Who are the People in Your Neighbourhood

Birds. Singing. Cats. Singing. Waves. Shouting.
Okay it might not be shouting, but from my side of the wall it is difficult to tell the difference. My neighbour is a very boisterous lady. She is the wife and mother of fishers. I can easily see her filling the role of fishmonger. Despite being separated by four rooms and brick walls doesn’t dampen her volume. I hear her every morning.
When I first arrived in Nazare she scared me. She seems tough and, I thought, not very friendly. For Kootenay and I’s first months she alternately ignored us or spoke harshly and gestured in our direction. When I ran into problems hooking my gas tank up, I went to ask her for some help and ended up more frightened of her than of leaking gas.
This all changed a few weeks ago. The city hosted a festival. Portugal seems to have something to celebrate every month. This festival was to pray for a productive and safe fishing season. Fishers from Nazare make their way around the world. I have met people who have fished in France, Spain, England and Canada. The celebration involved various saints being paraded through town and then onto to the fishing boats. There they were loaded onto the boats and then the boats headed out to sea. They circled the bay three times while fireworks were shot off from the bluffs of Sito. When they returned the local priests lead prayers.
My friend Vitor managed to get us a ride on one of the boats for the festivities. Nazare was very appealing with its white washed houses topped with red tile roofs. Looking back on it from the sea added to its charm.
People lined the shores and waved to the boats as they made their way out to sea.
You don’t get seasick do you? This question was asked of me more the a few times as we made our way out of the harbour. I cheerfully said No and hoped that was the truth.
It was a great day. The sun was warm. I didn’t get seasick, and the fishers were gracious enough to share their beer with me.
About a week later my neighbour stopped me as I was returning home from walking Kootenay. She gestured for me to stay where I was and ran back into her house. I waited nervously. I knew that Koot hadn’t done anything wrong, and assumed that I hadn’t either, but my go to emotion is always guilt.
She came back out of the house with an 8X10 picture of one of the boats. There I was sitting on the boat heading out to sea. She had a picture of me. Odd.
Turns out it was her family’s boat. Vitor is a friend of her son. When we hitched the ride on the boat none of us knew that we would all be so closely connected.
Now when I hear her singing/shouting from the place next door I smile. I am pretty sure I haven’t done anything to make her mad at me. I think she might even like me little bit.