Rosie wants us to be ‘good gentrifiers’, but is getting involved in feuds that go way back We moved to Portugal a couple of years ago, and now live in an apartment block in a small city. Since moving here my wife, Rosie, has become too involved with our neighbours. I would like her to dial it back.
In a building like ours, it’s normal to have monthly condominium meetings to discuss communal funds and who owes what. At first I liked the concept as it’s more socialist and everyone knows where their monthly contributions are going. Despite speaking very little Portuguese, Rosie volunteered to be co-chair of our condominium.
She said it would ingratiate us with the neighbours. I was all for it until I realised how much work it involved. Rosie is becoming involved in feuds that go way back.
There are missing funds and arguments about fixing the broken roof. We both attend the monthly meetings, but Rosie has additional work with the other co-chair, who has lived here since childhood and has opinions about all the neighbours. Rosie comes back with gossip about people and says we should behave differently around them for whatever reason, but I don’t want to know.
We’re the only Brits in the building, and I’d like us to remain neutral. Because there’s a lot of discussion about foreign investment here, and we bought the flat, rather than renting it, I think Rosie feels guilty. She says, “We need to get involved.” But I think she really means, “We need to look like the good gentrifiers.” She wants me to attend marches and get involved with the building, whereas I just want to get to know Portuguese culture in a less political way.
I don’t think that makes me a bad guy. In the UK, it wasn’t normal for us to be so involved in our neighbours’ lives. Here, they have socials and drinks together, which I find strange.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
