In the late 1980s, some Americans were already living in Lisbon, hosting private weekend parties with men from the Angolan elite and some Englishmen. Some Portuguese university students were invited to these parties to entertain the men. My current wife, now 56, started going because of a colleague's influence and stayed as a weekend resident, hosting parties with either the American or a friend for three years of her degree. Her parents and family, living in the provinces, never knew anything!