mOrE viSiTs, mUcH fUn & mUcH wOrK...

I'm being crap updating you with the life in the land, but it has been pretty busy days and not so much time to be online...
so, the work keeps going well at the land, and the bath place is not finished yet :-( but it's becoming a 5 start bath place :-)
Many have been helping on this project too...
here's Hannes and Sven...







Hannes (from Berlin) testing the bath and showing the view from the still unseen window :-)
Marcia, Andrea and Miri busy with the mosaic work...
very nice !!!
The design is Luka's... unfortunately he was with a serious infection in one of his teeth, so he was not in the mood to do anything... I don't blame him!!! it was bad...

I was in Lisbon for the weekend to meet some different friends...specially Maureen Hurst who was sick and could not make it to come to the land with her kids, Alana and Isaac...Denny , her husband was in the USA, so she didn't have much support for the "home duties", and she was feeling a bit bad cuz she couldn't do much...most of the time she had to stay in bed, or laying down at the couch... So, It was nice to be with her at their house which feels pretty much to me like home ... and that is such a nice feeling!!!

I met Sara as well, my old house mate in LIsbon, and she went one night to have dinner at the Hurst's...
Isaac was on duty :-) !!!

He's a great kid... actually he's amazing !!! I would say, unique !!! :-) besides his talent to speak and tell stories in a really fun and dramatic way (which often makes me laugh a lot), he proved to be an excellent house keeper... he cooked for us once, he set up the table, he showed us where things are and how his mom usually does things, he went shopping with me, and he knew exactly what to get...well, impressive for a little boy !!!
He end up coming with me and Sara to the land and spent some days...Marcia was going to Lisbon on Wednesday, so he went back with her... We all miss him here already... he definitely leaves a mark on everyone :-) he 's one of those person's that if you meet him once you'll never forget him :-)

The work at the garden keeps going and it's becoming so beautiful !!! Actually, the hardest part about planting is to prepare the ground... taking out weeds, stones and making it loose ... planting the seeds is actually the easy part... harvesting is fun and rewarding... Trish, Hanna (a german woman who came for 10 days to rest), Marcia, Julian ( he was with us last year,he came now for few days and helped a lot..he's just a servant, he can't help it), Isaac,
Julia and little Hanna have been some of the tough ones who have been helping to prepare our vegetable garden... we've been doing this for more than 2 or 3 weeks now...Fiiiiu!!! Finally done!

We also had some more visits after Sara and Isaac...

Julia and little Hanna, her daughter, came from Stuttgard for few weeks...

Lucy and Eileen came from London also for few weeks...
And some already "from the house", as we say in portuguese (da casa), Lyna and David are finally back to stay :-) ...
their baby is about to come as well, and it will be so nice to have a child around :-)...
They brought Taini with them who will stay for few days too...
Agneszca
(I'm sure I must have spelled her name wrong, sorry), a friend from my Polish friend Agata, was also here for the weekend... she's also part of Provizorka community in Poland together with others I also got to know on The Way :-)...

So, we're getting kinda crowded... but it's good !!!
And finally it seems like we're having a more permanent group who will stay for longer time than just few weeks, days or months...

P.S- I'M TIRED OF WAITING FOR THE PICTURES TO UPLOAD AND I'M WITH A BAD HEADACHE TODAY, SO I'LL TRY LATER OR ANOTHER DAY...BUT I'LL PUBLISH THE POST LIKE THIS ANYWAY :-)

nEw bAtH pLaCe...

don't worry those who had the privilege of having a nice warm bath under the stars :-) ... it will remain the same, but improved... hopefully !!!
We're making better walls with wood and the floor in cement... it's not my favourite material, but it's good to last longer...
I was already thinking for long time that we needed a good bath place for everyone... and it's becoming very nice...

Miri is helping, Lukas too and also Sven and Andrea who just came to visit from Switzerland...


Now we'll have a 5 star bath place..still with fire underneath to warm the water, and we can open or close the roof wether we want to see the stars or not :-)...

We also had a nice "talent show evening"...
it was very funny to listen Sven with his blue style guitar

and Lukas, more punk style, with a kitchen funnel as a megaphone ...eh, eh, eh...we had lots of fun !!!

rEjOiCe WiTh mE fOr I hAvE FoUnD mY lOsT eArRiNg... :-)

O.K, maybe this will sound totally silly to you... but you can't imagine how glad I was to find this earring I lost some weeks ago (the top one)... You might think it's just an earring... and yes, it's true... but you don't know the meaning it has for me (as everything else I wear), and all the story behind it... so let me share with you if you're interested :-)...

