is there another convention in lisboa that i am not aware of? if the writer(s) are talking of the one held by Casa Goa, then i think it is too late to have raised this issue. i met a Goan at a Goan restaurant who had just arrived from Goa to collect his Portuguese passport. he told me that the passports are no longer issued in Goa. I asked him if he intends staying in Goa and he said no he had lived in lisboa for some time after working in dubai for many years. he said he will go to UK where he has family. he said there are not many jobs in portugal. in fact, he was talking to another goan and then i joined in the conversation. the other goan had come to lisboa from brazil after living there for 20 years. he looked disgusted as he said he had no work as a construction worker in lisboa. similarly, a pakistani who travelled in the same bus when going to Algrave said he could not find work as a carpenter in lisbo. he said he has been in lisboa for more than 12 years and is awaiting his citizenship to go to canada. i met an elderly Sikh who said he has been in the country for 14 years but without citizenship. he says he has a flower shop and also waiting his citizenship papers. There seems to be lot of Sikhs (many clean-shaven) in portugal.just today morning while walking in the city in Oporto I saw a turbaned young Sikh. there are also lot of bangladeshis, both in portugal and spain. i saw a shop across the railway station in Oporto named, Bazar Bangla. in lisboa´s Independte station, in the commercial centre, there are shops owned by bangladeshis and there are young sikhs working. one of the sikhs told me that there is a gurdwara nearby. the elderly sikh told me he had started a gurdwara but he had to shut it down when he was accussed by his fellowmen of allowing booze to be used.
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