The Portuguese people clearly love festivals - there seems to always one going on nearby during the summer months! In this blog, I'll do my best to give you a taste of these wonderful gatherings. I'll also update you on some of of our activities, including introducing wonderful new friends. Plus, I'll share something about Portugues hospitality and honesty. Happy reading!
Love the Pagentry!
The colorful embroidered shirts and skirts, the gold jewelry, the smiles - what a treat to see a parade of "trajas" (in English, "outfits" or "clothes") at Viana do Castelo
But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, let me tell you about what happened earlier in the summer - right next door here in Barcelos.....
What is going on out there?
Here in out hometown, the summer fun started the second week of July. Worker brought highway barriers, preventing us from parking in our normal spot across the street from our apartment. Then they brought in sand.
We were dumbfounded at first - what's the deal?
Chris will confirm that even before they started assembling the grandstands, I guessed it......
Beach Volleyball!!
Yes, indeed, we enjoyed watching portions of the Portugal national competition circuit from our balcony over two weekends - first the womens' and then the mens' tournaments. Super fun!
It was amazing how quickly they assembled this court - in less than four day! Takedown was even faster.
Then came a wonderful car show of mini Fiats ....
Then a book fair - these twins were so fun to talk to!
....so cute! Love the pastel colors.
Then an Artisan Fair - wonderful pottery!
Pottery at the Artisan Fair
I loved the pottery at one particular booth. Equally, I enjoyed the lady "manning" the booth. She (I'll call her Maria) is part of a family business - her husband is the lead sculptor. I purchased a couple nativity beautiful nativity scenes.
Three days later I took another stroll through the fair (which was at the park kitty-corner to our apartment) to check out some booths I hadn't seen earlier. I decided to stop by and see Maria again. She immediately exclaimed "I'm so glad to see! You left something here the other day! She stepped away for a minute and then returned holding.....
Honesty at Its Best
.... a €20 bill! She explained that when I paid for the pieces three days earlier, two bills €20 were folded together. She had searched for me but couldn't find me among the crowd.
With a huge smile on her face, she exclaimed, "I am thrilled to see you! I felt terrible about keeping your money!".
Her honesty touched my heart! She then invited us to see additional pieces at their home/office.
A few days later, we had a delightful visit to their hope. It was super fun to see them at work making these beautiful sculptures!
Viana Do Castelo - Traditional Clothing
Now we get to the "Desfile das Trajas" in Viana do Castelo! The annual festival "Romaria do Nossa Senhora d'Agonia" (Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Sorrow) includes a parade of women dressed traditional clothing/costumes. These handcrafted outfits in a variety of colors have symbolic meaning and often represent family traditions.
Red symbolizes vitality, youth and celebration.
Loved the green, which symbolizes growth and renewal.
Love the hand-embroidered shirts and skirts!
Blue symbolizes purity or thought. Love this beautiful hand-embroidered skirt!
All of the gold jewelry is indeed made of gold. These pieces are often passed down in families for hundreds of generation. To keep the abundant necklaces in place, they secure each piece to the costume with afastener.
The slender decorated pole is part of a bridal costume. These beautiful ladies are not actual brides; rather, they honor the cultural importance of marriage, family legacy, and feminine pride. Black symbolizes not only solemnity, but also dignity and formality.
Viana do Castelo at Night
The lights at night during the celebration at Viana do Castelo were gorgeous! We spent an evening enjoying the festival with Morgana and her family. She encouraged us to return a couple days later to see the "Tapetes de Sal" (Salt Carpets) crafted overnight on several streets. We're glad we did - they were stunning!
Why salt? Viana do Castelo is situated on the Atlantic Coast, and this celebration is all about their maritime tradition - especially honoring fishermen.
The decorated houses on each side of the street were a lovely addition!
Our Lady of Sorrow
The week-long celebration in Viana do Castelo is focused around "Nossa Senhora d'Agonia", who is a patron saint generally associated with fishermen in northern portugal. When in the midst of storms, shipwreck, or otherwise suffering loss, fishermen prayed to her.
The culminating event was an outdoor mass at the Nossa Senhora d'Agonia cathedral . In his sermon, the priest reminded us that we feel pain at the loss of loved ones only because we love. Therefore, love invariably leads to pain. But this pain is overcome through trust in God that in the end, everything will be made right.