So this goes all the way back to India, 10 years ago ( wow, it's been long)... I went there alone, with a sleeping back and an empty book which was my only company and a way to express all the thoughts and impressions I was experiencing... on that time I was starting to know God as a Higher presence that was guiding me and protecting me... I didn't know God personally yet, but that presence was so real and intimate...I would speak with it, I would follow signs like eagles in the sky (who would show me where to camp), feathers which would lead me the way, etc... O.k, you can call me nuts, but still I believe God speaks so much through this things...
So at a certain time I lost an earring my cousin had given me...it was a sun... so I thought, "well, if I have to replace it, another one will come my way" (I never buy stuff I wear, whether they are gifts, or they "come my way")... I don't know if on the same day or few days after that thought, I was going to a new place and I was waiting for a sign or direction to show me the place I would camp... it was a beach with nice cliffs and jungles... I went for a walk, and the eagles came...my favourite sign...there were 2 in the beginning, then 3 more came along... it was a family, 2 big ones that I presumed would be the parents, and 3 kids... I was amazed with their flight, I ducked down and simply contemplated the beauty of it... suddenly, something deeper touched my heart... I was bursting into tears, and I was feeling some sort of healing happening deep in my soul... I have no idea how long this lasted... it could have been minutes, but it felt like hours... I knew I had to make that cliff my new home for that time... the eagles went away, I was filled with thankfulness to this Higher Presence that became closer than ever before... When I stood up, I turned, and laying on the rocks, right in front of me, this earring was shining to me as saying "it's for you" ... :-)... I thanked again to The Presence... I was in awe...
One year later, now in Angola, I was presented to this person, Jesus, who claimed to be God, the All present, All Knowing, etc... I was in a community where many people were following this Jesus and saying with full confidence that they knew Him personally cuz He was still alive today... Hummm...I had my struggles with that "christian stuff" and any kind of religion, but these people were really honest and I could see it was not only coming out of their mouths, but it was real in their lives...
So I was given this book to read, a Bible, which mentioned about God and Jesus, and many other things I didn't really related with (besides Eclesiastes book which related a lot with many of my thoughts about the world around )... I was alone in my room, with this book in my hands, filled with questions and doubts in my mind... And I asked the question that probably many people ask one day "O.k God, if you are this one that this book is speaking about, show me"... then I felt a voice deep inside of me saying: "remember this?! ", and it led me to remember this story with the eagles and the earring I just described you... "yes" I said, and the same voice replied : "It was me" ... "remember this?!", another crazy story with a dog...yes, a dog...and in the end the same words : "It was me" ... I was amazed... in awe... in ecstasy... it finally made sense... I finally connected that Presence with the same God of that book, and Jesus and all ...
:-)
After that I always say with full confidence that this earring was a present from God (specially to those Christians who have problems with piercings , eh, eh)... It became a symbol of my covenant with Him actually... so now you can understand better why I was so sad...and why I am so happy now that I found it again...

I was not eagerly trying to find it... I gave it back to God and said : "If you want me to have it again, bring it my way"...
and so it happen... I was building the new bath place together with Andrea, a visit from Switzerland... the old place had been partly destroyed and we were closing the sides to pour the cement in... Andrea needed some help and I went there... and what a surprise to find my earring, in the midst of the dirt... it would be like finding a needle in a straw pile...a miracle...a sign...
I'm really happy !!!
When I was alone I went to put it and thought it was going to be hard...rings are often harder, with no mirror and no one to help... but it was like God was helping me :-)... it just went in straight away...
I felt like my covenant with God is renewed... The last year was full of trials and struggles, but now I'm at peace again...

I was just reading now the parable of the lost coin, and how happy that woman was to find her lost coin... she told everyone and made a party ... and Jesus compared that to the party that is going on in Heaven with every lost person who is found...
I was also lost, back there in India... I rejoice today that I 'm found by God... many may rejoice as well for me, but I guess only God knows how precious and significant I am... How precious and significant each one human being is... God knows every single one of us as no one else does... God created us... God watched us being formed in our mom's womb...God watched us grow... God watched us getting lost and confused...God watched us making a lot of crap out of our lives... But God was always around, sending us signs, giving us directions, protecting us, guiding us to Know Him, loving us... till we were finally found... I can't imagine God's Joy, but I bet He makes the best parties ever :-)...

O.K, enough of divagating...

REJOICE !!!
FOR YOUR LIFE !!!