March 09, 2007
Saudade
In general I wouldn't say I feel homesick for Amsterdam. Overall, life here is easier to enjoy, has a greater sense of freedom, a more spontaneous sense of fun. But there are odd elements that once removed from the grim, grey, damp context of everyday-Dutch life do provoke a touch of what the Portuguese call saudade.
It's the sight of little yellow flickering candles in a window, memories of riding home from work through the dark and snow, the sensation on coming inside from the cold. And at the moment, it's the CD, "So Frenchy So Chic 2007", which of course, has nothing to do with Amsterdam at all, but with it's proximity to France.
The album isn't even all that 'rench' so it must be the sound of french being sung. Listening to the tracks it suddenly occured to me that we will probably never sit in the Cafe des Arts in Montmartre with Jacob, listening to Murat while sipping an Adelshoffen and teaching him how to play "spontaneously-translate-the-lyrics-into-dutch", as we used to do.
While unlikely, the chances of it happenning are just slim enough, to provoke an attack of saudade.
Posted by Faith