Something for the Couch
9 July 2005 (Saturday) – Olinda / Recife, Brazil
Katharina, my host from Recife, had said that she was working on 7 and 8 July. But on 9 July onwards, she would have nearly a week free to show me around. So, she suggested that I come to Recife on 9 July.
I figured if I stayed 2 more days in the hostel in Salvador, I might as well stay 2 days in Olinda in a hostel and get to know a different town. So, I did just that, got yelled at by some boys, received 50-60 mosquitoes and sandfly bites, banged my knee, scraped my shin, created a disaster with spilled cooking oil in my room (the resealable cooking oil worked at the place where the tiny hole is for the oil to be poured out, but it split open at ANOTHER spot!!), broke my fingernail and got charmed by serenaders last night. Thoroughly eventful.
When she finally arrived in her car to pick me up, I was a picture of delight. Release me from the prison cell here, please! I took a look and instinctly felt that we would really get along.
We bundled everything into the boot of her car, except the cooking oil which I had to hand-hold VERTICALLY, and she drove to a great-looking buffet por kilo restaurant with traditional Pernambuco (the state of Recife) food. The waiters and waitresses were dressed in the traditional hunting gears and the hats that are shaped very uniquely. The food was excellent and Katharina is just an absolute gem. She is funny, intelligent and we just talked and talked throughout the meal. She even paid for the meals! What?? And I am staying at her place for free!!
I had thought she had written something wrongly when she told me she had the week free. It turned out that for her job of checking goods from trucks entering the state and then, collecting taxes for the government, she works 2 days and then, rests 6 days and then, works 2 days again… in a cycle. But within the 2 days, she works for 40 hours with only 4-hour sleeping shift each day, rotated amongst the rest of her team-mates. So, she actually does have a ‘normal’ 40-hour work week. But imagine… for the next 6 days, she is free to do whatever she wants!!!!! What a fantastic job!!
And her apartment is huge, clean and really beautiful and I even have a room and bathroom to myself. Absolute heaven, isn’t it? I cannot believe my luck today. I wandered from room to room, admiring her humble collection of artworks and tasteful shelf displays. OK, she had lived there for 2 years but she still had not purchased a couch, but, it is still a lovely place to live in. As I expressed my admiration for her life – interesting job arrangement and nice apartment, she was expressing admiration for my life – abandoning my job and travelling. Hahahaa. In fact, she is planning a similar trip for 6-7 months next year. Wow, great for her!!! So that’s why the couch is never purchased and is unlikely to be purchased within the next few years either, I reckon.
Later that evening, we drove to pick up her mother and off we went to Olinda’s Convention Centre. Every year, there is an exhibition of world crafts – Vifenne Art – and it lasts for one week and lucky lucky me, it is this week, ending tomorrow.
The Convention Centre was massive and the crowd, unbelievable. There were maybe 400-500 booths of exhibiters, with crafts from Brazil to Thailand. I must say most of the crafts on display here are of really, really good quality. Most of the time, I was gaping with my mouths opened as I wandered from booth to booth. OK, there were crappy stuff as well, but overall, it was a great exhibition.
I had come across some really lovely knitted throws for the bed or the couch since I was in Paraty and I had been eyeing them since then, whenever I spotted them in touristy stores. I just love fabrics from around the world. Hmm… actually, I was seeing them less and less now, and was beginning to get worried that I would not see them anymore as I head north. I asked Katharina to ask them which state these types were from – Minas Gerais… that’s down south. Darn, R60… the price is steep, I would have to think about it.
We later came upon another type of knitted throw for the couch priced at only R20. It did not have the same lovely colours but it was okay, rather rustic-looking. I thought long and hard. Oh, I am already here in Brazil… what are the odds of returning again? I had been thinking of getting one. It is really lovely, something for the couch… when I have a couch… if I have a couch… if I have an apartment to have a couch in… But wait, Katha has an apartment for 2 years and she still does not have a couch! Oh darn it, I dug into my wallet.
Once the floodgate was opened, there was no stopping me. I spent R100 in total at the fair. And what did I tell Katha’s mother just now? “Não posso comprar nada porque não tenho dinheiro.” (I cannot buy anything because I do not have money). Famous last words.
Katha’s mom had made pudding for us when she heard that Katha was adopting me for a few days. Oh, that was so lovely of her. So, we dropped by her apartment later to pick it up. I got into the car later, holding the pudding on my lap HORIZONTALLY.
Tags: 03) The Land of the Spirits, Olinda, Recife
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