The emotional ups and downs of yesterday have dissipated and we are now in “what baby steps can we take” mode. Over a coffee we come up with the following list of things we can do. The first is find out what band of fire risk our land is in. There are four different categories and if the land is categorised as red, then you cannot build any new building.
So, we head to the local camara (council) to find out. Now this is quite brave as the stories we have heard about these bastions of bureaucracy is that you can write off a day just standing in line. At this point we have nothing to lose if we want to continue harbouring dreams of building CASABO on plot number three.
CASABO is a dream that took root whilst stuck in lockdown outside my mother’s bungalow in Leicester. During this time Mum passed away and it was a poignant time. My dad’s nickname for mum was Bo – an abbreviation of Beryl – and casa meaning house in Portuguese seemed to fit for the dream of our new property. CasaBo. Well, being the sort of person I am, I had to just check that it did not mean something rude or insulting in another language.
Imagine my surprise when I find out that a fast-food chain in the states had used CASABO as an acronym to stand for Come Again Soon And Bring Others. This is just too good to be true as not only do I now know that there are no rude connotations, but there is a definite sign that this should be the name for our property.
Kimberley and I had dreamed of what we want the property to be. We want a nice piece of land where family and friends can just come to visit us and enjoy a timeout from the stresses of modern life. A place that has excitement and adventure for children. A place of peace and tranquillity for adults. A place of feeling at one for Kimberley and me.
In plot number three, we believe, we have found just such a place, and we know we have to follow the baby steps to see if it is meant to be or not. We don’t have to attach to this result. We know that if is not plot three, then it will be something better, even if we can’t see that right now. Yesterday’s emotions were in some part brought about by the fact that plot three was even better than anything we could have imagined.
We stand in queue at the camara waiting for our turn just to approach the front desk. This does not happen quickly even though there are only two people in front of us. This is just part of the cultural difference of living here. You wait in line patiently and when it is your turn you get undivided attention.
Kimberley has come prepared with a photocopy from Google Earth showing the coordinates of the property and the question we want to ask is already typed out on her phone using Google translate. Isn’t it always scary when you have to rely on a translation app, but we have no choice. We get to the counter and three minutes later we have our appointment booked to see somebody. Tomorrow 3pm.