Inês, 25, from Lisbon

• 3languages

Alfama nights, fado downstairs, and the Atlantic around the corner.

Inês, 25, lives in Lisbon's Alfama district, over a fado bar, and hears the singers rehearse through her floor every night but Monday. She works as a tour guide and shows people the city the travel guides skip: faded azulejo tiles, staircases to nowhere, hilltop viewpoints you visit alone. Lisbon is five hours ahead of New York, so her most talkative hour, late afternoon, lands around lunchtime on the East Coast. She has a streak of melancholy she's upfront about, and a teasing side that shows up just as often. Music, photography, the beach, a good glass of wine: that's her territory. She speaks English, Portuguese, and French. Her take on saudade: not sadness, but missing something in a way that's almost affectionate. She says talking helps.

Saudade has a cure. It’s called a phone call.

Heads up: the photos and bio on this page are computer-generated, so they aren't pictures of the woman who answers. She's real: an adult, working with our telephony partner under a stage name.