As I have grown to know Bernice better over the years (indeed, let’s be honest, decades), one of her qualities that I have grown to admire more and more is the extraordinary intelligence she shows in understanding people, their emotions and their motivations. If I cast my mind back, I think it was something that I was aware of even way back when, but, with each additional year, I grow more acutely aware of it, and admire it more and more.

In fairness, there are times when I admire it more, and times when I admire it less. As it happens, last week marked one of the latter occasions. Micha’el and Tslil are very much occupied with the final stages of renovation of the premises they are renting for their gym and studio, and, when Micha’el announced that the studio walls were ready to be painted, I offered to help. Quick as a flash, Bernice observed that I was only volunteering because it would look good in the blog, a remark no less hurtful for containing just a sliver of truth in it.

Micha’el and I had a very productive couple of hours, and completed the painting of the upper half of the walls, which, because it is a very attractive mid-grey with a slight bluish tinge, being painted on top of a not dissimilar existing grey, required only one coat. I’m hoping that we will be able to repeat the double act on the lower half of the walls in the next day of two. Since this will not require me spending extended time on a stepladder, it promises to be kinder to my calves. Mind you, if you spend a couple of hours in a gym, I suppose you should expect to come away feeling achy.

Since a couple of you have asked me privately for an update on this exciting project of the kids, this seems like the perfect time. To put the story in context, you have to remember that their efforts to register the business are being conducted in Portugal…and, in provincial Portugal at that….and, to make matters even more interesting, in rural provincial Portugal.

By this time, the kids had hoped that they would already be up and running, but there are two inter-connected obstacles that are preventing that. The first is the question of obtaining a licence. They are renting two premises opposite each other on a narrow side-street very close to the centre of Penamacor, a street that, in a normal town, would be an alley leading nowhere with no passing trade, but that, remarkably, in Penamacor enjoys a fair amount of pedestrian traffic throughout the day.

One space, which they will use as a studio for private lessons, was fairly recently renovated; the other, which will be the gym for general use, and will include a small office, the owner had been using for storage.

Ready to lay the floor

In order to start trading, the kids have to register their business and obtain a commercial licence. Micha’el accordingly arranged a meeting with the municipality, at which he submitted all of the necessary documentation. Extraordinarily, all of the paperwork was in order and he had brought all of the paperwork needed. It only remained for the clerk to determine into which category of commercial business the gym falls, and to issue the appropriate licence. Unfortunately, it appears that nobody had ever sought to register an equivalent business in Penamacor, and neither the clerk, nor, after consultation, his colleagues, were able to decide exactly which licence was appropriate. Currently, the problem has been kicked up the bureaucratic chain, and the kids are waiting for a decision. However, the municipal architect has given them the go-ahead to begin operating regardless; if there are any issues down the line, they will be addressed as and when they arise.

To complicate matters, the premises do not have a valid electricity clearance. This is much less serious than it sounds. Between the time that the building was renovated, a few years ago, and today, the regulations for electricity supply have changed, and the owner needs to arrange for the electricity company to carry out the necessary, but minor, adjustments required.

All being well, this should be resolved very soon, and then Tslil and Micha’el will be able to launch their business with an easy mind. They already have a number of potential clients interested in group classes. Increasing numbers of locals are asking the kids when the gym is going to open. Micha’el has actually already started individual training sessions with one client, and is offering a free assessment session to a second. While neither of them is in the kids’ target customer group (family men and women in their thirties), they both seem keen. One is in his fifties and the other in his seventies, and Micha’el is enjoying the challenge of building an individual program that is age- and fitness-appropriate, as well as the challenge of polishing his Portuguese. After his first sessions, he realised that he needs to strengthen his body-part vocabulary, but, as I pointed out, at least when he needs a word he has the necessary body-part on hand (or foot, or torso) to demonstrate.

When Tslil and I were at the pool with the boys last Thursday, a woman she knows from Pilates and from the forest school that Tao attends came over. She is currently launching a program of free classes for local residents to be offered by the municipality, and asked Tslil if she was interested in teaching a yoga class. Since this offers a steady income and no need to find students or chase them for payment, Tslil is understandably keen.

So, things are developing: a little slower than hoped, perhaps, but reassuringly steadily. You have to learn to adjust to the rhythm of Iberian life. Meanwhile, both of the kids are continuing with their existing work – Tslil teaching yoga and Micha’el teaching English online to Israeli schoolkids.

The other major development is that Tao is now officially registered in the Portuguese home-schooling program. In practice, this means that, starting in September, he will be taught at home, following the Portuguese school curriculum, and required to sit the national school tests. He is registered with the local school, which means in practice that he is eligible to participate in extra-curricular school activities. Tslil and Micha’el plan to teach him themselves, as well as hiring a tutot for the Portuguese-based subjects (language and culture/history). This last will almost certainly be online.

All of this means that at any time in the coming years, Tao will be able, should he wish to, to transition to merging into the formal school system, or, if later, to apply to university. The formal scheme offered by the authorities allows the kids to home-school while keeping all options open – the best of both worlds.

Which more or less brings you up to date, other than to say that last Friday we celebrated Ollie’s third birthday, a day of balloons and cake and a lot of wonderful presents. It is heart-warming to see how Tao and Ollie are very ready to share their birthday and un-birthday presents with each other – they do play together really well.

By the time this post is published, we will, astonishingly, be halfway through our four weeks here. It feels as though we only just arrived!