கரை வந்த பிறகே பிடிக்குது கடலை

When I finally defended my thesis in Lisboa in July this year, I decided to revisit most of Lisboa that I enjoyed during the past 7 years. I even managed to spend 3 nights in Porto, a city that I loved, but I visited only once before - in 2013 summer. I was of the opinion that this departure would make me slowly move away from Lisboa. I knew that I cannot forget Portugal completely, the country that I love the most. However, what I did not know was that I will actually grow more fond of Portugal after my final goodbye. I even started to freshen up my Portuguese knowledge since I always like to learn something and now I am not a student anymore after my Ph.D. defense. Of course, the cultural shock of moving away from Portugal - where almost everyone was nice and kind. After there for 7 years, I had well-aligned myself culturally to Portuguese culture, and arriving in the USA was indeed a cultural shock.

This brings me to the first life of the song "The Life of Ram" from the Tamil movie "96". கரை வந்த பிறகே பிடிக்குது கடலை. நரை வந்த பிறகே புரியுது உலகை. - I started to like the sea only after I reached the shore. I understood the world only after my hair turned gray (a loose direct translation).
 

7 years ago, I randomly ended up in Portugal, a country that I did not have much clue about (except they conquered the coastal towns of Sri Lanka in 1505, until 1658. Read, Portuguese Ceylon). Now I focus on Portugal. I am confident I will return to the country that I love so much, at some point in my life. Until then, I don't forget you, Portugal, and please don't forget me either. :) Ciao e beijinhos.