Chapter 3: Tropical Rush!! Pt 2
It must have been one of the most relieving and alleviating feelings of my life the moment that the plane touched down and I could finally stand up, especially for someone who has never flown before in her life. It was surprising how I didn't "unlearn" how to walk with my own two feet after 24hrs sitting in the same place, almost uninterruptedly. My legs were trembling, my hair was messy and oily, I wasn't smelling very well and my white dress (AWESOME idea deciding to do a 30-hour flight trip with a white dress) was kind of gray and with a purple stain from the grape juice that fell on it during the second dinner of the trip.
And it was one of my favorite dresses...
To make matters worse, as soon as the plane doors opened, I felt the heavy and hot air, typical of a tropical country, coming from the outside and instantly making my body start sweating hard, adding a new level of discomfort to the whole situation. Plus, carrying an absurd amount of heavy luggage didn't help any further.
It was no joke. I've experienced some hot days in the summers of Tokyo, but this was on a whole other level. This can't be the average temperature for a day, not even for a summer season, it was just unbearable; how do the flight attendants maintain their make-up, good smell and posture with their thick clothes in such hot weather? This is a job that I admire so much, but one I'd never be able to do. Bless you, flight attendants!
My destination was a small apartment in the downtown center of the city, near a metro station called "Uruguaiana". The airport where we landed was pretty far from my destination, and the only way to reach my future place was by taxi. It was somewhat appalling that there were no trains or metro that led directly from the airport to the city, but I came prepared for it, and paid a hefty fee for the taxi man to get me to my apartment after a strange communication in broken English as I would soon discover that only a good minority of people around here could speak in English. What I couldn`t understand even more than his strange English was his reluctance in using the car A/C; it was something like 35 C° and the old man decided to open the car windows instead of using the goddamn A/C, and I was just too embarrassed to try initiating a conversation with my broken English, and, frankly, just too exhausted to think much about it. I accept my fate - I thought in a dramatic way.
Luckily, the ride went on for only 30 minutes and I would soon find myself stranded on a pretty busy road in front of the apartment where I was going to be living for the next 2 years. The taxi driver quickly helped me unload the bags and went on his way while I waved him back and shouted "Obrigada" which is a word for "thank you", in Portuguese.
Well, time to see what this apartment is going to offer me. I just hope that this place has A/C.
The moment I turned back to face the building, an old lady was right in my face, scaring me and provoking me to jump back.
But she then said in perfect English.
"You must be Mrs. Kashiwagi from Japan; my name is Claudia and we talked over the net about the rent of a room in this apartment. Nice to meet you! Hope you've had a safe trip. Please follow me, I'll guide you to your room."
"Y-yes… Thank you."
Well, despite the scare, that's nice of her waiting for me at the front door! I wonder how much time she waited for me here…. I think that the flight was delayed for about 2 hours so she must have been in front of the building for quite some time.
The building architecture was very different from what I was used to seeing in Japan; It was a fairly old building, not too tall, with seven floors at maximum, and not very clean…. I'd say that it should be from around the 60s or 70s, but despite the old appearance it fitted the aesthetics of the scenario, as most of the other buildings nearby passed the same feeling. A strange and different but captivating view.
"Please, just forgive me as I cannot help you with your luggage. I'm an old woman and I can barely use my back ho-ho-ho."
"Ah! No problem, it's just a short distance till the elevator!"
"Well... I must once again beg your pardon. But the elevator is in maintenance, so I guess you will have one last exercise ho-ho-ho."
"Ha ha ha…. That's a good one" - I laughed like she was being sarcastic.
"Oh no my dear, it's no joke, throughout the whole week this elevator has been in maintenance. And... I don't wanna sound rude, but your room is on the 5th floor."
What!? You're kidding right?!"
I didn't respond to her immediately, as I was in disbelief at the fact that I would have to climb up five flights of steps, three times in total, each for one baggage. I just scratched my head and sighed preparing myself for that last stretch of my trip before I could have a cold shower. Afterall it wasn't Claudia's fault that the elevator wasn't working.
"If you want, you can leave two of your bags here in my room and pick them up afterwards. I live here on the ground floor and I know you must be tired from such a long trip"
Well, she is a nice lady!
"Oh! That'd be great! Thank you! I think I'll do that, Mrs. Claudia. I'll pick the other two by tomorrow morning"
It was just one bag, but still, dragging a 30kg bag through five floors after an exhaustive trip was quite the feat. I was so exhausted that I didn't feel that tired anymore; frankly, I was quite proud that I still had so much strength left on me.
But alas! I was finally in my room!
"I guess the human body is far more resilient than we think"- I thought, while sweating like a pig panting hard.
At the door, Claudia extended her arm to me with her fist closed and said:
"Here are your keys! The room is 30m² as advertised on the net. You can find the bathroom to the right, your room to the left, and here is the commonplace for the living room and the kitchen" - After that, she dropped the keys over my hands
"Uhum…"
"The room already has furniture; however, you are free to buy, add or change anything you like. Just contact me if you need to store any item that you plan on removing"
"Got it! Thanks for the support. I'll call you if anything comes up."
"Sure, I hope you enjoy Rio! We do love this city, just be careful walking around strange places late at night."
"Thank you! I'll keep that in mind."
"Ahh! One last thing!" - Mrs. Claudia halted for a moment and looked over her shoulders lifting her hand while holding a letter.
"I almost forgot, but we received a letter in your name, it's still on the envelope"- She said while raising her hand and showing me the letter addressed to me.
I raised my eyebrows in curiosity and approached her to catch the letter,
"O-oh, thanks"
It was kind of strange, if not scary, to receive a letter in this apartment in my name as soon as I arrived. Did I give this address to anyone besides my family and close friends?
Sitting on a dark green, not so comfy two-seater couch, that was facing backwards to a sunny window, I opened the letter to meet a pleasant surprise, especially after reading it:
"Bem-Vinda", Kashiwagi-san
To my future student, I hope you had a pleasant trip and that you will enjoy your stay in the "marvelous city"! I asked Mrs. Claudia to give you this letter and to leave you a present! You'll see it over your bed. Please, get some rest these next two days before our first meeting at the university.
And, Ah! Please, visit the famous "Colombo" pastry shop that's two blocks away from your apartment. They will have a special cake combo promotion tomorrow. I love going there to eat sweets.
P.S: I got your address accessing the university database, hope you're not mad at me!
See you soon!
Pr. Roberto Fukuda
Oh my gosh! How cute and considerate of him! I mean, we are used to exchanging gifts in Japan, but I have never received such a personal and warm letter from a stranger, especially from a professor. Actually, without even meeting him, just for that I think I'm much closer to Prof. Fukuda than to any other teacher I've had in my whole life. What a country!
Entering the bedroom, I could see laying over the bed the gift that Prof. Fukuda was talking about, and again, it was something just so considerate of him. Packed in a very neat and gorgeous way, there was a cute basket filled with different kinds of tropical fruits, wrapped in plastic to protect them from dirt, and a cute pink ribbon at the top of it to embellish the package. As I was mesmerized by the situation, a tiny ray of sunshine passed through an opening on the blind of the window, illuminating the fruits and reflecting on the plastic, making the scene even prettier. Some of these fruits, like mangos, melons and watermelons were very appreciated but extremely expensive back at home; well, I guess in a tropical country fruits are a bit cheaper, but it was very thoughtful of him thinking about giving me fruits. I think it has been months since I last tasted a melon, and this is such a heartwarming welcome!
Well, this may be indeed a tropical paradise….
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