Portugal’s cuisine isn’t the familiarity of French, Spanish, or Italian. However, historical Brazilian and African delicacies blend into Portugal’s mediterranean cuisine, making the country a memorable contender. Aromatic variations of Piri Piri spicy peppers, Cinnamon (Canela), Bay Leaves (Louro), Sea Salt (Sal), and Smoked Paprika (Colorau) into delectable combinations are a foodie’s dream. Here are some of the specialties I’ve enjoyed:
Relocating to a foreign country isn’t for the faint of heart, even if the choice is an English-speaking country, there’s cultural shock. No matter what you’ve read in the popular International Living, life in an unfamiliar territory, is a reality check. You’re not on vacation.
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Endless thoughts devoured my mind over the past months. They tossed me into uncharted and familiar territory. I think a SPIRIT’S power tells when there’s a need to step back, listen, watch, and learn something new or revisit something old. Lessons are hidden everywhere, often in plain sight. Continue reading
Black History Month leaves and a new month, March, emerges. During February, I thought what does it mean—Black History Month? One month nationally set aside embraces a history I feel only pricks a hole into the abyss. Much of what people of color don’t know is because their stories, contributions, and past journeys have been lost, untold, or reviled as not true American History. White folks are tired of reliving a placed blame. They need to be protected from their own history, starting from what the slave ancestors lived through—up to this very present, today, after decades as these ancestors walked as freemen. Irrelevant, is what people of color are labeled by an emerging group, picturing themselves saviors of an America, whose history is best served up on a golden platter of apple pie and fried chicken. Continue reading
This month marks the birthday and national holiday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I remember the exact place I was when the news broke about his assassination. I was in school, the last study hall session for the day, and the announcement came over the loud speaker. Our principal’s voice sounded shaken as he stumbled over his words. All the students stopped and listened, and for a moment, even the toughest bullies looked solemn, as if a member of their own family had been murdered. Continue reading
Risk:
And then the day came
When the risk
To remain tight
In a bud
Was more painful
Than the risk
It took
To bloom
(An excerpt from a poem by Anais Nin) Continue reading
I’m grateful for much in my life, especially for those thorns that have caused me pain. The gratitude of gratification has carried me on its back. Friends, to distant ones, to those I’ve sworn to never speak to again, have imprinted my DNA, and when dissected, reveal threads knowing who I am and what I’m grateful for. Continue reading
If you listen with your eyes and hear with your mind, clarity will amaze, surprise, and dumfound, because we’ve been previously preoccupied. Whatever life holds, surprises are entwined into micro bombs throwing us off track. Getting back on track, for me, is a continuous task forcing me to sit down and take serious stock of what’s going on.
Saturated over the past months are clues as to what the future parade holds. To be honest, as I consume, plan, and anticipate, it’s overwhelming and exhausting looking at the next year(s), and packing into my mind a future of desirable sound bites of less stress.
I’ve looked at my life and wondered how can I listen and see more? How can I push aside the unnecessary for an existence of comfortable and useful reality? How can I watch the parade instead of marching in line with everyone else? Yes, I’m thinking individuality more than conforming. Continue reading
Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you replaced all your square tables with round tables? In retrospect how different would your surroundings look or feel? Realistically, this drastic alteration probably isn’t feasible, but assuming imagination is possible, so how would it feel touching, feeling, and smelling new each day? Could the change be sustainable and tolerable? Continue reading
The month of June started and ended with ups and downs. Prickly vines twisted and entwined our breaths gasping for air.
Overwhelming peaks and plummeting valleys warrant tremendous digesting of what each consequence means. The list, a never-ending story, trails its long opaque veil. The value and devastation of this country are politicized. Continue reading
