Chapter 10: How a street artist helped me fit in
Fitting in is difficult, overwhelming and defeating, but luckily I had an assist from a small yellow cell-like creature.
How to make friends | Como fazer amigos
“The best way to meet people is to go to a bar,” my roommate LS told me as he put his coat on to go to Bairro Alto with his two Italian friends - one who I found super hunky, but not relevant for this story. I had only been in Lisbon for less than a week and was still a bit jet lagged and under the weather. Plus, I find it awkward meeting people at bars whether I’m travelling or living in a place because it is usually super cliquey and many aren’t generally accepting new friendship applications.
LS looked a tad disappointed and I really appreciated him helping me find friends, so I smiled and promised I’d come out next time.
At first, my experience fitting in was hard and I did so many things in those first 30 days to try and build a community.
My first major outing was to a queer social at The Late Birds, the local gay hotel in Lisbon. I remember that MeetUp attracted an older group of gay male expats that I couldn’t really relate to. Many asked for my number and while I provided it to them with the promise of a message or a follow-up coffee, I didn’t come through. Eventually, the age gap at these events became more diverse and I started building connections, though after a year of freelancing a sugar daddy might have been a good idea.
I started going to places where I felt I could find people with commonalities. English bookstores, writing groups, art galleries and expat-oriented English cafes. One person at The Late Birds suggested meeting people at the local sauna or dark room, but I opted not to explore that in a friendship capacity.
There is an assumption that fitting in is just related to people, but it's not. I also had to fit in with the culture and customs of the city and country. I was constantly told I was too “North American” to blend in and that I had to adopt a slower pace of life, stop asking people about work, stop worrying about work and just live, among other things.
Some criticized me for going to “expat-oriented” places, warning me that I would start treating Portugal like a mini-North America. The worry was valid and I saw this among many expat groups who segmented themselves off from the Portuguese. While that was a risk, my hope was that these new found “expat” friends would introduce me to locals, who would then invite me to experience their native Portugal. Spoiler alert - it worked!
Is it a sausage or cell? | É uma salsicha ou uma célula?
Another tactic was walking around for hours. I explored corners of the city tourists had yet to discover and followed streets and stairs to different places trying to find haunts that would inspire me and people to strike a conversation with. On these journeys I was acquainted with the works of local street artists/muralist like the mystery tagger behind “Who The Fuck is Henry,” my crush Bordalo II and Kampus.
Kampus is a Brazilian artist who grew up in Portugal. His work is this cell like creature - long, usually yellow and with a smiley face. The artist admits some have called it a sausage or a penis, but to him it is a bright happy character that fits in anywhere. It can fit into the smallest piece of real estate on a crowded wall by twisting and bending and/or, with space permitted, can grow new appendages. This character spoke to me. I admired its flexibility, its bravery and the hope it gave. It just wanted to belong like me.
At the end of my time in Portugal, I had made dozens of friends from various countries. The owners of Malala Vintage and Pink Vintage Heart knew my name and my fashion style, and were excited to show me new pieces they had just acquired that complimented my taste. Alex, the owner English bookstore Salted Books, hosted a weekly Writers’ Hour and kindly allowed me to suggest books for the store to carry, while the No Excuses, Just Write community were my inspiration. The owners of Kossie’s would welcome me back constantly and the baristas at Hello, Kristof would ask how my Portuguese was coming.
Looking back, I believe deep down I had nothing to worry about, but it was comforting to know that a small yellow piece of street art was on a similar journey.
Interview with an artist | Entrevista com um artista
I spoke with the artist Kampus as part of my Lisbon Travel Guide for Thrillist. In an unpublished portion of the interview the artist told me that he started drawing this character because characters were more memorable to him than letters (word art). He also spoke of the need to create something that he could paint quickly saying “When you're painting on the street, mostly illegally, you want to do something very quick.”
He goes on to say “Since I was very young, I was always thinking of what I can do very fast. A character that is super fast to do, super easy to do, that can fit everywhere.”
His character came to life organically. Experimenting with surfaces like walls and utility boxes of different sizes, he found his character could bend and twist. As it evolved, it formed a happy face. “There are so many things that are serious. A lot of street art people are like, ‘Oh, you've got to be Banksy speaking about this and politicians and everything's so hard,’ but life is already so hard…and I was like, “no, I want something bright and happy.” Then my character came up…”
He then explained how the character, in a way, represented not only him, but us as a whole. “Later I wanted to give it a bit of thought and I started thinking, ‘What is it actually? What is this character?’ If you think about it, it's a bit like us. It's always looking for a space to fit in and bends and goes in a little corner. Back when my character came to life, I was living in London, in shared spaces and always looking for a little room…Maybe it's a bit like me always trying to find a little corner and trying to fit in and be happy at the same time. I've been moving places my whole life. I'm not Portuguese, I'm Brazilian, but I have lived most of my life here. My mom and I were immigrants who came in here looking for a little space for us to fit in and be happy. Maybe that's why I made it.”
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