in absentia

things to share-

cookery, music, work, balance, age, growing.

I've spent most of the last few weeks working, cooking and eating. And trying to balance my life with my work and to manage my time effectively. To be productive during "working hours" and to switch off during "time off". Problem is, when working on a freelance basis, from home, neither of those concepts actually exist and time can work against you in so many ways. I find that either, the clock is ticking and deadlines are looming or, in stark contrast, I am worrying after one day of no work. It's a rather draining cycle of feast vs famine sometimes. I suppose it's simply a case of accepting the way the industry works and dealing with the (extensive) to-do list in the quiet periods.

On the agenda for the next few months-

First tax return in Portugal (FUN!). The Portuguese tax system. :shakes head: In the tax office you ask a question. Instead of giving you a straightforward, direct answer they find the HUGE book of tax law, look up your query and basically read you the clause relating to your question. That's a good image to sum up Portuguese bureaucracy in general. :sigh: If it's all just overwhelming and confusing I'll have to find an accountant...

Finding a new apartment. I've probably spent longer actually physically IN this apartment than anywhere else I've ever lived. Due to working from home. One of my many reasons for moving to Portugal was that, from a financial perspective it makes sense as a place to set up as a freelance translator. Living costs are low. However I think that a really nice apartment is one thing that I should see as an investment as opposed to trying to in any way economise on that front. Where I live affects my mood and productivity much more than I'd previously realised. I've been lucky enough to live in some beautiful apartments. This one isn't horrible but it also isn't exactly beautiful. It could be better, but it could also be worse. And again, from a financial point of view, it's the cheapest rent i've ever paid, anywhere. Hopefully we will find something more suitable for our move date in July. Definitely staying in Greater Porto for the foreseeable future.

I'm going to the Algarve for a week in April and hoping to go to a translation conference in Lisbon in May.
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racism, identity, ignorance. enemy of all of us.

I had the decidedly unpleasant experience of becoming involved in a facebook group dealing with immigration to the UK recently. This is the sort of thing I would normally stay well away from as I'm aware of how futile it is to try to reason with people who have a skewed, distorted and frankly ignorant view of themselves and the world. I could not however restrain myself in this case. I looked at the group after reading that a relative of mine had joined the group which has a rather aggressive title. After scrolling through some of the posts I felt angry and offended. I'll just post my major contribution to the group and leave it at that.

"This is one of the most offensive, ignorant and revolting things I have ever come across in my life. I really should refrain from commenting as quite frankly the comments already made by the members of this group speak for themselves. I would just like to echo some of the remarks made by others here who are equally disgusting by the fact that there are people in Britain who think in this way. I am British and my first language in English. Before you ask. I also speak several other languages and am resident in Portugal, having also previously lived in Argentina, France and Quebec (Francophone Canada). I speak Portuguese everyday to everybody I come across as I live in Portugal. However I speak English everyday with my English fiancée who I live with. Now, the logic of this group is not simply that people living in a country where a language is spoken other than their mother tongue should speak the national language, which I agree with, but that one should refrain from speaking one's native language with other native speakers of this same language. That baffles me somewhat, I must say. In every non-Anglophone country I have ever lived in I have never initiated a conversation with anybody from that country in my native language, English. I have, however, spoken English with Anglophone friends and my fiancée. And I have never, ever been discriminated against or treated negatively in any way whatsoever because of this. Quite simply this is because of the fact that anybody with any vague semblance of intelligence should know that if I speak my language with other native speakers of this language in a non-Anglophone country it is nobody's business. Would the members of this group ask of me, living in Portugal, that I speak to my fiancée and any other Anglophones in Portuguese in order that people around me (who I should point out have no real business in eavesdropping on my conversations, regardless of what language I am conducting them in) can understand what I am saying, out of fear that I am hiding something from them? This is an absurd, ignorant and offensive idea. And it is, without any doubt whatsoever, incredibly racist. I feel the need to bring up also that there are many hundreds of thousands of British people (and people from other Anglophone nations) living in countries such as Portugal, Spain and France as well as outside of the EU, who speak English and only English despite being legally resident in a non-Anglophone nation. Which, going by the founding principle of this group would most certainly be deemed not only "weird" as these people speak English among themselves, but also unacceptable, as they are fundamentally disrespecting the country in which they reside. Why is it acceptable for this to occur? Should we deport all of those frail, elderly mono-lingual British people living in Southern Europe? The reason it occurs is because the people in the nations who put up with ignorant, mono-lingual British people residing in their country in order to enjoy all its benefits without being prepared to make the effort to learn the national language is because people are kind, open-minded, educated and welcoming, even towards lazy foreigners. This is a racist group and it is shocking how many people are professing to agree with these abhorrent views. People who make the decision to live in another country should, out of respect for that country, learn the native language and integrate into the host society. I agree. But I do find it deeply hypocritical that this is coming from Britain-the country known, across Europe and the globe as mono-lingual and culturally ignorant. It works both ways. The point made about people speaking their mother tongue with other native speakers of that language, regardless of what that language may be and regardless of the country in which they are, is absurd and pathetic. Why is it that you feel you have any right to determine the language is which a private conversation is conducted? Just one more point I'd like to mention is the irony inherent in this group. Speak our language, the language that we have quite clearly demonstrated that we have a woefully bad command of. I could go on, but I'll leave it at that."

Everybody is entitled to their opinion. But the sort of things being said on groups like that are just vile. We'll leave that there.
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summer. spring. life cycles. activity. joy. family.

I had an incredible time in Marseille. I met Julia Kent and talked to her. She was incredible live-absolutely wonderful. I just wish I'd had more time in Marseille. It was beautiful. It's on my list of places to return to in the Summer, along with Vigo, Spain.

new leaf. new life. new start, every day.

yesterday is irrelevant. tomorrow is irrelevant. today is all there is.