Short Stories

Tuesday, the 21st Abril 2020 An editorial by Uwe Heitkamp Six weeks were enough, that is to say, 42 days, for the world economy to be reduced to 25 percent of its capacity, and for this whole “house of cards” (Pope Francis: “Our House”) to collapse, affecting everything and everyone: companies operating in the building and property sectors, the automobile industry and its entire supply chain, aircraft manufacturers and aviation companies, all forms of tourism, especially catering and hospitality, and also companies like Adidas, even football clubs, TUI and TAP, and many more. All sectors, from the service sector to …

Monday, the 20th Abril 2020 by Uwe Heitkamp Back to nature? A rift is appearing in our country and our lives: not only between rich and poor, old and young, and sick and healthy, but also between people from the city and those from the hinterland, who are becoming increasingly foreign to one another. Those who live and work in towns and cities inhabit a different world from those who live in the country: they do not know what rural life is like. But people who plant their own corn and potatoes, who harvest their own fruit and vegetables, who …

Sunday, the 19th Abril 2020 by Uwe Heitkamp Dear Reader, How do you feel right now? Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel? I am sure that the questions running through your head are the same questions that I put to myself today. What will my future look like, what will the future of my family and friends look like, and which course will Portugal, Europe and the rest of the world choose to take? Crises are always a challenge to the way in which we learn. Cognitive knowledge dominates the school curricula, and these curricula …

Thursday, 16th April 2020 by Leila Dregger Easter is already over and I notice it’s not just me who’s starting to become more nervous. It’s the same for my friends. Yesterday I received the news that a young man I know had attempted suicide – on Easter Sunday! Thank God, he has survived. His girlfriend said he had been overcome by negative forces. No wonder, in times like these. We’ve had enough, don’t you think? They kept saying we would have to wait until Easter. In our subconscious, we might have been expecting a kind of resurrection, an easing of …

Wednesday, 15th Abril 2020 by  Sue Hall It has been a mixed week of highs and lows. The isolation is getting to me, but there have been pockets of happiness. The lows have entailed anxiety about the numbers who are infected and exactly how long we will have to stay at home. A recent high was the delivery of 30 cauliflower burgers made by a friend at REconomia. Marcelo has a vegetarian restaurant in Tavira and is now offering delivery of certain foods from his menu. He was a founder member of Tavira’s REconomia group. I am in an online …

Tuesday, 14th Abril 2020 by Dina Adão I’ve been at home going on for four weeks now. Perhaps because I’ve been using objects for purposes they weren’t designed for, they have started to clog up, to turn themselves off, to break. My hands – the ultimate extensions of my thoughts – have been my greatest allies. I’ve learned how to connect the ballcock in my flush toilet, how to unblock the sink and bathroom pipes, and how to seal off the leaks from the shower with silicone. But I still lack the proper wall plugs for the premiere of the …

Monday, 13th Abril 2020 by Alexandre Moura “I am from the Algarve and the sea is at the end of my road,” wrote António Pereira, an Algarvian poet, born in Armação de Pera. A poem that expresses the peace and enchantment that the Algarve has and the allure of adventure beyond the ocean. From the city of Faro, where I live, my window has a view over the Ria Formosa and, in the background, the infinite sea. The last few weeks of isolation have allowed me to discover the landscape in more detail: on one side, the hills; on the …

Sunday, 12th Abril 2020 By Uwe Heitkamp Since the publication of the Club of Rome’s first reports (The Limits of Growth, Meadows et al., 1972), there have been many heated debates about the limits of growth. And rightly so, as our civilisation is reliant upon energy being available. Having energy available requires, in turn, even more energy, which means that suppliers must produce more energy than is initially needed. This excess energy, defined in terms of production capacity, has been decreasing over the last few decades (since 1999) for fossil fuel energy sources, while it has been increasing for renewable …