Well, I was taking a look at my previous post and I realized I made a huge blunder. After all, I owe the friends I've had the privillege to meet at The Third Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, on May, a tribute, for all they represent and fight for in their lives and for what they represent in mine, now.
However, I find that this post has come in a very good moment: because I'm writing it so much time after it all happened, I can show these extraordinary people that no matter how much has gone by, I still think of them, they still mean a lot to me, and shall ever be this way. Even after all these months, I still feel glad to have their contact on my Facebook, I still thank God for giving me that wonderful opportunity to get to know them, for giving me that master gift of living those lovely, lovely days, where I got to know and experience more of understanding, when different cultures and people met in my hometown and, out of that meeting, love, companionship, and mutual dialogue flow like pure water.
It is a big honor, a delightful pleasure to have met you guys.
Thanks a lot for everything!
This is a version in English of my blog's previous post which I prepare specially for you, as a way of thank you better. Hope you like it!
Botafogo beach, Monday to Friday, round 1 pm. I’ll probably be there, in the Underground’s bus, heading for college. And it is in this moving little cube that I start to enjoy, slowly, the colors of my Rio de Janeiro.
Vinícius de Moraes wrote a very beautiful song – what’s new about that? – about the April’s colors, with this exact title. He felt compelled to do so because of April’s afternoons and its tonalities, in the Marvelous City. I don’t say different, but I don’t say the same either. I rather talk about the colors that fill up the city every single day of the year.
Back to the bus. Sometimes, in the middle of such course, I’m reading a text as a college assignment (very often, reading with speed, because I should have already concluded it!). Even in these occasions, it’s impossible, at least for me, to help my eye’s instinctive movement, as they raise to the left and meet the Sugar Loaf Mountain. Oh! Sometimes I think people round me must think I’m a tourist, due to the expression stamped upon my face, silly, amazed, all smily, unable to hide the admiration for nature, for God’s gifts. And why should I hide it, anyway? I ought to – we ought to – be happy and very thankful for having the chance to witness a scene of such high quality. And I shall even more, for I have the privilege to enjoy this view practically every day.
I wonder why on Earth these sights, eyewashes for all eyes, are so underestimated. People, buried in their duties, in their compulsive work (almost compulsory), worried about getting money, raising in life, buying, feeling, doing everything, all the time, seizing every minute, end up, after all, seizing nothing. So absorbed in so many perishable things, so tight up in their instant goals, truly narrow-minded. Out of that, they forget about the essential, which, in this case, is very much visible to our eyes. It is not only visible, but we can plainly see it: it’s in our faces, waiting a tiny stare, fairly earned. On behalf of our happiness! Happiness so many times left behind, perhaps for matters of so little importance.That obviously doesn’t mean that, from now on, we’ll all stop everything we’re doing as we pass by any touristic spot of Rio and just stay still, drawling. My point is: frequently, we refuse wonderful presents given by God all the time, day by day. Of course, we have our own concerns, we feel tired, we fear problems. And it’s exactly because of that! While watching the twilights, it is beautiful to see how God plays of painting the sky, mixing paled and bright colors, tons and textures, clouds, stars… authentic frameless pictures that no artist could create alone. And He hands them over to us! To the “cariocas” (and all people), the colors of Rio.
In the sunny days, we have colors of the whole Brazil displayed. I witness that not only at the beach, but even in General Osorio square, strolling together with my friend Livia or inside my own college campus. A turquoise-colored sky which I have never seen reproduced in anything made by human hand; yellows and greens from the trees, so bright and shiny. A sweet soft breeze… I know, it is not colored, actually, but it gives the final touch, responsible for making the scene impeachable. The colors of my Rio: vibrant, making all the ones who allowed themselves to be touched by them vibe along.
Even now, as I speak, looking out my window (and I don’t live in any beach zone), the colors are simply fantastic. A sunny day, though full of clouds, some darker, others cotton likewise. In the middle of that, it has rained as well. No, no rainbow came along – that I have seen – but that’s the thing: it doesn’t have to. The scene is worthwhile on its own. Things like that cannot be ignored.
For we all end up, in fact, being endlessly tourists. The divine play of tickle paint brushes through the skies and with the lights doesn’t allow the Sugar Loaf to be the same, ever. There is never a lack of new things to be seen and to be amazed at. There is always something different, an angle, a color, an unseen detail. What lacks is a reason not to stop and stare, and trip just by looking at the wonders. It doesn’t take too much of us.
I know, this is quite a cheesy post. But I’m cheesy, and this is my blog. Therefore, you can’t expect anything rather than that…
Besides, when I see the Sugar Loaf on Botafogo’s beach, being able, in my way back home, also to take a look at Flamengo’s Park, I get a glimpse of the Redeemer, arms wide open for us, between the buildings, for free. Is there a better gift to cheer up a day?
Lots of love,
Mariana.