Following the sermon and distribution of communion (see the photo below), a procession emanated from cathedral. It included women dressed in traditional clothing (left). They were followed by women carrying a light pole and men carrying a decorated structure called an "andor". The richly decorated andor supported an image of Nossa Senhora d'Agonia (which, during the rest of the year, is on display at the church).
The andor is paraded throughout the city. Then it is taken to the dock and loaded on a boat where it, along with a parade of boats, sails along the river
(We weren't able to stay for this last part - maybe next year!)
Temple Excoursion
We received permission to leave our mission to accompany our friends and recent converts on one of the monthly temple excoursions. The 4-hour ride to Lisbon in a church-chartered bus was enjoyable, followed by five hours of participating in our sacred rituals in the temple.
This was my first experience of participating in these rituals in the Portuguese language. I found it deeply enriching.
Our Friends
We were pleased that three of our friends (Anax, Gabriel, and Deborah) came on the trip, even though they are not yet members and therefore can not yet participate in the temple rituals.
Our Elders Quorum President (Jared) and his wife (Soraya) took us on a wonderful tour around the temple grounds. We loved hearing about the history of the temple the symbols used in the landscaping and architecture.
Chris's Birthday
We teach and English Connect class each Saturday morning. After the class on August 23, one of our students asked me to keep Chris occupied outside our meeting room. Fifteen minutes later, they motioned to me to bring her back in, where they shouted "surprise" and sang "Happy Birthday" in English (including the Portuguese tradition of clapping with the beat). She was thrilled with this outpouring of love and affection!
More People to Love
Four Generations
This family emigrated from Jabaquara, a suburb of Sao Paulo, Brazil about six years ago. Just so happens that I served in Jabaquara as a young missionary. So we have many dear friends in common!
There are four generations in this photo - Ana, her daughter Renata (light blue), her granddaughters Lívia (grey) and Valentina (white), and her great granddaughter Rafael. (Marco is Lívia's boyfriend.)
Because making ends meet has been challenging for this family, Renata recently moved to Germany where her wages working at McDonalds is more than double what she would earn in Portugal. She hates being away from family, but is committed to this sacrifice for at least a year.
Ukrainian Family
Alona emigrated from Ukraine with her youngest daughter soon after the start of the Russian invasion about two years ago. Her older daughter joined them earlier this year. They speak English much better than Portuguese, which Chris enjoys!
Alona joined the church soon after arriving in Portugal. She works at a hostel that caters to pilgrims walking the "Caminho de Santiago".
They are just lovely people - very gentle, warm, and loving.
A Delightful Dinner
Aparecida and her son Guilherme emigrated from Brazil about 6 years ago. Guilherme just finished high school and is preparing to attend college. Also seated at the table is Antonio, Aparecida's Portuguese boyfriend.
We had a delightful meal, and really enjoyed this family's good humor and vitality!
Energy Galore
This is another family from Brazil that also emigrated 6 years ago. Marco and Ana are full of life, as are their two children. They recently moved into the Barcelos Branch. They love the branch, and are preparing to attend the temple for the first time.
We love that this family is very real - they don't put on any airs. Too, they love gardening - it was fun to help them plant a winter vegetable garden last week!
Another American Among Us
Jonah is 18 years old and is from Dallas, Texas. He just finished high school and is entering BYU this fall. He loves soccer, so he joined a program that allows foreigners to train with a Portuguese team of similarly aged youth.
We were impressed with his positive outlook, relaxed style, and deep commitment to his faith - he didn't miss a single Sunday service nor church activity during the eight weeks he lived here in Barcelos!
We wish him well - hopefully the walk-on tryouts for the BYU soccer team go well for him!
Great Cooks
Ildo is from Cape Verde and Rosangela is from San Tomé. Their incredibly cute two-year-old daughter talks non-stop; most of it is indecipherable (even for her parents!), but that doesn't seem to stop her.
Ildo is the chief chef in their home and he cooked up an flavorful chicken dinner - I have since used the general contours of his recipe twice with great success!
Both Ildo and Rosangela work at local factories - Rosangela in the day and Ildo in the afternoon/evening. In addition, Ildo started a cleaning business a year ago than has contracted with two McDonalds' restaurants. He works at this business seven days a week from 4 am to 8 am. It's a grueling schedule for him, but if he can grow the business from two to five contracts with McDonalds, the will provide enough income to allow him to quit his factory job.
Baptism at Viana do Castelo
Matilda is quite shy, but it's been fun to see her light up as she has accepted the message of the restored gospel and felt loved by branch members.
