Graham Denby: Graham becomes an emissary to the local mayor

Feb 17 2010 by Graham Denby

So Patricia and I grabbed a coffee, no problemo, and then she took me to a couple of the town’s museums, each within two minutes’ walk of the Republica Square which is in the centre of town.

The first museum houses excavated tombstones and the like with rare hieroglyphics and the other is a small but delightful art gallery which Ruth and I had tried to get in on a number of occasions but it always seemed to be closed. Entry is free and they are both well worth a visit, but at the moment too few people go to them.

Later, in our subsequent meeting with the presidente we used these as a relevant example of ‘buried treasure’ and got his enthusiastic agreement that we could co-operate in a two way ‘promotions and improvements’ scheme.

I was invited back on Friday afternoon for more discussions and an official photo opportunity.

Prior to the meeting, Patricia and I got down to sorting a workable schedule including a trip around all the museums and places of interest and an agreement to start with the two we had just seen.

You can see by the photograph that it was a fruitful meeting with the presidente trying to improve his English with me and me trying to improve my Portuguese with him. We both said something meaningful to each other but couldn’t understand our consequential replies.

As time moves on we’ll watch progress and improvements I help make with Patricia by having influence and contacts on the inside. I’ll also tell you if I get the sack!