Letters to Lisbon #1

Benfica... 

I am not a fanatic... Never was... At least if I compare myself with my football fellows... Specially the one that I saw crying like a baby when, last season, we lost everything at the last minute... It is incredible, but a great part of my happiness for winning the league will result of knowing how it will make some of my friends happy.

Today was one of the times that I have missed more not being in Lisbon. Anyway, some things are supposed to be lived together with your mates. It is impressive how much a three-year habit can become ingrained in your life... It was not only about the matches, but also about everything that surrounded them.... 

I have been thinking a lot. For long, and without the need to reflect on the subject, people heard me saying that I had nothing to come back to. It is becoming clear that such an assumption is too distanced from reality. Having my parents in London for a week and feeling alone once they left was the first signal. In revision period, the fun times are much less usual than they once were and you start missing family and the friends that have known you forever. And for some unknown reason, you start searching for flights back home on a daily basis.

The decision of not going back to Lisbon for some years (unless forced to) has finally hit me. It was not a punch. It felt more like one of those new super-fast trains. It is still what I want and hopefully what I will be able to do, but I finally came to understand what I am losing. People change, family grows, parents get older, friends get married or simply move to a new flat. Facebook is not enough.

The match was awesome, my hearth switched nervously from racing to nearly stillness throughout 90 minutes. However, I cannot stop feeling that I should have been in the stadium with my old time companions. 

TUDO A SALTARRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!