I returned from Portugal a few days ago, my first visit to the country during the month of August. I had heard many times of the great heat and discomfort during the late summer, reinforcing the long tradition of the Portuguese of all stations and locations to head "south", signifying a long holiday at the beach, typically the expansive and lovely Algarve region. I was very curious to see if the economic crisis had an impact on the widespread European tradition of this 4-6 week holiday.
Instead of horrific heat (to the Portuguese this seems to be around 90 degrees F), we enjoyed many comfortable days of lower to mid-80's, plenty of sun, gorgeous sunrises, and picturesque scenery. And yes, many Portuguese did "head south" making life much easier for those who stayed in the cities during August, as traffic, restaurants, stores and other destinations were fairly light.
But there were "cracks" in the tradition of long summer holiday, with enough signs of change in Portugal. A significant number of storekeepers, restaurants and ordinary Portuguese reported that holidays were shortened to no more than 2 weeks, and some reported its cancellation entirely. The economy was cited as the reason for this change, and as we know the behaviors and habits of the Portuguese can change very slowly, there is clear evidence of some changes in attitudes. Besides shorter holidays, the word "promoções" (promotions), has entered the Portuguese merchant vocubulary, something that is generally very new and interesting to the Portuguese and international consumer alike. Large banners of 50% to 70% off were quite prominent, and during my first visits to Portugal years ago the locals told me that there was really no sense among shoppers and storekeepers of such a thing as sales and discounts. The "price was the price" and the seller was in charge. There are clear signs that this is changing, and changing fast.
Personally, I was asked if I would speak to a group of high school and college students from several churches on the topic of entrepreneurship and small business, which I was glad to do. At the Otto and Marjorie Ekk home on a Sunday night, eight of them showed up and we had a great conversation about their interests, curiousity of bringing ideas to reality, and dreams and aspirations of self-improvement. The sheer volume of interest and ideas that these exciting young people generated led to an impromptu "entrepreneur contest" where I offered to personally provide some counsel to their ideas if they wrote them out and submitted them to us within the next week. When I mentioned that I would award 100 euros to the most creative, imaginative and interesting entrepreneurial idea that was submitted, the students were excited and energetic. We decided to meet again the following Sunday night.
What happened during that week and last Sunday night was exciting and encouraging. The group had swelled from 8 to 14 students, and the living room was "elbow to elbow" as we reviwed and discussed the various ideas that had been submitted. In my next blog post I will share about these ideas and how the evening's events turned out. Under the capable leadership of Pastor Marques Mente, these young people are inspiring!
It is clear to me, and I think to many others, that there is positive signs of change coming to Portugal. And as with most revolutions, both quiet and loud ones, the youth often lead the way.
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