A
Very English Senhora!
Imagine the scene, a young Portuguese girl reclining on her bed, the
English dictionary lays open on her pillow as she searches
diligently for a word, finds it, writes word into her exercise book
and as she does so, repeats the word over and over, her eyes darting
back to the dictionary to make sure her pronunciation is correct.
Then, taking a break her eyes are drawn to the large poster of Big
Ben pinned to her bedroom wall and for a few moments her thoughts
are far away and she dreams.. of London.
My friendship with Susana started through the general
forum
on carvoeiro.com. One day, I received an e-mail with the address
'Nosey Parker'; I had seen this user name on the forum and that it
was a member who lived in Portimao, so I immediately thought it an
ex-pat living in Algarve. Even after reading the mail and saw it was
signed 'Susana', the written English, not only the grammar but
style still had me convinced it was from an English lady.
As our correspondence progressed I soon found that Su was Portuguese
and had married Stefan a Lincolnshire lad and they had lived a few
years in the city of Lincoln. She had seen my posts and that I lived
in Lincolnshire; her writings soon told me that it was where she
longed to be and I quickly learned of Su's great love for English
culture and history.
I have to confess that at first I found it strange. There was I, a
middle-aged English woman, fed up with living in a cold wet chilly
land, yet there was Susana ready to change places with me! I was due
out for a month's vacation in Algarve and so we arranged to meet up.
Its always a bit 'nervy' meeting someone for the first time and this
was no exception. Talking to Su via e-mail or PM we seemed to get on
fine but as I walked down to Carvoeiro's sea front I felt slightly
anxious. Su and husband Stef were young people in their 20s and I
wondered if they might find someone, old enough to be there mother,
rather 'fuddy duddy' ;maybe a bit 'out of touch'. But I needn't have
worried. They were both sitting at a table outside Colombos and as I
rushed up they both gave me nervous but friendly smiles. It was a
very hot day, so we decided to have our cold drinks downstairs in
the shade. After a short ,faltering start the three of us soon
relaxed and then Su and I were nattering '19 to the dozen'!
Susana & Ellie
It was their first proper visit to Carvoeiro; both were charmed by
the friendly pleasant atmosphere of the little town that, although
busy, always manages to retain the intimacy of an old fishing
village.
I had a very pleasant afternoon with Su and Stef, one that went on
into early evening as we talked about so many things but what
fascinated me most of all was Susana's 'obsession' with England from
a very early age. She told me that it all started from around the
age of 10, when she had a large poster of 'Big Ben' on her bedroom
and that anything and everything on TV associated with England
became 'sacred' to her and that she would 'daydream' constantly
of London.
Su wouldn't learn the English language properly until she went onto
secondary education at the age of 13; but in her eagerness to speak
it she would tune into the radio and 'pop' music and 'singalong'
with all the 'English spoken' songs. She told me that at the time
she didn't have a clue what she was actually saying but that people
around her thought she was
singing it all correctly! Then she forced herself to learn a whole
song with the lyrics in front of her and that song was "Darling
leave a light on for me" by Belinda Carlisle. She found it very
hard; particularly in getting the 'phrasing' right but for 3 days
she practised and persevered non-stop until finally she got it!
Then, starting English lessons 'proper' at school, Su found she was
in her element and so thirsty was she to become fluent her progress
soon soared ahead of her fellow class mates and with her
'treasured' English dictionary at home to learn from her progress
went from strength to strength! Su had her school teachers wondering
where and how she was achieving such a wider vocabulary? It
wasn't just the dictionary at home but listening constantly to
English on the TV and to her favourite pop group Bon Jovi,
where she would pick up new words and grammar and listen to their
interviews over and over again until the words and phrasing stayed
in her mind.
Susana & Stefan
Suddenly Stefan, who had sat listening very patiently to our
in-depth conversation, looked at his watch and mentioned 'Toffee'
their beautiful Labrador. Su said "Afraid we'll have to go Ellie.
Have to get back to take Toffee for his evening walk"
I looked at my own watch. It was past 7pm! We had talked solidly for
over 3 hours! Anyway, we walked to where their car was parked and as
she left Su said "We'll have to meet up again when you're next out
here. Its been so nice and interesting"
I agreed, saying that I hoped to be out in the New Year and it was a
date!
But I didn't have to wait that long for, in the middle of the
following week I had a text from Su asking if it would be possible
to meet again the following Sunday? I didn't hesitate to say yes. I
found her story so fascinating that I longed to hear more.
