I missed the day we learned about gypsies in school.  Gypsy in Portuguese is cigano.  I’ve been learning quite a bit about gypsies this week.. for example the older men and women wear black, and will continue to wear black for a couple of years, to mourn the loss of the patriarch of the community.  There was recently a big disturbance in the community when one of the guys “stole” away his wife, but that is now settled.  This is common knowledge for people around here.  Well.. now I know.

 

This week I am working with Projecto Sementes.  Check their blog for an awkward picture of me picking up trash with the kids!  It’s summer break, and while I was working for them it mainly felt like the center was dedicated to keeping the kids busy, but they do a lot of stuff with the entire community I just didn’t see as much of this aspect, only spending a week with this project.

 

This neighborhood used to be a slum on the outskirts of Lisbon, but then the city built a bunch of apartments.  The neighborhood used to be a center for heroine, but that is not a problem here now.  Apparently the kids in this neighborhood call themselves the Taliban and on the other side of the highway they are called the Americans… Every day is different.