Archive for February, 2009
it has happened to aldo
the dreadful event of going to the SOMMERSCHIELD CLINIC and taking the MALARIA TEST.
2 hours later it’s surprising to have a piece of paper saying: MALARIA PARASITES: NOT FOUNDED ………….than what could he have??!
detail #014
downside of 40 degrees? with all the airco your feet end up looking like gigantic sausages.
for obvious reasons there are no photos on this post. i have a reputation to keep.
18.02.2009 I
inês, you were born 15 years ago and just like that i became a godmother.
i have watched you grow through these years, close and sometimes far, now even from very far away, and i am always amazed by how much we are alike. ok, so you’re a much better student than i was at your age, but that’s a different story, what i mean is it sometimes creeps me out how you talk, and move your hands and laugh, just like me. but mostly i am so proud of what you have become. intelligent (this part has nothing to do with me, maybe with filipa, but surely not with me), beautiful (of course… me!), kind, thoughtful, cute (me) and so much more… and so many other things that you’ll achieve in your years to come. 15 years old!
i was 14 when you were born, and i had arm cramps every time i held you in those first few months, but it was such a wonderful feeling to know that on february 18 1994 i became important for someone who could depend on me.
be yourself. we’ve got so much to do still, i promise i’ll always be here for you.
first time in 5 years
for five years aldo and i have been living together. not really remembering this day when we made that decision of sharing everything, throughout these years. i’d always think february was the month but rarely we’d aknowledge it to the point of saying out loud.
today we did. i woke up knowing this was the day when 5 years ago i opened the door to my house in milan, to my bedroom and accepted aldo in my life with all of my heart.
we have never exchanged gifts, on this day or in a somewhat dubious september month when we think we started dating. we have never even gone out to dinner for this ocasion, we just went along with the flow. i like dates, believe me i really like counting years, months, day ans even hours, but when it comes to me and him, it just seems so insignificant.
but today i woke up wanting to say it out loud, maybe because it’s just the number 5 that makes me think, or just being here alone with that makes me understand how important these little things are. so the first thing i said to him was “congratulations for today” and not expecting anything in return, usually his memory doesn’t function so well in these matters, he replied… “thank you for being with me through all these years.”
inhaca was just that. a celebration. for us. in the middle of nowhere with noone around. i guess that’s what you can call all that we are doing here a celebration of us. we have had so many problems between us, some still to be resolved, we fight, we’re human, but we above all love. we respect, except when i shout, my sister should know… but i wouldn’t give up the feeling of having him so close, so warm next to me. many do not understand, many do not even dare say what they think, but i am one of the happiest people on earth and i know it’s because of us. of who we are together.
after 5years of sharing the same space, i know i could’ve never have turned back from Milan when i finished ERASMUS. i know milan existed to me for many things, all of them less important than him. i know antwerp was part of my life because it made sense with him, and i’m sure when i’ll look back on maputo, it will all be too good to be true. aldo and i make plans, lots of them, and lots of them come true, so there is no rush, there is no panic, it’s all so conforting.
some many years of so many beautiful things. and so many good feeling of what there is to come. i told you, remember, this is it, i really feel it, this is it.
and yes, that above is a view of Maputo by night, thanks Pia for taking the picture for my from your 22nd floor apartment in the Polana Shopping bulding. it really ilustrates all that i wanted to say.
inhaca island #001
it took us exactly one day to get to Inhaca and all it takes is 32kms of a boat trip. thursday we woke up at 6a.m. ready to get to the boat when rain started pouring down like mad. there was wind everywhere and the grayest sky in a while… we called, confirmed that the boat and the airplane wouldn’t leave Maputo no matter if St.Peter himself told it to, went back to bed and slept the dissapointment away.
my uncle was in town, having flown the thursday morning flight from Lisbon and we had lunch and exchanged some gifts from home, such as european cheese (aldo was smiling the whole day just because cheese is something rare in our fridge these day… can’t get good cheese anywhere, except if you want to spend your salary on it), a new dining table towel, new underwear for both (yuppie) and a “get-thin-suit” of course from my mother!! anyway… … … it was nice seeing family again even if it was just for a lunch hour… he had flown 10hours, he drives the plane himself!!! so i understand when he says he’s tired and needs to sleep.
we waited the rest of the day for news about the boat. but nothing happened. the weather was awful.
so we woke up friday again at 6a.m., got ready and called the boatman, he said “we’re leaving, the sun is out” and we called Mr.Joaquim for a taxi and left. one hour and a half later we “landed” on a beautiful island. greener than i ever imagined and calm just like a holiday should be.
it’s never enough, 3 days of sun, it should always be more, but we know we’ll be back because unless it rains, it only takes 90minutes to get here from our house in Maputo. on sunny days and clear skies we can see this island of Inhaca from there, from the beaches of Maputo and it feels so close. we’ll be back because we were only able to visit the Ilha dos Portugueses – Island of the Portughese just five minutes of a boat ride from our cabin where we stayed, deserted and hauntingly beautiful. apparently, and i still have to confirm it, this island was used to take bad portughese people (as if there were any… pfff) and kill them there. that’s one story, but i’ve heard others, like how it used to be the island where they would isolate people with lepra and let them stay there forever. anyway, there’s something empty and haunting about it, and you can feel how empty it is.
the point of Santa Maria, on the opposite side of the main island is also supposed to be astonishing. but the clouds stopped us from going sunday morning, we wanted to so some snorkling to the the so called amazing corals that are 30meters below water, which can make any coral envious. i guess another time. like i said, it takes only 90min and a bit of patience with the weather. maybe next summer, since autumn is just around the corner too.
may it be very clear that we did not go to this romantic getaway for valentine’s day. that day does not exists for us and apparently we have had to explain that we don’t believe in stupid days. we do believe however in… oh you’ll see
if anyone needs us
finally we’ll be in Inhaca Island for the next three days. just a small island across the Maputo bay…
nope, we won’t be celebrating valentines’ day because it’s a ridiculous day, we’ll be enjoying warm sun and beautiful beaches. we will also be thinking of course of the fact that we’ve been living together for 5 years… i guess we have lots to look back onto and so much more to look forward to. see you soon.
miss portugal
one way to africa 