8am
This is mid June, and this is Northeastern Brazil, so rain does come with the package... I cannot complain (even though I'd love to, because I think deep down I'm an incurable moaner), coming here this time of the year I knew I'd have to deal with a number of rainy days, so... all I can do is zip it and wait for the bus that will take me to the bus station. You can't go to an Indian restaurant and expect to find anything that won't be at least slightly spicy, and you can't over-speed in a narrow zig-zag road and expect your car to... magically stay on the road for too long... I don't know if such a thing as "luck" exists, but in this case luck has nothing to do with it, it's plain choices, and dealing with the downsides of your choices... Either way, I love rain (unlike bus drivers who don't stop at bus stops, even when you are waving like crazy making it clear that you want to board this specific bus. This is how I missed the first bus that passed, and since time is starting to be an issue -I don't want to miss my João Pessoa bus- I am determined to stand in the middle of the road next time my bus comes. I am taking the next bus, no matter what...).
1:30pm
I have an outburst in every single trip, a moment when I totally lose it, when I raise my voice and I say things I later regret... My last trip abroad before coming to Brazil, was in February/March, when I went to Spain with my ex girlfriend, hoping to make things work again between us. Our last day at Madrid I did something I feel ashamed of, something I wish I could turn back time and erase... I yelled at her in the middle of Puerta del Sol, having dozens of people around us stop and stare for a few seconds... When I think of that scene all I want to do is dig a hole in the ground and bury myself in there... Before that, I went to India, in December. At Bangalore's airport, somewhere in the middle of my 25 days' trip there, I lost it when a security guy told me something about my small day-pack. An hour ago I had my "customary" outburst, in Brazil, at the bus station of João Pessoa. Got off the bus, started walking towards the bus stop from where I could catch a city bus to the coastal part of the city, a couple of 18-19 year olds approached me, said something I didn't understand, kept walking, they kept walking behind me saying things and laughing, making fun of my failure to understand what they were saying, so... that was it, I opened my mouth and I used my worst language in Greek, I said things to them I wouldn't ever say even to someone who would have done something bad to me... I'm relatively tall, but not really muscular, I wouldn't say I can scare people off just by the way I look, but even a skinny dog can make you change path, if it shows you its teeth and barks in a really aggressive way, so... the two guys left me in peace... This is my backpack in my hostel dormitory. This yellow "thing" (which I have no idea how is called in English), saved me, because, oh yeah, it was raining when I left Natal, it kept raining all the way here, and it's raining in João Pessoa as well...).
1:40pm
My first impressions from my hostel are... "hm...". The dorm room looks spotlessly clean and tidy, the toilet same thing, the common area has couches, TV, furniture with magazines, you can see the small pool, generally it feels nice, but... kind of cold. Once again, I am all alone here, I can only imagine how this place would feel if it had a good number of travelers staying here, and... that's all I'll say, because in previous entries of mine from Brazil I have "talked" about the pros and cons of traveling in low season. Once again, it's all about choices... If you want a car you'll use just to take you from A to B within your city's limits, say... from home to work and back, then a "Smart" is perfect, I guess... But don't expect to speed like Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton on highways, going to a nearby beach, for example, on a weekend break... We can't have everything, can we now...
1:50
The hostel is about 300 meters from the beach. I don't know if it's because of the weather, because of that incident at the bus station, because of how cold and empty my hostel looks, I guess it's all these and much-much more, but the thing is that I am not in the best of moods. Still, the beach is long, and "walker" is possibly my number one middle name, so... Walking... If you ask me, that's my number one remedy, the "pill" that helps me deal with any "pain". No, scratch that, walking is only half of that "pill". Writing is the other half. It's weird... I feel that something has only happened until I write about it in my journal, even back home. It's the moment I write about it that it actually... becomes true, a fact, not something blare and hazy, but something specific, something real... Hm... Just noticed... Funny how both words in English begin with a W, which in Greek is the last letter of the alphabet, omega...
2pm
For some weird reason, I love this photo... Sure, the sky is gloomy, but it looks "alive", it has parts that are darker than other spots, even black, and in the centre you have this... flock of clouds that looks as if they are running to the right, with their "hair" floating behind their "heads" (no, I'm not high, I haven't put anything in my mouth after breakfast, or... maybe it's because of that). I am fascinated by cloudy skies, when they... tell me things, when they give me lots to look at, no matter if generally they are dark and "threatening", preparing everyone for a massive downpour. The only time I feel like taking my magic vacuum cleaner out, sweeping everything "up there", is when that... monotonous white/grey sheet covers everything... That's when I feel like a prisoner, hopelessly trying to escape from jail. Cops are all around, no way out, stay patient, time will pass, find something to distract you, don't try to fight something you can't win...
