like a turtle

to answer your question, as promised: i'm preparing to move to a new home again - it will be the fifth time i'm moving in the six years i've been living in lisbon. long story, that hopefully won't become a huge wall of text. when i first came to lisbon, i went to a students' residence, i.e., a whole building occupied by students (this might have a specific name in english, but i do not know it). the residence was owned and managed by a catholic order, even though no religion was imposed to the students - they could be muslims, atheists, pastafarians or even aliens; the manager didn't care, as long as they paid the rent. i've lived there for two years, and the second was probably my best year here in lisbon. i had fun, made some very good friends, did my pranks, and stuff like that. but i lacked privacy - shared a room with a friend that was never there anyway, had a minibar next to my bed, could hijack a wireless connection from a lawyers' office nearby, but i longed for a place where i could be with my friends, bring girlfriends and give no explanations whatsoever. besides, the manager - a catholic priest - had a peculiar way of dealing with any problems there. he merely said, time after time. "if you don't like it, then find another place. i don't care". eventually i got fed up with this not-so-religious speech and left.

went to share a flat with my former and absent room mate - a childhood friend - and his girlfriend. we've been into that flat for one year, but the landlord asked us to leave because he needed the house for a niece - or so he said. then we moved to another place, a huge appartment. by that time though, my relationship with them was starting to become too troubled. well, more with him than with her, to be honest. it's funny to see that she cares most about me than he does, despite the fact that he is my childhood friend and she was just her girlfriend (now she is a good friend of mine). anyway, this is another story, one that i might well leave for another day. i believe that living with them was becoming unbearable for everyone and so, before more damage was done, i decided to leave. and a friend of mine who had just returned from spain asked me if i wanted to share his own flat with him. he was (and is) a good friend, the rent was relatively low, so i accepted, and moved as soon as it was possible. the thing is, my friend's brother is coming to study here next year, and as such, he'll need the flat for him. so i have to leave until the summer; and since right now i have the chance of sharing a flat with a friend, i'm moving.

so basically this is the story. what i'd like to was to have a place only for myself, a small flat or something like that where i could live alone with little concern about smoking or how loud the music is playing. the thing is, houses here in lisbon (and nearby) are pretty expensive for someone on his own, and as a journalist, i'm not exactly royally paid (unfortunately). perhaps one of these days i'll find the right place (i'll keep trying, that's for sure), but in the meanwhile i'll go on moving, it seems.