It dawned cloudy on the island of Lombok, in Indonesia, where I was. Perhaps a hint of the day to come. Still there, in that twilight of sleep, light came on in my head. ”Oh, the legislative elections, I have to see the results”. The time difference is significant: there are eight hours of difference, being in the ‘future’, but little of this legislative future could I have imagined.
When I started reading the news, at eight in the morning on this side of the world, the last votes were still being counted, but the end of the soap opera was practically written. ”No more Ventura with 48 seats”. I can’t have read that well, can I? Is sleep playing tricks on me? But there it was, on all the news channels, the same outcome.
I couldn’t avoid the watery eyes that clouded my screen. Not when 50 years of April are just around the corner. Not when so much hate proliferates in the world. Don’t take the rant that my longing heart makes the wrong way, but there, at that moment reading the news, it was the first time I had the realization that, most likely, I will not live in Portugal again.
When I left our country, in February 2018, it was on the condition that I would return when my six-month internship in Brussels ended. Six months magically turned into six years. But the objective remained: I will return to Portugal eventually. It will be?
I understand. The people are tired, the recent alleged cases of corruption have shaken the confidence of a people who already had little confidence in the leadership of this country. This result in the legislative elections is enough, it literally hits the two main parties in the face. But what will it mean in practical terms? And the reader might argue that this is how democracy works. And to that I say, clearly! Democracy is one of the most beautiful tools for living in society. However, let us not forget that we have dictators in history who were democratically elected. Huh?
Apparently, history tends to repeat itself. Let’s take the case of the United States and Donald Trump. On January 6, 2021, his supporters stormed the Capitol. Two days ago, Trump – who is currently running for president of the USA – predicted a bloodbath if he lost the elections. Haven’t we already seen this film?
Anyway, I don’t want to leave you with a bad omen or a bitter taste in your mouth. As I wrote, it’s just an outburst from a (worried and) longing heart.
On this side of the globe, I’ve been on my Odyssey of traveling around the world for two and a half months – if you remember my last articles, you’ll remember that I wrote about traveling alone for six months around Asia. Well, plans have changed and now it will be eight months, where I will pass through North and South America as well. A few days ago, in a group conversation, I heard a Frenchman who lives in Bali saying that he used to go to a bar and every day he asked the waiter how his day was going, to which he always replied, smiling: “My day is wonderful. Living is very good, I can’t complain.” And that’s basically it. Living is very good. And that’s what I’ve been learning from this experience and from the Thais, the Indonesians and the Filipinos. These people are some of the most grateful people I have ever met. Even though they have very little, they are very grateful people for waking up to live another day. For me, it helps me put my days in perspective. Something I hope to take with me when this adventure ends.
On the darkest days, I want to remember these people, because living is very good. And only by being alive can we fight for a better tomorrow, in any sphere of our lives.
