Life is the slow lane in Portugal

The donkey’s name is Nono. We are still at Mount of Oaks community in Póvoa de Atalaia, Portugal. Its actually quite nice to slow down a little. I am getting some reading and study done – even writing a paper on new media.

I must mention our arrival: We actually got our huge Overlander stuck in the small narrow streets of the town next to the land and had to reverse out, much to the amusement of the townsfolk who all came out to look. It just happened to be Easter Sunday morning after church so EVERYONE was there. Some followed us and one guy led us out of the town. It reminded us of that Portugal scene from Love Actually – “He’s going to KILL Aurelia!” [See it here]

Eventually, and after some serious 4 wheel driving, we made it to the Mount of Oaks. The townsfolk will probably be talking about it for the next century.

The community here is less than 2 years old. Its exciting to be part of something so new and primal. Last week they hosted a course on Permaculture which was very successful. The television people interviewed here this month and noticed that, out of all the intentional communities like this in Portugal, Mount of Oaks excelled them all by maintaining a healthy relationship with the local town. Hope we didn’t screw that up by our monster truck episode.

Anyway, Barbara is hoping and praying for 5 more full-timers who can come and live on the land and start building more structures. Sound like something for you?