1. The climate, usually. Apart from the pollen and the raaaaaaaaaaaaain and inevitable heat waves and cold snaps (which you'll get anywhere, let's face it), when it's just right, it's heavenly. So lush and green in summer, you're glutted with greenery and don't even notice it. And if you don't like the weather at the moment, just wait a bit, it'll change!
2. At this point? Damned if I know. I go on language/culture binges periodically. You missed my German period in the early 80s, lucky you.
I like being able to read the news from a different perspective, share the gossip, read the fics, hang out with people I love. Also, the lusophone cultures are very rich, and there are so many of them! So much to explore.
More specifically, I'm also fascinated by the way popular music and revolutionary thought intertwined in both Portugal and Brazil in the late twentieth century. I love that famous poets like Vinicius in Brazil and Ary dos Santos in Portugal actively participated in songwriting. There are some songs from the 70s and 80s in both countries which are incredibly dense in poetic imagery and subversive subtext. I love it, because they became popular hits with people who appreciated the depth of the lyrics, AND the government censors were too dense to understand what they were rubber stamping half the time! The other half of the time, the artists were tortured, imprisoned, and/or exiled. Many of them went to France or England, just as the 60s were in full flower, which further enriched their musical and lyrical gifts. And there is NOTHING about this in English, especially for Portugal! Someone should write a book about it, I swear....
no subject
2. At this point? Damned if I know. I go on language/culture binges periodically. You missed my German period in the early 80s, lucky you.
I like being able to read the news from a different perspective, share the gossip, read the fics, hang out with people I love. Also, the lusophone cultures are very rich, and there are so many of them! So much to explore.
More specifically, I'm also fascinated by the way popular music and revolutionary thought intertwined in both Portugal and Brazil in the late twentieth century. I love that famous poets like Vinicius in Brazil and Ary dos Santos in Portugal actively participated in songwriting. There are some songs from the 70s and 80s in both countries which are incredibly dense in poetic imagery and subversive subtext. I love it, because they became popular hits with people who appreciated the depth of the lyrics, AND the government censors were too dense to understand what they were rubber stamping half the time! The other half of the time, the artists were tortured, imprisoned, and/or exiled. Many of them went to France or England, just as the 60s were in full flower, which further enriched their musical and lyrical gifts. And there is NOTHING about this in English, especially for Portugal! Someone should write a book about it, I swear....
Where was I? Ahem.