A country who has forgotten the examples of the past, allowing that the same atrocities occur again?

In name of the Portuguese I apologize to the families and friends of the 20 million people who perished under Stalin's rule. Normal Portuguese don't worship monsters! And we don't want to live in a country where Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin's lovers can write barbaric stuff and influence our children's minds!!!

I'm starting to understand what a Polish friend of mine said about Germany's news coverage of the Second World War or the Chinese when Japan "forgot" to put in Japanese history books the atrocities committed by them in the past.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

More job interviews

Well for those wondering, KPMG dispensed me as I must have failed the math’s tests.. Meanwhile, I’ll have some more tests at Ernst & Young on Monday morning (1st phase of the recruiting process), but I’m still hoping that I’ll receive a phone call from Vodafone saying they want me next week or next month, as it is a internship in marketing. P&G sent me an email saying they were sorry but their internship in human resources was only for students who are ending their course now (first time I was dispensed from a job interview because I had too much experience ;)

And I’m still waiting for an answer from Galp and Nike. Anyway, I don’t know whether my boss won’t fire me on Monday, because this month it will be the 4th or 5th time I go to a doctor or accompany my mother to the hospital (that is, I go to a job interview without him knowing). But if that happens I’ll be relieved as I’m really hating the fact that I’ve to lie to go to job interviews, even if it’s my boss’s fault that working in his company his boring, tedious and I’m tired of hearing promises about having a computer only for me or more work or having more products and projects introduced into the company. Sincerely I think I’ll be with out a job at the end of the internship and that will be in the begging of August, which means, that I’ll have to wait until January or June, again, to land with a job at a good company.

My wish list is frightening

I have only been adding CDs and I think I passed today the barrier of 80 CDs and I know there are still loads of CDs missing :((( I really must start to buy some, otherwise the list will only grow. I guess I will have to print the list as soon as I receive my next pay check (unless I'll end up needing the money to pay room rent if I land with a job in Lisbon). Music will end up making me bankrupt but I never had enough money to buy it, so now my CD collection is nearly 15 years late :(((

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Old hand washing tank


You can't see very well, but it was the best I could find ;) Maybe someday I'll have a camera , when I see one of these as they are becoming quite rare, and I'll be able to post a better photo. This one is located in Azeitão, Portugal. Posted by Hello

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Palácio Nacional de Queluz and the Grupo Coral de Queluz - 08/05/2005


On the same Sunday as the Mamma Mia! Show I went with my mother to Palácio Nacional de Queluz to see a friend of mine perform in a choral group called Grupo Coral de Queluz. We only went to one of the rooms of the palace; I suppose it used to be a ballroom and it was beautiful.

We got there late so we missed the first 2 songs of my friend’s choral group but we were still in time to see the Jograis (people who sing/recite poetry) who were singing/reciting poetry, mainly poetry about the 25th of April which was the day that Portugal had a more or less pacific revolution (only a few people died in Portugal, in the old colonies there were still a lot of Portuguese who died) that ended the dictatorship regime in which the country was living. I’ve always found it hard to follow recited poetry, I really enjoy more reading the poetry to myself and absorb it that way, the message is much clearer to me. My mother didn’t enjoy the poetry as her level of Portuguese isn’t the best and even my friend told me that their performance was too big as they asked the Jograis to sing only for 20 minutes (they were the guests) but they nearly sang for 1 hour.

After the Jograis left the stage, we had the chance to enjoy my friend’s performance. I can’t say if she sang well as she was singing with the rest of the choral group, but as it seemed that nobody was singing badly I think she must have sang quite well. They repertoire was quite nice, beautiful Portuguese traditional songs and some were even accompanied by a piano, so it was a nice way too pass my afternoon.

After the concert we went and see the place where the choral group rehearses. It used to be a place were people, in the old days, washed their clothes by hand and I think you can only find these kind of places in Portugal, a few are still being used by older people. I remember going to the river, with my granny, when I arrived in Portugal, to wash clothes, but when I went with my granny it was to a natural washing place by the river (she didn’t enjoy the one which had been built, before the river and only my granpa gave bath to his dogs there). Maybe I can get a photo as I can’t describe this place to those who have never seen such a place.

Anyway they used the old hand washing place and covered it to build the rehearsal place and it is now quite a cozy place to be. Afterwards we went to have some a slice of cake with tea/coffee which my friend insisted paying so thanks once again for the lovely concert and of course the cake and coffee ;)

For those who live in Portugal I recommend a visit to Palácio Nacional de Queluz (as you can see in the picture it also has a beautiful garden that I must check, as I didn’t have time to do so) and to go and see my friend in one of her concerts (you can find a calendar with the scheduled concerts in this link http://grupocoraldequeluz.no.sapo.pt/agenda.htm).
Palácio Nacional de Queluz Posted by Hello

Mamma Mia - 9:30 pm - 8/5/2005


Our gift for our mother on Mother’s Day was a ticket for a musical called Mamma Mia, which has as an inspiration ABBA’s music. As my dear father didn’t want to accept the other ticket I went with my mother.

Well ABBA remembers me a lot of South Africa, as much as Modern Talking and Queen (don’t talk with me I was only 5/6 years old, what option I had other than listening to my parents music?). Mozart and Phantom of the Opera remembers me my first contact with music chosen by me. Michael Jackson and Thriller, I’m Bad and Guns and Roses, remembers me summer holydays in Nantwich, England. Anyway they are all better then Marco Paulo (and Portuguese know what I mean;)), who reminds me of the trips to the beach, Foz do Arelho, when I was a child. I was quite amazed at the number of songs I actually knew (nearly all) and although I don’t appreciate this type of music I must say the musical is very well done. The whole story fits the songs, as if the songs are just an extension of the actor’s lines and it has a light British humor.

And I bet the choreographer is a woman or gay, men didn’t have that much to appreciate, now women… ;) Lots of young lads only with tight underwear or body board suits and none of them with a body too built ;) A nice sight for this time of the year ;p

The thing I found most interesting was the band/orchestra (kind of a hybrid between both). It had a maestro, computers, keyboards, electric guitars, classic guitars and bass, the rest of the instruments’ sounds, I suppose, where kept in the computer and most probably the musicians at the keyboards were responsible for the flutes and other which we could hear… It was the first time I was able to see all the gadgets of this technology as the musicians were unfortunately covered and I could not see the rest of the process (only in the break).

Anyway my mother just loved it, she even gave me a huge kiss and hug at the end of the show. We really don’t realize how lucky we are in having the opportunity of seeing most of the bands we enjoy live, even in Portugal, where unfortunately many bands seem to ignore us or maybe they just think we are also Spaniards ;)

It was nice to see loads of people of my parents age, even people of my grandparents age, getting up in the end and clapping their hands and you could see they were really enjoying themselves, as if something had awaken in them, something which was fast asleep for such a long time. Respectable adults screaming and whistling, even dancing as if they were teenagers/youngsters once again…

In the end as much as I don’t enjoy ABBA, I must say it was a fun show to watch and seeing my mother so happy was well worth it J

P.S.- Then came Come as You Are and my life and music taste changed radically, thank God, although I still love classic music ;)

Copenhagen (København), Denmark

It seems I have been having visits from Copenhagen, so here are my special thanks!!! I am only curious about how you found out this blog ;), maybe it’s my buddy… Anyway thanks, I enjoyed a lot my short visit in your absolutely beautiful city, it was only a pity all the rain ;)