going back some days to review the scribblings that began when i boarded the plane for salvador. it's funny now to go back and read into the anticipation and the managing of the anxiety of the unknown. in some ways i predicted correctly and others, well, not so much.
15 january 2010
on the plane. boarded. loaded. eager for the trip. i will be greeted by francisco at the gate. he will hold a sign with my name and we will go to the homestay place. what to expect?
food is most on my mind as the plane lumbers toward take-off.
and so it is that we are in the air. feeling the pressure from below and rising to the blue. off to the right there sprawl large patches of neighborhoods mixed in with rolling green hills. beyond: the ocean to the horizon.
and now into countryside where housing no longer exists. green fields, small bodies of water. the usual anxieties of travel swirl away. ease sets in. confidence in the pilot, crew, aircraft.
no booze available? bah!
into some mountains now and still hugging the coastline. simple. pretty.
two sisters in their fifties housing language students. this will be an experience. i wonder will they be fussy, doting, free-spirited...manic?
i hope they will be adventurous food folk. my mouth is watering even now at the thought of acarajé. squims in deliciousness.
over the cloud cover now. just us and the sun. the white forms its own landscape. a drifting mass of star dust rising up in columns--slabs breaking off in slow motion.
into the night we now go. nothing visible. but there is plenty to hear as the guy next to me has his ear buds blasting. and to my left a couple of men continue an emphatic conversation. at odd intervals a child some rows back screams in singular bursts of...surprise?
christmas finally came yesterday in the form of a box from my adoring mother. and in my box: a book. "open," the autobiography of andre agassi waits to be begun.
unexpected layover. not sure why that happened. hmmmm...my itinerary gave no such indication. at least i lost the loud-ear-bud neighbor. are we still due to arrive at my scheduled time? we shall see.
fortunately i am in the land of the laid-back. and the dude who's picking me up will likely roll with any delay more readily than if, say, i were landing in kagoshima (birthplace of sho-chu). or maybe it is i who will roll more readily since there isn't the focus here on puctuality and the apologetic bows would certainly be replaced by a more relaxed series of gestures.
take-off number two underway. and it is indeed good to be the first one in the first row. i am pleasantly close to the flight attendant who bears a slight resemblance to a young barbara streisand. or maybe it's this copy of agassi's story, inclusive of the details regarding his brief time with the singer, playing tricks on me.
either way i am smitten by the usual mental dalliances that seem to occur on every flight. her movements swift and confident. my ultimate safety in her hands. a glance and a smile as she goes through the routine of flight procedure were we to crash land.
at last we land--sans crash. we part ways with one last grin and twinkle of the eye. real or imagined it matters not. something about that uniform...
anyway, with the unexpected layover and subsequent confusion i hardly expect my suitcase to arrive. but it does. great relief.
and lo, here is francisco with the sign bearing my name. second time to have such an experience and enjoyed in equal measure to the first.
meeting up with another person from the school and a young lady from the netherlands. shortish drive to my apartment and first impressions roll in. i'm in the goddamn ghetto...again. i pause in the gated entrance as midnight fades well into the distance and the portero huddles in his tiny booth.
the place i'm staying is nice, but across the way a dwelling stands abandoned and gaping in my direction. litter floats about and street folk skitter on their delirious way. it's late. i'm tired. i enter.
up to the 18th floor i go. meet dolores: nice enough first impression. though she appears more tired than i. another body in her bedroom, sleeping. no real immediate spark coming from her at the prospect of my stay. what was i expecting? a parade? ribbons and banners?
her flat is swank, from what i've seen. she leaves me to the unpacking and then some soup in the kitchen.
now bed. 2 a.m. sleepy. nighty night.
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