why am i so damn lucky...?

my last night in portugal... packing for the flight tomorrow morning going back to new york... it's so crazy packing my suitcase seems so ordinary...
had great 6 days here... stayed with a dear friend of manuel mota who took such a great care of me... made sure i was comfortable, translated every damn thing to english, did all the driving for me and many other things... we did three nice/challenging gigs to new audience... met many nice people and musicians... ate some great food... lots of delicious seafood... sea bass, octopus and those tiny fried fish you can eat the whole thing (sorry my vegetarian friends)... great coffee... that yummy egg custard like tart with cinnamon... and saw lots of different crazy architectures... old and new and everything in between... wow... cannot wait to come back...
have to say one of the best things about touring and playing music is that i get to make friends with some great people... lots of stimulating conversations about everything... this year alone i was so lucky to have so many great people taking care of in sweden, denmark, england, france, anguilla, scotland and portugal... some of them i had met before but some of them total strangers... their kindness and hospitality make me wonder how i could be so lucky to know so many wonderful people... and help me stay humble... and realize i have so much to learn as a musician and a human being... i know, it sounds a bit cheesy but i also mean it, damn it...
thank you, all of my wonderful friends...
oh, you guys rock too, my friends in new york...