2:30
Yesterday I wrote that coconut trees are like Coca-Cola, they are great to have in any photo, same way a coke can be enjoyed with any type of food. On a second thought, coconut trees are better than cokes. Why? Because you can only really-really enjoy a coke when it's cold, if not icy. When it's no longer cold, it's unbearable... Coconut trees on the other hand, look great when the sky is all blue and clear, but they look fascinating when the sky is gloomy as well. Then again, maybe this is just me, maybe I see them this way because I am not used to seeing them in Greece. I am not impressed when I go to some ancient temple in my own country which is thousands of years old, possibly because I have had enough of them by now. Tourists, though, especially from countries with short history, say... the USA, look fascinated while staring at some... ancient stones, same way, I guess, I look at every single coconut tree I bump into...
3:30
I only took this picture because of the woman you can see on the left, standing next to that red cart, wearing a simple but cute dress. What you can't see in the picture, is that her husband is the owner of the cart, selling hot dogs, stuff like that... The picture, she, standing there, wearing that nice dress, standing straight up in a way that made her look really elegant and eye-catching, he, preparing hot dogs, wearing a funny t-shirt, looking older than what I bet he is, "small", skinny, it just... caught my attention. Made me think how these two people ended up being together, a family, with a little girl (the one you can see on the left). I don't mean to sound nasty, but she looks "out of place"... When you go to some place with old cars, cars that have been dumped by their owners because they no longer wanted them, you don't find a two months' "old" Porsche, it just makes you wonder... I don't know, it just made me think... Maybe it's because of the too many movies I have watched these 31 years of my life, but in my eyes she can be two persons: A, this very beautiful woman who fell in love with a not really good looking, or rich guy, "only" because she saw in him a heart of gold, or, B, this very beautiful woman who compromised with a life her parents, maybe, made her choose, while deep down she is still thinking about this other life she could be enjoying with another man, a more comfortable one, a more luxurious one... Only she knows which scenario is the right one. Maybe it's none of these, maybe it's some scenario C, D, E, Z...
3:40
Sun found a little hole through the clouds... I came to João Pessoa because it is a city (I have a thing for cities), a coastal one (big plus), and because it looked perfect as a stopover in between Natal and Recife. A few kilometers south, a small tip of land is the Americas' easternmost tip. This I knew, as I had, years ago, a Brazilian e-pal who used to live here, and had described her city in a way that made it sound really-really nice. We lost touch long ago, getting in touch with her after years, now, didn't feel like something I had... the right to do, but anyhow, my point is that different people see different things in the same place. I haven't spent much time here, but... you don't need to spend much time in a place to feel homey or not, don't you agree? I guess it works the same way it works with falling or not falling in love with people. You meet someone, and bang, you lose your mind, butterflies start jumping around your stomach as you are trying to play it cool and hide (why? Why indeed?...) how you feel. I've been to places I felt like "my kind of" places right from the moment I stepped foot there. João Pessoa is not one of those places... In my eyes it is the kind of place I want to leave as soon as possible, without this meaning that there is something wrong with the place itself. Of course not. As always and as in every love or "love" case, it is simply a matter of chemistry. Maybe timing as well...
4pm
My plan was to spend two days here, one along the coast, one downtown. No way... I am leaving tomorrow morning. I don't like... me, here, I don't like the way I feel here, which, I repeat, is not the city's fault, I am not criticising the city. In cases like this, I use to tell myself "make the most out of it". It's like going to the super market to buy a few things you have in mind, but you see that most of them are out of stock. What do you do? This is the only super market in your tiny town. You just grab whatever you can. Just because you can't prepare for lunch what you had in mind, doesn't mean that you need to starve. You won't make this dish you had been thinking about since last night, but you are still going to put something in your stomach, or else hunger will conquer you... I keep walking, and I take advantage of the... shy sun to take some more pictures. I need to do something to "save" a day which looks kind of... lost. I shouldn't be feeling this way, but we can't always control our feelings, can we? (Hardly ever, I'd say).
4:15
If you ask me, that's my João Pessoa highlight. A rainbow picture... In Rio de Janeiro I found a small fountain and the water/sun created a small rainbow. I took the camera out and greedily shot a photo. This is the real thing, and as an incurable rainbows' fanatic I must include this picture in my blog. That's not all, though... One of the best things about digital cameras is that you don't really need to worry about how many pictures you shoot. So...
4:15
...So why miss the chance to include these young boys and girls in another rainbow photo? The rest of the day is as uneventful as these last hours. I go back to my hostel for a dip in the pool (as I've written before, taking a dip in a pool is a must, even when the weather is not perfectly appropriate. You just have to, it's a rare opportunity you can't miss, a free bonus you must seize), and then I spend some time watching a football match on TV with a guy who works at the front desk. After that, it's time for another stroll, an early night one, and also time to try something local, which I fail to remember the name of. Maybe, after all, I should have found the nerves to get in touch with that old e-pal of mine who used to live here, no matter how weird it would have looked, dropping her a line after years... The way you see a place is hugely affected by the people you meet, and spending a little time with either locals or other travelers always enhances the whole travel experience, no?...
Anyhow, next destination, Olinda, just north of Recife. If this place is half as great as Lonely Planet describes it, I will find my paradise there...
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