Hanging with Odette

What an interesting few days it has been.

I spent two nights in Lisboa back at the Oasis there... what a great hostel.  They cook for you, the bathrooms are always clean, and thereºs always a group of people wanting to go out for drinks and another group wanting to stay in and chat.  Actually, come to think of it, I went all the way to Portugal and paid 18 Euros a night to replicate life at home.  Ironic.

Anyway, I had a great time there, then packed it all in again and headed out to the countryside to spend a few days with Odette, a woman who used to be our housekeeper back in New York, and her husband Manny.  Once again, I can say nothing at all disparaging about people who have shown me such unbridled and unnecessary kindness, but it became clear by the second day that there was somewhat of a generational and cultural gap between myself and them.  Manny took me, with evident pride, to see his friendºs ceramic brick factory and then to the store where he bought his shower head.  We spent endless hours in the car, going from town to town, often to see much of the same thing.  The church in Batalha looked (to me, at least) identical to the church in Nazaré, but they were nice about taking so much time to show me everything, and for that I was grateful.

Iºd say the best thing that Iºve seen in the last few days was Ilha de Peniche, a little island jutting off the coastal town of Peniche.  There were old, moss-covered rock walls, little stone houses, and the feel of Scotland-meets-Cape-Cod-in-Portugal.  It was just really cool.  On the other hand, the least engaging moment was at Fatima, a Catholic pilgrimage site where Odette explained patiently to me that this was where "Mary appeared to the children."  Who the children were and how the Virgin Mary got from Jerusalem to rural Portugal were questions I didnºt have the heart to ask.  It was strange because certain religious and cultural concepts simply didnºt register--they couldnºt understand that I didnºt know what a promise candle was, or that I hadnºt heard of Fatima before.  Odette had been to my bar mitzvah back in New York, but she still showed surprise when I asked what certain relics were for.

At any rate, an interesting few days.  Got to watch the Benfica soccer match with Manny and play with Pusca, their little Maltese dog.  The countryside is absolutely stunning, and Iºm really glad I got a chance to see it.  I would have loved to have made it up to Belmonte, a congregation of Marrano Jews tucked into the hills east of Lisbon and not far from where Odette and Manny had taken me around, but we didnºt get a chance.  Too bad.