"nEiGhBoRs aRe mOrE tHaN fAmiLy..."

these were the words of Tia Adelina, our next door neighbour... she's incredible! she lives in Póvoa de Atalaia and has her land next to ours where everyday she goes to water her wonderful vegetable garden... she often gives us the fruits of her labor and she's always giving us good tips on how to plant our own things... she's a widow, and lives with one of the sons, Antonio I guess is his name...she has 2 daughters, one living in Castelo Branco and comes every weekend, and another living in France who comes here maybe at Christmas and family occasions... and there is one more brother living in France and has health issues...she used to have one more son, but he died in a car accident, very unfortunately ... she raised  all 4 of them, from age 8 to 12, until they moved to live with their own family...she had to work a lot she said, to be able to raise her kids...but proudly she said that she provided all their needs and "they never got themselves into big troubles", she said proud of them too ...now she finds herself alone as they all went away to work abroad... this is just one of many stories of the people from Povoa de Atalaia... loneliness is all they have left after a whole life of labor in this land...

Tia (Aunt) Adelina says she's really glad we are living here and she's even considering moving from the village to her land like us... so sweet... she also said that she's sorry that many of those who come to visit me don't speak portuguese...

It is very important that those who choose to live in this land, that they learn the language of those who were here before... Not only the native tongue, but the native ways... how to do things, how to produce the essentials to live from the land... 

Me and Emma went to them in the morning to watch them making "Aguardente", which is like Schnapps from grapes which were smashed before to make new wine...

There was Bruno, her nephew, whose father just recently died... Bruno´s mom, now window... Antonio was also there, one of Tia Adelina 's sons who is still living in Póvoa de Atalaia...

This is how the drink is made...the rest of the grapes, we call "Bagaço", is boiled in this beautiful copper pot that condenses the vapours through a piped spiral that goes through cold water inside a recycled oil drum... the condensation transforms the steam into " Aguardente"... and that's it... after the whole day preparation... It´s a special thing and we felt honored to be invited...

even for lunch for lunch... a nice barbecue with meat, sardines and peppers...
In the meantime the "Aguardente" was ready and we could taste it...well, just a little sip...it's soooooo strong !!!

Everybody left and it was only me, Emma and Tia Adelina... I had a nice conversation with her...well, more like a listening time...she shared her family history and in the end, as we were saying good-byes, she said what I mentioned before, that she really appreciates that we are here... It´s also a way that she feels safe to come to her land everyday.

as tears were almost falling down her eyes I told her that she now has other people´s children just on her doorstep... they just speak some other weird languages, but those who will stay, they will speak portuguese in order to get to know the amazing local people we were fortunate to have...

we 'll see what God has still stored for this place, for these relationships... May He also bring company to some of these old people who feel lonely without their family around... they have so much to give and teach us ... we're very blessed !