Saturday, October 28, 2017

October 2017 — Phoenix From the Flames

Two weeks ago we were headed down to Lisbon as ready as we were ever going to be to run the Rock n’ Roll Meia Maratona. We were extra pumped up for it because my mom, Mike and aunt Dee were there to welcome us in Lisbon when we arrived. Dee, Rory and I picked up our numbers for the race and fueled up for it by all going to our favorite fish place in Lisbon — Ramiro Cervejaria. 

On Sunday morning Rory, Dee and I successfully finished the race. My mom and Mike cheered us on at about mile 11. That afternoon we celebrated not only completing the race but also reuniting with family and some friends who visiting Portugal and made the trip up to Lisbon to see us. 

 


We had no idea at that point that a few hours later our home, friends, and community would be threatened by horrendous wild fires that swept through most of Central Portugal Sunday evening. Portugal has had the driest year in as long as people can remember. The river that runs along one of Cara Creek’s borders has been dried up since July. Thankfully we have the Mondego nearby that although it was low, it still had some water in it. Unfortunately before the fires, we had had a very dry winter and no rain at all since Spring time.

Dried up Rio Seia at Cara Creek Eco Lodge
Fueled by the winds from Hurricane Ophelia, fires raged and took out many peoples homes, livestock, and livelihood. Factories that employ hundreds burned down, leaving many without a job. Some people literally had to run for their lives from fire, and a few were unfortunately burned and are still hospitalized. 


When we got the terrifying phone call that evening that fires were in every direction and spreading quickly, we spent the rest of the night calling the “Bombeiros” — fire fighters — begging them to go get our Workaway volunteer Gary who was dog sitting on site, and praying that all in our community would stay safe. They were of course totally overwhelmed and stretched way too thin, and never made it down to Gary, but thankfully Gary stayed safe next to the Mondego River, ready to get in if flames got any closer. The part of our land that burned was the far side from the river and we’re so grateful that he and the dogs stayed safe from flames and smoke until Monday morning when a neighbor drove them all to the nearby town until roads opened so we could drive home. 


Gary and our community lived a real life nightmare Sunday evening. We have started a GoFundMe page to raise money and be able to give back to a community who has welcomed us with open arms since we arrived in March. The link is here if you can spare a few Euros to contribute to it. A huge thanks to the many friends and family who have already supported. We plan to help families of burn victims, and those who lost their homes.The community support post fires has been incredible, and we continue to be so happy to be part of such a beautiful community. People are healing and coming together to help one another to do so. Rather than dwelling on what was lost in the flames, people are seeing it as an opportunity to have new beginnings.

It rained a couple of days last week thank goodness. It was enough to get the Seia River at the bottom of our land flowing again, but we are hoping for more rain to come soon! 

We’ve been so lucky to have help from both Gary and our friend Mary who volunteered in June and came back again for a few days last week. We’ve cleaned up most of what burned at Cara Creek Eco Lodge, and are moving forward and continuing building our dream here in Portugal. 
Water in the Seia again😍

Friday, October 13, 2017

September 2017 — Special visitors, Cara Creek Eco Lodge and Yoga in Portuguese

The days, the weeks, the months have been flying by around here!

We wrapped up the heat of August having a blast with our favorite 4 year old. Rory’s son — Rafa — was visiting from Scotland and we spent the week chilling out at river beaches and trying out the slides at the nearby water park. He brought some decals of his favorite paw patrol pups to stick on the digger, and made it truly one of a kind! Rafa loved the sunshine, the adventures and the ice pops of Portugal.


Exploring Porto
Rafa and Hank ready for the River Beach



At the end of the summer, the nearby village of Ervedal had their weekend long “festa”. I was invited to play in the women versus older men of the village “futbol” game which was on the final day as one of three "internationals". There were even "injuries" in which players were taken off the pitch in wheel barrels. Although my team lost it was all worth the hilarious, and really great day out.




We continue to be taken with the sense of community here, and how welcoming everyone has been towards us. Since September, I’ve been teaching 3 yoga classes at the community theatre in Ervedal to primarily Portuguese, which has really motivated to expedite my learning of the language. It’s all been so wonderful.



As the weather began to cool down a little bit, the previously known as “mimosa project” really heated up. After quite a bit of contemplation we finally came up with a name we all love for the retreat center that we’ve been dreaming about for over a year now — Cara Creek Eco Lodge. Cara means interconnectedness/friend in Gaelic, and it just so happens to be the initials of our names — Conor, Ariane, Rory and Ashley. The creek on the property is definitely one of the many aspects which makes the site unique so we wanted to incorporate that into the name. And of course Eco Lodge because it will be built with only natural building materials — making it eco-friendly and sustainable. Now that we have a name, we have an instagram page and Facebook page. Don't forget to follow/like us on both to stay up to date with the progress week to week.


Sketching out some logo ideas

With our company completely registered in Portugal we’ve been busy collecting quotations of prices for building materials, rustic furnishings, fitness and yoga studio equipment, recreational games, the natural swimming pool and much more in the company name. These quotations as well as a detailed application with descriptions of our dreams for the project will be used to apply for a European Grant which grants funds towards projects in order to promote rural tourism and economical growth in this part of Portugal. 
Discussing Natural Swimming Pool plans with our friends from Waters Edge
one of the many cool woodburners we've priced


Over the last couple of months we’ve also had a few friends come through, who chipped in at the project helping chop and clear the endless amount of trees. James, Claire and their 2 boys had a holiday let in a village nearby for a week. It was really great to have them nearby to catch up with, and also share with them our love for the area and point them in the direction of our favorite river beaches to check out. Our musician friend Jake and his band came through on their European Tour and played at a nearby campsite. We hope that their next European Tour we'll have an area set up they'll be able to stay and play at our site. Other friends, James and Esther camped out down on the site and also were a huge help in getting one of the roads up to what will be the communal area cleared. We have one workaway volunteer staying with us at the moment and we're excited to have many more penciled in to come help over the next few months. 


We're thrilled at the progress over the last couple of months and at this point there are no signs of it slowing down. So stay tuned on Instagram, Facebook and here on the blog for updates to come! Thanks for reading and following us on this adventure of building our dream.