Letter from friend: aspecto perfecto (B1)

Dear Clara,

I have thought about writing this letter for months. Since we had last spoken at graduation, so much has changed that a short message never seemed enough.

You had moved to Berlin before I had found work in Lisbon. I had envied your courage then, though I have since realised that both paths have demanded equal effort. Have you ever wondered how different our lives might have looked if we had chosen the same city?

I have lived in the same apartment since 2021. The landlord has raised the rent twice, yet I have stayed because neighbours have become close friends. One couple had invited me to dinner before I had even finished unpacking my kitchen boxes.

Work has kept me busy. I have managed a small team since the company had expanded its European office. Projects that had seemed urgent in March have already faded, but the skills I have gained have remained valuable.

Since last summer I have been learning Portuguese in evening classes. I had studied French at school, so some grammar has felt familiar, though pronunciation has challenged me in ways I had not expected. Teachers have praised progress I have made in conversational fluency.

Travel has filled my free weekends. I have visited islands that tourists had overlooked before new ferry routes had opened. Each trip has reminded me how much of Europe I had not explored when we had shared a cramped student flat.

Health has mattered too. I had injured my knee during a hiking trip before the pandemic had changed everyone's routines. Since recovery I have walked daily along the river near my office. That habit has improved my mood more than I had imagined possible.

Have you kept in touch with others from our course? Tom has published articles he had drafted years ago. Nina has opened a studio she had dreamed about since childhood. Their updates have reached me through messages I have read late at night.

I have often remembered evenings when we had cooked pasta and talked about uncertain futures. We had laughed about problems that have now resolved in unexpected ways. Those memories have stayed vivid even when daily life has moved forward.

Please write back when you have time. I have so many questions about the life you have built since Berlin. Perhaps we have both changed enough to discover a friendship that has grown beyond the version we had known at twenty-two.

With affection,
Marta

P.S. I have enclosed a photo from a festival I had attended last month. You would have loved the music.

The Letter from an Old Friend

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