Weaving Windows #1 – Ílhavo

It is still dark outside. I’m riding my bike on the way to the market. I pass all the fields of my family where the unripe fruits and vegetables are waiting to join me on my next ride. My bags are full and the bike is heavy. Everytime I pedal, my knees touch my pregnant belly. 

As I get closer to the market the fields start to change, they no longer belong to us. I know that back home my eight children are waiting for me to get back. 

I was part of Vista Alegre Theatre group and…

Which is the best day of my life? Saturdays, when I am in the market.

Years ago, Ilhavo was 80 percent women. Men were abroad in the sea, fishing bacalhau. 

I’ve lived so many lives. There are so many “me” in me. 

I quit smoking at eleven. Yeah, it’s a real story that I tell to my sons. 1971. I was 11. I was a kid. And that was a praxe. Was what it was. And these guys who were older than me, brought me to a room, and the “welcome” that fell on me was that they put five cigarettes in my mouth, and I had to smoke the five cigarettes without taking them out. Today, we would call this bullying. “From now on you will be a man,” they said. From that moment on, I said I’m going to quit smoking forever. 

Sometimes they are fishing for the octopus, and when they catch one, they put it inside of the boat, and the octopus is still moving. 

He was in the army. I was at home. He was crossing the square in front of my house. From the balcony I noticed him. At that time, everyone knew everyone. I was surprised. “Who is that guy?” I asked someone. Afterwards, we danced at festas. We danced. And danced. Now we are married 65 years.

I was a fifteen year old girl selling cherries in the market. 

It was like a relief. That hug. I could be frozen in that moment forever. 

We came to Ilhavo by car. Me, my husband and my little ones. At the gas station, as I was putting in the gas a voice from high up spoke to me. I said: “Oh, God is talking to me?”. “Don’t forget to close your gas tank”. It turns out the person who works at the station has a microphone. We don’t have this in Argentina. The first day we were cleaning the house the neighbours gave us a carpet, everyone has a carpet here. Now everytime we meet the neighbours they bring us a little something, some fruit or something else. We love this square. So many things can happen here.