First day teaching

Leaving my hotel this morning, I saw that the Portuguese communist party still has their headquarters across the street, with their lovely mural— a joint project of almost 40 artists. But the general tide in Portugal seems to be moving far away from the communists. Yesterday, in my Uber back from Sintra to Lisbon, my driver (from Bangladesh originally) told me how the anti-Immigration fever has hit Portugal full force. He described incidents where people have come up to him in the street and told him to go home. His daughter has even gotten insults, and she’s four years old and was born in Portugal. As if to put a point on that, this morning, walking to school I saw a billboard that I couldn’t have imagined would be possible here in Portugal. Anti-Immigrant parties are on the rise, and the Chega! (Enough Already) party seems poised to get at least a plurality in the next elections. I suppose this hateful xenophobia, and the other right-wing ideology that accompanies it, has always existed, but for a country that transitioned from a dictatorship to democracy in 1974, it is surprising to me.

My class has fewer than 20 students for the first time in many years, and I am so happy about that. There are about four Portuguese students and the rest are Erasmus — from all over the European Union. It seems like a very good group, and I have to remember that law students in Europe are much younger than my law students in the United States. This is their first university degree, and that seems to make them more bright eyed and bushy tailed than your average US law student. The three hours sped by, for me at least!

I realize how lucky I was to have had a rain free day yesterday. The weather pattern seems to be cloudy with occasional hard showers. Yesterday I had nothing but sun after my first little burst of rain. I will have to remember to bring my umbrella with me everywhere I go.

One of my favorite meals in Portugal is a piece of grilled fish, some of those delicious Portuguese potatoes, and a green vegetable. There’s a little hole in the wall restaurant near my hotel, and I went back for yet another €13 dinner.Baca lagi