Matilda, with her friend, the branch Relief Society President, and his son.
Love this approach of kneeling in the pool in the back yard of a branch member that lives near the church.
Touring with Ellen and Eric
One of Chris's high school friends just happens to be serving a mission with her husband. We have been looking forward to getting together ever since we arrived in Portugal. So we were thrilled when they offered to come visit for three days last month.
After attending church services in Viana do Castelo, we visited the cathedral of Santa Luiza, which overlooks the city. It's a gorgeous cathedral with a stunning view. The bridge across the Lima River was designed by Gustave Eiffel - the same French engineer that designed the tower in Paris.
In the evening, we dragged Ellen and Eric to a dinner at a branch member's home, together with missionaries and friends.
Tour of Guimaraes
Afonso Henriques, considered the first king of Portugal, was born in Guimeraes. After his army won a decisive battle near his home, his dream of a separate country from Spain began to take shape. Thus, the bold declaration on a wall in the Guimeraes city center, "Aqui Nasceu Portugal" (Portugal was born here),
A statue honoring the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques
We loved walking the streets of this historic city with our wonderful local guide, Fernanda. And it was super fun to eat a restaurant frequented by locals - generous helpings of authentic Portuguese food at an very low price. Love the ambience too. One waiter served this entire crowd - I've never seen any one person do so much so quickly!!
Gallery of Photos - Guimeraes
Gotta love the gothic architecture, graceful arches, picturesque streets, ornate cathedrals, and lovely gardens.
Duro River Cruise
We enjoyed a 4-hour river cruise through the loverly Duro River valley, famous for vineyards and olive orchards. Highlights: going through the dam locks and hanging out at our destination city - Pinhão.
Gospel Principles Class
Every other Sunday, new members of the church and friends meet in a special Sunday School class. Our teacher (on the left in blue) is wonderful. We feel blessed to be able to fellowship with these great people.
Portuguese Hospitality
This wonderful lady runs a small laundrymat nearby. When we stopped by to pick up some drycleaning, we mentioned that we we had seen a kitchen appliance store nearby and wondered if she knew where it was located. Rather than just giving us directions, she insisted on walking us there. So she locked her store, took Chris by the arm, and showed us the way. What service! She is just a lovely person!
Surprise Visit
As I was playing the postlude music after Sacrament Meeting a couple weeks ago, in walked a man that I immediately recognized! Forty eight years ago, I served as Caesar Milder's zone leader when he was a "greenie" missionary in Santos, Brazil. He reminded me that we spent a day serving together. He still fondly remembers that experience. I took the photo on the right on the day of that we had an exchange together. (My companions was Elder Claudio Amorim on the left. Elder Milder's companion was Elder Terryl Givens)
And so do I! I wrote this in my journal 48 years ago: "Elder Milder is a great missionary. Someday he will be a great leader in the church." This "prophecy" came true: he has served as a stake president (twice) a mission president (twice), an Area Authority 70 (10 years), a Mission Training Center president, and a temple president.
It was wonderful to catch up Caesar and feel his love and devotion to the gospel and his family. These wonderful bonds created on missions last a lifetime.
Trailing Comments
We are finding this experience incredibly enriching. There is something about focusing attention on others, with an aim to lift and bless, that brings joy. Because we are enjoying our time in Portugal so much, we recently decided to extend our mission from one year to 18 months. So we will be here in Portugal for one more year.
Chris's language skills are coming along - she is generally able to understand the general contours of conversations,. This allows her to express her love an support with short phrases, but even more important, through smiles and hugs.
Being together 24/7 has its challenges, but it also has great rewards. We are becoming more united partners as we serve with common objectives.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to change lives. For example, a recent convert (Porfírio) shared how much he loves what he is experiencing, something along these lines: "It's just incredible how beautiful these principles are...they fill my soul! I just take it all in. I often don't remember precisely what is said in church meetings, but the words warm heart and bring me peace and joy."
(I didn't do this justice - nothing like being in his presence to feel his love and appreciation!)
That's all for now. Sending love to all from Portugal,
Elder Dave and Sister Chris Longhurst
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Comments
So awesome!! I served in Guimarães for 6 months - such a beautiful place with such good people. So happy you are loving Portugal! I love reading your blog and being reminded of the beautiful culture, country, and people.
Great post! Thank you for sharing your experiences. And for dedicating your time to this great work. We sure love you guys. 😊❤️