mOrE cOnNeCtIoNs aNd wHy cAlLiNg MoUnT oF oAkS tO tHe lAnD...

It's so interesting how the internet can connect people who just live next to each other and haven't crossed paths with each other personally...

One day I got a comment on my blog from someone who was interested to get to know more about our community, lifestyle and principles... He asked me why we named the land "Mount of Oaks" and I explained it to him...  I was simply looking at the military map of the region and the mount where we stand is called "Monte dos Carvalhos", which is "Mount of Oaks", in Portuguese obviously...

He then told me that he also has a house in the "Monte dos Carvalhos", and it might be the same hill , isn't that funny? 

So far our only contact was through my blog, but I´m looking forward to meeting him personally... I asked him how did he find my blog, and he said he just saw the signs on the road and he was curious to know what was that all about... then he typed "Mount of Oaks" on Google and he found Nuno Barreto 's blog who was recently here and had made a post named "mount of Oaks"...from there it was easy to get the link to my blog... These technologies can really be used for useful purposes, if we don't let ourselves be used by it, but that would be another post...

 Aquiles Pinto is his name, he lives in Lisbon, but he grew up in this area, more in Serra da Estrela, which is the highest mountain range in Portugal and it´s on the other side of Serra da Gardunha, the mountains around us... here he has inherited half of the house of his grandmother where he used to spend all the summer holidays...
Eventually I got to meet him in person...he came this saturday with his daughter Alexandra to see the land...but it was a bit rainy already so we didn't even went to look around...I just made some tee and we mainly spoke about many things... he said he heard about many people living like this, but not many christians... I wonder what he meant by that as I´m sure there are many other christians living like this too, and even more radically, like so many monasteries all over europe once were... Or Leo Tolstoi´s communities which are a great example...

Maybe today we see less christians choosing a simple life out of the capitalist system, specifically because they are trying to follow Jesus´s teachings when it comes to finances and sharing of all resources, as I am, and that might be what he wanted to say with that comment... It is sad and I know it´s true for what I´ve seen... Many churches are too much focused in themselves, in getting more members and in their own entertaining programs, more than trying to reduce all the injustices in the world that enable europeans to live the comfortable lives they live in... a lot of churches still preach a "prosperity gospel" that says that God blesses the wealthy, as we see it coming from American preachers... One time I went to a christian group of university students to talk about justice and ending poverty and someone commented that my content was too communist... imagine.... I think a lot of communist teaching is more "christian" than a lot of church teaching, and possible many communists are better followers of Christ than many christians today. 

Anyway, I also found out that Aquiles is a natural lover of this region and knows a lot of the history and the traditions of local people... he has a lot of interesting things to share... 

we were exactly speaking about the village parties and how it could be much more traditional than it is (as I wrote in a previous post)... I guess Aquiles can give me a lot of information for me to research...and maybe we can work together on something, who knows? 

He already sent me yesterday some music and other links about different traditions from this area, I still need to check it out... It would be nice to revive some of the traditions and culture of this place ...

"Deus quer, o homem sonha, a obra nasce"

(Fernando Pessoa)
"God wants, man dreams , the work is done" (rough translation)

Alexandra might be back soon with her boyfriend..they are both musicians, she plays the flute and he plays the saxophone...actually I heard him around new year when I was passing by their house, but I didn't see anyone..

Another blessing was that Aquiles gave me a key for the electricity house they have in the end of their land, less than 5 minutes from ours... There, I can have 2 plugs where I can charge my computer and other stuff...Isn't that a blessing !!! I'm so grateful !!!