Lazy Letter: No Buses
I think I told you on the phone how this town has lost the meaning of time, and that nobody really cares. The church bells ring, but people don’t seem to care. Their lunch breaks are on-time, and they drink coffee a few times a day. I had to take a quick shower in the morning before I left, and I had my ears on the bells. Sometimes I set my daily activities based on the rings. I had a bus to catch, and I’d planned things ahead, so every second was rather important. No church bells, though, I thought I missed it as the water was running. It was already very late when I returned to the room, I doubt if it took me more than ten minutes to dress up, and fully pack. I kept going through the items that I needed to take with me, and the things that I was going to miss. If I knew that there weren’t going to be any buses that day, I would’ve taken my time, just like everyone else around here. I would’ve picked the heater off the bathroom floor, for instance, and I would’ve double checked my backpack to see that I’d need an extra pair of socks.
It was very disappointing, at the bus stop, the second I realized that there were no buses that day. It was a national holiday, and the buses were off duty till the weekend. Or something like that, like I give a damn. As mad as I could be, I ran to the studio, perhaps Hiten and Teyona could come up with a solution. I asked Liliana as I saw her by the cafe near the bus stop that I needed to take a taxi. I needed to make sure there’s no other way to get out of town before I paid the driver to take me to the station by the main road. Ja offered help, and I appreciated. She’s very kind, oh, she’s unbelievably kind. We went back to the cafe, took a shot of coffee. Even though I walk by that cafe every day, I never thought of getting some coffee. It was warm inside, full of middle-aged ladies of our very small town.
I took the cab; I had to, there was no other way out. The driver seemed familiar, I think I’d seen him before at the bar, or the restaurant or somewhere. He had just woken up when Ja dropped me at his door. Even finding a cab seems almost impossible when your town is this small, Ja made a couple phone calls and stopped at different places. The driver was pulling up his pants as he was walking to the car from his door. He asked about my bus, and which one I was taking. He drove even faster once he found out about my ride. How nice of him, I kept thinking. I was incredibly angry about the bus, but, hard to stay mad when everyone is just so nice. A bus showed up ahead down the road. He asked a question, but I couldn’t understand what he was asking. Asked him to repeat, and if he could speak more slowly. He wanted to know something about my ticket, I don’t know, and he pointed to the bus. He was thinking what I was thinking; it might be the bus. The bus. He was driving super fast so that we’d pass it by. We turned our heads around to see where its destination was. That was the one.
It’s nice to be in the city again after a couple months of village life. It’s rather intimidating how this city looks like my City, the alleys and the streets, uphills, and the view. The body of water that runs through the middle of the city, and divides in two. It’s a river here, we have the strait back in our City. Not the same body, but water is water. And, well, needless to say, the sunset looks magnificent beyond. I think they party slightly differently. Guess it’s not the matter of the culture or the city, it must be something personal; depends on how you define “fun”.
It was an exciting weekend overall. I saw so many things, explored and discovered. I didn’t have any expectations. Dancing is something that I miss a lot, and I was looking forward to it. In the end, I decided that perhaps it’s better this way. There were a lot of pins on my map that were left unvisited. Next time, maybe, but I probably won’t ever visit again.
3.Dec.17 – Lisbon, Portugal
I woke up a few times during the night. Nathaneal asked me if I slept well last night as he was making pancakes in the morning. I said that I did, even though it wasn’t a one hundred percent honest answer. It must be for the wine, and the excitement of my trip today. I’m heading to a town nearby, I’ve planned an interesting trip. I kept seeing Pel and Didam in my dream, Sahan, and probably others. Nathaneal who was sleeping above me on the bunk bed was there with us somewhere. And the duvet that I was covering myself with turned into a big sheet of cotton candy. Interesting stuff happened, I was going to write them down, but I decided to forget about them instead.
Well, it is rather an important day. December the fourth, you know. It must be announced as a special holiday on my personal calendar. A lot of important events happened on this day over the past few years. They were not planned, they took place naturally and organically as if they were holding back their turn up until this day; perhaps that’s what makes this day special. This year, I’m taking this curious trip, and I’m on my own.
My legs are sore for all the walk. Oh, I walked a lot, hitchhiked, and walked even more. I’d planned to visit a castle or two, but the tickets were ridiculously pricey, and it got me mad. I was over it soon, just as I found this path to the forest. It was a very narrow path with a small sign on a tree. “Ramp to Pena” the path was leading the way to the mountains and the forests around. I was a bit concerned about the trip for this morning. That I was going to be alone, and if I wouldn’t be able to entertain myself enough; it was a long way to the coast then down to the lighthouse. But that was just another silly idea. I’m drinking my last wine, it was a trip full of adventure, and red wine. Oh my, I drank a lot of wine. It’s a very special holiday, guess I’m allowed to do anything.
4.Dec.17 – Sintra, Portugal