Month eight of the calendar seems to have been made from a ruler and a square when it comes to the size of the days, temperature and opportunities to earn it the name “to taste”. When science seems to have been applied to almost everything in the month of August, that's when love comes to soften boundaries and take logic away. Our beloved month of August brings back familiar faces and longing hugs; a Portuguese with new words and cars with different license plates to every town in this country. There are no more seats left at the table. August is so good that from its eight, we would like to do infinity.
In digesting all this, we bring to our Book of Honor one of our lost emigrants – our Xi, officially known as Inês Ferreira. We met Inês many miles ago, when going abroad was far from the plan. At a time when almost everything that happened was far away, except the dream of singing.
Inês is 30 years old and has lived in Vila Nova de Gaia forever, close to her parents and sister . A fan of music and acting, while finishing secondary school at Escola Artística Soares dos Reis, he took the Musical Theater course at the Academia de Música de Vilar do Paraíso. The plan was always to follow this path. In 2010, he applied for the tests to enter the field at a higher level, both in Porto and Lisbon. He failed the tests two years in a row.
Despite the friendliness and warmth of the good people she met in the cold city, Inês didn't stay in Bragança for more than three months. He knew well that his dream had another address.
As for many, the main initial barrier that many emigrants encounter when arriving in another country is language. In the case of Inês, her difficulties in English only proved what a promising actress she was at the time…
The tests went so well that Inês was accepted into three schools in London, having chosen the Italia Conti Academy of Theater Arts, where she studied Musical Theatre. Despite missing home and the differences between England and Portugal, the multicultural group of colleagues he found during his degree made adapting to the new country simpler.
Due to the nature of the work and the duration of the contracts, Inês had not had the opportunity to spend the month of August in Portugal for several years. The climate, the food and the people are almost always the holy trinity for those who return for vacation.
Currently, Inês lives in Portugal, with her boyfriend, and assumes that this is where she lives, because it is where those who miss her most are. But he doesn't rule out the possibility of returning abroad, if happiness smiles at him in another postal box.
These were just some of Inês' adventures as an emigrant, in the Serra Project's attempt to remember yet another of the Portuguese crafts: this ability to head into the unknown, guided only by dreams. There are so many Portuguese emigrants around the world and there would be so many beautiful stories to tell, but today we toast to Inês and to those who, like her, share their voice and good intentions with the world. Without measure, still, to taste.