Work Hard, Play Hard

We worked hard on this residency. But we also played hard.

Often the days would finish at 5pm and some of us would be exhausted and dying for a swim. Others would want to stay on to work just a little bit more. But by the time dinner had rolled around and night had fallen, you could undoubtedly find a few of Other Lands Other Sounds people holed up at the cafe, at a bar, or the disco up the river. It seemed that with the dark a second bout of energy would flare up - and it would be time for fun!

On one of the epic nights early in the residency, we managed to high-jack the tiny river bar's bluetooth speaker, and played our favorite dance tunes from around the world late into the night. There was also the night of the jam, which proved to be an excellent way of meeting locals. After we'd finally - finally! - finished playing at Cafe Pombelinho's, one of the waiters at another restaurant in the square invited us over to try out his special drink. And there was the night where Bordeiro's only bar opened, so we had to visit. The bar was tiny, and filled with locals, all seemingly over 50. We sat ourselves outside in the street under an orange lamp and drank port and sagres while some cats wandered by. Eventually, some other locals, a family with a teenage son came to sit with us. By the end of the evening, this was happening!


But these weren't the only examples of all the social activities we had. We went swimming in the river during the day, Hannah, Sophie and Berfin cooked dinner for everyone one evening, we had a movie night (Isle of Dogs), and we even went to see the local Filharmonic band perform in the theatre. The night of the film, as we were coming home from Bordeiro - everyone falling asleep and exhausted - we suddenly spotted... the President of Portugal! Walking through the streets of Gois at 11:30 at night! With all our tiredness suddenly whisked away, we managed to get selfies with him, and briefly explain why we were all here in Gois. It was an entirely surreal experience and fed the conversation for many hours that night.

Perhaps the best moment together was our final night, after the performance was finished, after we'd done our reflections, and packed up our things. Just by good luck, it happened to be that Gois was starting its local festival that evening. We had shared a group goodbye dinner and been to see the local Filharmonic play in the theatre by the time the music began in the square. A giant stage, with lights, a full band and a Fado singer! The square was packed with stalls selling food, drink and goods. All of Gois seemed to have turned out to partake. And we were in an incredible celebratory mood. We danced like mad people, created happenings left and right, started congas, you name it. That was only the beginning of the night for some, but also I hope this project has just been the beginning of long friendships for many of us. When you've been working and playing together so closely, and in such harmony for two weeks, you really start to feel like family. I don't think I will find another family quite like that to dance with again. Thank you all!