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Published: October 2nd 2011
SantaJusta Elevator
We passed this along our way across town.On our last night in Portugal we ventured out to a different part of town. Tonight we went to one of what was considered the best Italian restaurants in Lisboa. It was very tasty! Our waiter even mentioned that the prime minister even dines there. When we closed the restaurant we started talking to one of our waiters about travel and America.
Our waiter, Jorge got very interested in hearing about America as that is his dream to go to one day and back-pack across the states. Then he got in trouble for "staying" at our table so long. So we felt so bad, we offered to go out for a drink afterwards.
Jorge had learned English by working on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean and ready books, it was very good. We trekked across the city to his "favorite" bar that was the best amongst the locals. We probably walked 2k to get there as he did not have the money to spend on transportation. He was very skinny and could only afford to work to pay for rent and very basic food. He rarely saw his family as he said it cost too much money to travel that far away. After finally arriving at the bar, we walked into this place you could see the smoke coming out the door. I would say door itself, however the actual door was removed and a metal bars were in it's place when the bar was closed. The smoke was not from a fire, it was from the HUGE number of people inside smoking.
Jorge who was 43 yo, lit up his cigarette as soon as we walked in. You could not see across the room, the smoke was so intense. We all went, to get a taste or a little bit of early cancer with our new friend. We talked for a long time about the Portugese living conditions after the formation of the euro, his family, their lifestyle and of course what it is like to live in America. It was very humbling to hear about places that most Americans take for granted and how Jorge could not wait to visit them.
It was so nice to talk to another local on our travels and understand a lit bit more about this part of the world. At the end of our 2euro beer and our lungs completely filled with smoke, we parted and exchanged contact information for that day when Jorge finally can save enough money to make it to America.
Until then...
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