week 23.

Sunday, June 3rd
We headed to the mountains for Luis's dad's birthday today.  His parents were camping in their souped-up, decked-out van with Luis's aunt and uncle, so we went to crash their lunch, sing happy birthday, and give presents.  The drive through the mountains was breathtaking, as all the yellow blossoms are freshly blooming!

Monday, June 4th
I don't believe that this is the first time I've mentioned that I love how the Portuguese are constantly growing things in their own yards and on their own trees (not that the Americans aren't, I just didn't interact with farmers daily).  My colleague Rita visited her extended family a ways north of us this weekend and brought back cherries, which were a very nice addition to my day full of spreadsheets and Portuguese-English translation! I love them, so I especially love this time of year, and there weren't many that made it home to my house!

Tuesday, June 5th
It still amazes me that people would use another country's flag to make a fashion statement...

Wednesday, June 6th
I love old school library card catalogs!  Our library does have an electronic system, but I appreciate how they still have the old card catalog on display.

Thursday, June 7th
What's a Portuguese national holiday without a multi-cultural pancake breakfast??  Our sweet and hospitable Gereckes invited us over to have pancakes with two other Brazilian couples (quickly becoming dear friends of ours as well!) on our day off today, and we celebrated the body of God (that's literally what the holiday is called) with lots of laughs and refreshing community, and I may or may not have brushed up my ping-pong skills by creaming an American and then getting creamed by a Portuguese. (Winners and losers will remain nameless!)

Friday, June 8th
Yet another weekend where we will be able to make fresh-squeezed orange juice because one of our kind friends passed along some 15 oranges to us!  Luis put the entire plastic bag of them in the refridgerator, and as we took some out to make orange juice, Luis discovered this little guy nestled among the oranges!  Poor thing was in the refrigerator for quite a few hours, but he survived!  Luis adores snails, and was determined to make sure he was ok and take him outside to a new home in our yard!

Saturday, June 9th
Even after only being here for a year and a half, I am still surprised by the people connections that happen fairly regularly!  Late last year, we found out that one of the couples that sing in my choir have a daughter, Rita, who is in the same class as our sweet little Lily, (daughter of Cristi and Michael), and Rita also has regular consultations at our Center where we work, so we all see each other regularly and have become friends!  Ana Teresa and Carlos Pedro invited us over to their gorgeous house this weekend for a "lanche" (snack time at 5.00) on Saturday, and I think it's safe to say there was enough food for a dinner!  They are a fabulous family who appreciates art and culture and in general has a great sense of humor, so we laughed a lot!  Thankfully they love how I analyze everything about our life in Portugal, so they didn't mind when I called everyone together (including another friend and her kids they invited over, and their dog, Mari!) to take a photo of the day!