Sunday arrived and was yet another warm day. I hadn't got to bed
until the early hours, so after rising late I chilled out for most
of the day. Around 3.45 I had a slow walk down to Colombos to wait
for Su and Stefan; Su had texted me that they were on their way. I
was a bit early for a change and being hot I waited downstairs in
the shade with a cool drink. I stood up now and then so they could
see I had arrived and before long saw Susana and Stefan making their
way down from restaurant hill direction. But this time they were not
alone. Holding Su's arm and looking slightly anxious was an older
silver-haired lady. I walked up to meet them and soon I was being
introduced to Maria, Su's Mum.
Maria & Ellie
I forgot to mention that when Su asked to meet up again, she also
said " And this time we want to sample one of those famous ice-cream
cones!"
So, introductions over we made our way over to the
Dancone Palacio by
the side of the square. Su, Stefan and Maria were thoroughly
enjoying their first taste of the 'world's most famous cream cones'
. But through the delicious mouthfuls Su and I still managed to
'talk' and talk we did!; our conversation turning to English
literature, which is Su's first and foremost reading material. We
found that what we most enjoyed reading were books on medieval times
and particularly if they were based on a 'true story'!
Maria speaks very little English so we had a 'conversation' via
Susana, who told me her Mum was really enjoying her 'Carvoeiro
afternoon'. Living as they do, in a Portimao apartment she was
really loving the fishing village environment, its friendly feeling
of informality and of course to be so close to the sea and wander
the sands of the small bay; Maria, having come from the rural
Alentejo area near Beja, was relishing in the feel of a close
community once more.
The weather was sunny and warm and finishing the sweet creamy ices
we felt in need of a cold refreshing drink, so made our way back
over to Colombos once more.
As we talked of books and exchanged details of our favourite authors
I began to learn of Su's journey from dreams of England to the real
thing. She not only baffled her teachers but also her parents and at
this point in our talk Maria said she had been astonished at Su's
'fever' to learn about all things English and often joked that
Susana had probably been English in another life!, or indeed have
English blood in her veins centuries past. To bolster this thought,
Su showed me the spelling of one of her surnames; on looking at this
and by removal of a letter, there was indeed a very English name..
Stevens!!
In 1995 Su acquired many English pen friends and amongst these was
Stefan an Lincolnshire lad from Scunthorpe. During 1997 Su's desire
to see England at last came to fruition. A young woman alone she
bravely stepped onto a plane for a trip to London and
to part-take in a 2 weeks summer course. She told me it was simply
an excuse to see England's capital city and to meet English people,
amongst these would be Stefan who travelled all the way from Lincs
to finally meet-up with her. On her return to Portugal she initiated
her 'Tourism degree' at the University of Algarve in Faro and
in 1999 Su then embarked on a semester to England as an exchange
student at the Bucks. Chilterns University college at High Wycombe.
Whilst there, she decided to write to Lincoln University, to enquire
if she could finish her studies with them and to her joy, received a
positive response!
Lincoln Cathedral
Stefan and Susana bought a house in Lincoln and were married at the
180 year old Judges Lodgings which is adjacent to the City's
impressive castle. Su not only fell in love with Stefan, she also
fell for that lovely city. In fact on her very first visit she
turned to Stefan and said
"When we get married, we will live here!"
Susana told me her parents were phenomenal and gave their whole
support to her 'dream', which as she emphasises must have been very
hard for them. An only child wanting to leave home and live so far
away must have been a terrible wrench but she had found a good man
in Stefan and was happy so they gave her their blessings and in
2000, Su graduated with a B A Honours. But as we all know, when
life seems almost perfect, it can turn around and give you a great
big kick!
Su had been in England for about 2 and a half years when she
received news that her beloved father was terminally ill. There was
nothing for it but to sell up and return to Portugal to give mum
Maria all the support she would now need. Although it was very hard
to leave a settled happy life in Lincoln and one that she still
misses to this day, her decision was the right one. It gave her a
full year to be with her beloved Dad. A year which was, sadly, to be
his last.
Once more, we talked not only of our common interest in English
history but also of mine and Hub's time in Algarve and how I, in
similar fashion had fallen in love with Portugal and its people. We
laughed at each other, at how she thought of 'Lincoln' as home and
how I felt the same way about Lagoa! Then I spoke of how, for a very
short period, I had run a tiny second-hand bookshop in Silves. This
immediately caught Su's attention as she said,
"Do you know, that is my dream. To have an English bookshop here in
Algarve!"
I can now say, that dream is soon to become reality!
Susana, Stefan, Maria, it was a great pleasure to meet and make
friends with you all. You helped make my holiday a more interesting
and happier one. I can't wait to meet you all once more (plus
Toffee!) in the New Year and to purchase at least one new book!
Good luck from me and Hub!
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