15 days project - São Thomé das Letras - Part 16

Chapter 15 – The return 

 Yesterday before going to bed, I set the alarm to go off at 4 o'clock the following day and it was completely unnecessary because throughout the night (which I couldn't sleep) I check the time almost in 1-hour intervals. At 4 am I was already up preparing breakfast and separating the trash to discard before leaving

    The day was already clear when at 6:15 I picked up my suitcase, backpack and trash to be disposed of in an appropriate place and headed to the São Thomé das Letras bus station. On the way I saw a situation worthy of an event with a large crowd of people: glasses , cans and garbage through the narrow streets, the odor of beer and urine very present and some people still wandering the streets and trying to enter their homes and guesthouse rooms, some clearly under the influence of substances that alter consciousness. Arriving at the bus station I could see a lot of people waiting for the bus to the Três Corações city . Some people there seemed to have come for the show and were waiting for the first bus of the day to return. Sitting on one of the available benches, I looked at the slope that joined the paved street with the stone blocks and the floor of the bus station, I saw that junction shaking for a few minutes (about 5 minutes) the curious thing is that I looked at another point and saw everything normal, I turned my attention to that specific point and saw the “trembling”. Obviously there was no tremor in the body or physical structures and under normal conditions I would have spent some time reflecting on whether that situation was the result of a sleepless night or something related to the energy of the place. But my thought was: will I be able to board the bus? With so many people there and more arriving every moment, I started counting how many people were waiting and imagining how many seats there were on a bus

    After a while the bus arrived and before the driver even opened the door, a commotion broke out with people crowding in front of the door. As I had a suitcase to be checked in and placed in the luggage compartment of the bus, there was no point in approaching or being part of the commotion to get in. I got up from the bench and waited for the driver to check in and pack my luggage relatively away from the commotion. The conductor began to put the people crowded there onto the bus and with everyone already seated and some already standing, he turned his attention to me and another person with her suitcase and bag.

  The ticket would be charged along our route, as upon arrival, the bus would stop at the bus station in the small town of São Bento do Abade and then continue towards its final destination. It is necessary to remind the reader that throughout the journey, if someone requested a stop to get off or get on, they would be immediately attended. We set off with all the seats occupied and 8 people standing, with me being one of those, many stops took place in the middle of farm entrances, mud trails and even where nothing could be seen but vegetation (in the middle of the forest) , thank God for the number of people getting on was smaller than those getting off the bus and so we arrived at the Três Corações bus station without overcrowding but almost an hour late. The next route (the longest), to the Belo Horizonte bus station, was purchased in advance, started without delays and just at the lunch stop at a gas station, the driver informed us that we would stay there for a while to provide assistance to another bus that was arriving with mechanical problems and was going to the same destination. We waited for more than two hours as there was time for the bus to arrive and time for its passengers to have lunch, unfortunately the seats available on “our” bus were not enough to accommodate everyone on the bus with problems and amidst the revolt of those who remained there at the gas station waiting for another bus

    We arrived at the Belo Horizonte bus station at 6:40 pm, and as soon as I could I went to the appropriate place to eat something because the bus station was crowded, and it was even difficult to find a chair available to eat sitting down , after eating and going to the bathroom I went to the counter of the company that makes the journey to the airport. I bought the ticket and the wait was just over 10 minutes for the last bus journey to start, it was already evening and everything went according to schedule, when I arrived at the airport I was still hungry so I looked for something to eat and even although there were 2 hours left before boarding, I checked in and entered the area restricted to passengers, thinking I could have greater comfort and tranquility, which was a mistake on my part, many, many passengers were waiting for their flights, I don't  know if it was due to delays or because it was a Sunday there were people sitting on the floor, I was “lucky” to find a chair close to my boarding gate and I stayed there until the boarding call. The flight was full and we waited on the plane for at least 1 hour, with no apparent reason or explanation and when we finally departure, the flight  was ok without any unusual event

    I arrived in Recife after 3 am on 8/21/23 (a Monday) and extremely tired from not sleeping for more than 24 hours. Out of practicality, I took a taxi and could understand why taxi drivers didn't support Uber. , I paid for the same outward journey (in an Uber) 3 times more for being in a taxi. Upon arrival, I had a shower and bed to recover from the “epic” of this return. On the subsequent, less tired day, the feeling was of duty accomplished, project completed in what had to be added, but other challenges awaited me, such as the final revisions, which for each chapter were at least 4, the translations and revisions of the translations, the paintings of my graphic representations and as a culmination of the challenges of posting this project, I had a problem with my cell phone (where all the photos are stored) that made it impossible for me to use it for 1 month, where I even considered the possibility of doing it the traditional way, without images and just with the text because the written part was done manually on a sketchbook.

  I thank everyone who directly or indirectly contributed to the execution of the project, I thank the patience of the reader who followed the posting of the project / chapters wich run in parallel : “The beauties of São Thomé in black and white” ( which is still running on it's final chapters)

There is no more valid representation of everything I experienced in São Thomé than my shoes, almost destroyed by the intensity of everything that was experienced there, each mark on my shoes represents many others imbued in the soul, definitely my farewell to the project / city has “sound, flavor and odor”, in addition to a luggage full of all that doesn't impress the senses but is as solid as the streets I walked through, see you soon and thank you, São Thomé das Letras! ; )

Trabalho concluído  -  Acrylic  - 2024

Conclusion 

    Attentive eyes follow me and get lost because not even I know where I'm going

    The light that pulses in a heartbeat invites me to move forward and , stripped of verbal limitations ,  i follow ahead

   Pure and clear foundations, like water that flows from a cave, secretly kept as a jewel , reveals itself

   Wisdom of everything that is perennial finally finds a home appropriate to the breadth of its essence 

    The city celebrates in light and sound , from the sacred space of my introspection , i bow to receive everything that is subliminal and timeless 

   Every hair on my body dances in the wind that leads my flame to the heart of the earth , sublime womb , generator of cycles

   Lightning marks the path and it is more beautiful than all possible dreams 

   My gaze wanders over everything and everyone, my gratitude finds no means of expression beyond the vastness of a primordial silence 

Gustavo H.F. de Sousa - 15 days project

(2023-2024)