Lis Day 94

Today I'm writing about yesterday. Since I had no time to do that at the time.
Yesterday, in the meaning of June 26th rather than in the meaning of the-day-before-today, was a day of triple significance.

Yesterday, June 26th, was Andrei's birthday & I did manage to speak to him on the occasion and that in itself was good. Because I miss him & because I wanted to hear him & because I wanted to say Happy Birthday!

Yesterday, June 26th, was equally the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The EMCDDA, besides launching its largest publication yet, has also had a reception on the occasion. And it's there that I've met the Romanian Ambassador in Portugal, who's been so kind as to draft a paper today, supporting my residence application here.

And what's more, yesterday has also been the International Day in Support of Torture Victims. [the official UN page is to be seen here].

Yesterday was therefore a rather positively-eventful day in my little corner of the world.
Today, however, was a different story. A story that spins around the U.S. Supreme Court's decision & its implications. Hold on -you might say -but why bother about internal U.S. decisions?! Well - I'd answer - cause important U.S. decisions are telling of more than just internal politics; and -I'd add - imho times of economics crisis are perhaps not the best times for 'theoretically' dwelling over the importance of owning a weapon... Disagree? [or am I just contextualising too much..?]

interactions

Lis Day 90
[running into the not-very-illegal-stay buffer]

• been at the Citizen's Shop last Monday, to get my criminal record statement sorted out; for starters, I found the idea of having a centralised office addressing any sorts of public authorities issues (and not only...) as a sign of particular efficiency, in the context of my tangled interactions with the Portuguese bureaucracy up to that point. And, the fact of the matter is, that after my 2h of queuing, half asleep, in what appeared to be an endless morning, the entire procedure took a mere 5min, which was a rather pleasant surprise;
• what was not equally pleasant was my (not so early) Saturday morning try of getting my blood test done here; caught been a lost registrar and the generally futile attendance of Mondial Assistance's operator (none of whom had any idea on the procedure to be followed with regard to the actual billing), the only reasonable thing to do was to cancel the taking of the tests until a new insurance is in place (which I need to take care of in the nearest future). The alternative? Paying some EUR 180 (roughly estimated, as the registrar mentioned several times) on the spot and waiting for the Insurer's assessment of whether they will reimburse it or not... (as I've been thrice informed during my 20min call).
• in other news: I'm sorry that Portugal didn't qualify for Euro 2008's quarter-finals, still very much relieved at the same time; that's due to what's been bothering me every since the Championship started, actually, i.e. the fact that all 4 PT tv channels bothered to air little more than the national team's supporters, the team's interviews, the fans' parties, their preparations for the matches (starting one day before the actual games),etc., etc... Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that their usual topics are generally very different from the Euro Cup's coverage efforts, yet this was getting to be too much, really, and thus getting on my nerves... on a daily basis. [there goes a sigh of guilty relief to the on-line world!]
• in other-other news: had a few days of regular film watching; the "chosen ones" have been: Lost in Translation; Basic; Identity; and Gossip. A battery of 2003's films and one made some 3 years before, out of which, interestingly, I felt the most disappointed with the one in which I had vested my highest degree of interest: the 1st one. Then again, these are rather different films essentially, even though the last 3 of them have rather intricate plots. Nonetheless, the latter did spur my interest in actually seeing them till the end, whereas LIT brought about little insight. I am, however, open to different perspectives.

As for everything else: I wish you all Happy Summer Solstice for yesterday & a good week ahead! (I know that I'll need it!).[image from here]

Lis Day 82
[the summer's in this city!]

location: on top of a pillow which is on top of the armchair (:
working on: NFP reports' legal sections' purges
mood:

Don't accept rides from strange men, and remember that all men are strange. - Robin Morgan

[taken from here]

on my ears: Os Tubarões
on my mind: the procedure for regulating the prolongation of my stay here has finally been initiated, which I find rather reliving. It's been stressing me out quite a bit, always in the back of my mind, which has also had unfavourable consequences on the efficiency of my daily work... Yet now the snowball's rolling, and I'm the one in charge. Which turns out to be the best option available.

on the backburner: the baby steps to be taken regarding my joining of the intensive PT course & those regarding the renewal of my health insurance.

Alex: thanks a bunch for the call today, it was good to hear you, hope to get some more news on your part rather soon (?!). On the other hand, apologies for not having updated more frequently and/or more thoroughly, recently; I've been microblogging quite a bit, which turned out to be a disincentive in relation to the usual blogging habbit. And the fact that I spent 2 (out of 3) weekends out of Lisbon didn't help either... so how's this for an apology? (:

La multi ani, Stefan, wherever you are! :)

si: Felicitari, Costel! :)

Lis Day 77

today: Dia de Portugal [Dia de Camões, de Portugal e das Comunidades Portuguesas]
tomorrow: self-starting the legal status procedure, part 2