Neighbor’s Day

Last week I started paying a new rental sum for the apartment of which I have been a tenant for thirteen years now. The price is very high, but I consider myself happy to be able to enjoy the privilege of living on a city street like so few in the world today.

What I consider my street to be is the stretch that goes from my building sideward in both directions until it connects to Avenida Contorno from the left as well as from the right side.

The other day as I was coming home from VIP-market, which is two blocks down a street just above mine, a beautiful young woman struck up a conversation with me and I discovered that she lives in the building directly in front of mine. Gisele is her name. A beauty of a girl and a kind soul. She promised to bring me some bananas from her ranch once after I had complained that the ones at the market are harvested when unripe. We saw each other again at the birthday party of a neighbor and she reassured me of her promise. The following week, she sent me lettuce, tangerines and red lemons from her land and assured me that next time she’d bring bananas.

Every Monday at my building, my neighbor from downstairs makes it a question of offering me a ride to work when he goes out to buy tomatoes for his wife to prepare her delicious dried tomatoes. Next door down, the little boy Gabriel’s father stops me whenever he sees me walking towards the front gate to exchange a few quick words with me. He has done this without fail now for years. I receive greetings from practically every doorstep as I walk down the street, consolidating my thirteen to fourteen years of living here.

I’ve already described in my previous articles the animals, birds, dogs and cats, the fruit trees, the rare and beautiful flowers, and so many other things and situations that surround me here.

Last harvest time, the guava trees produced a huge amount, more than usual, but the fruits were all picked before I had expected. Next season, I hope there’s enough for me. If not, no matter. It’s good enough for me to see all the kids scaling the trees to harvest the fruit.

Last week as I was coming home from work, a passion fruit fell suddenly rasping down my face. I took it home and made a delicious glass of juice.

The flowers adorn my passage with their rarity. The birthworts, the beautiful “mexican creepers” and then the “hottentots” sprawl over a good part of the walking distance in front of one of the buildings on the second block.

Every once in a while I see this beautiful woman who conducted a census once at my home. I have already committed to a unilateral love relationship with her. Her name is Terezinha. We’ve talked a few times and in addition to her name, I already know that she works at IBGE and enjoys what she does.

There’s no bar or any other commercial establishment on my street, but there’s a garage where people from all over gather to play cards and, during a short period of the year, they also play dominos. It’s a busy spot. The place has good and constant public movement. A small TV is left on most of the day and there’s always someone there watching it. It’s a place where people from my street and the villa (ex-favela) all get together for a good time. The villa has an alleyway that links to the upper part of the quarter and facilitates on foot access to other nearby locations, even to the city’s center.

Out front a band of kids, many of them not from the neighborhood, sit on the ledges and sidewalk and roll up their little satchels of the good quality “pink mango” marijuana or the cheap kind, full of various mixtures.

What we most have on this street is leadership. At least three leaders take turns dealing with the everyday situations. One is Davi, father of one girl and two boys who recently moved in down the street from the villa, but maintains his interests here where I am. Just this Saturday, Davi gave a bath to a fine old dog that showed up here the other day with a fierce appearance but of unmatched sweetness and rare beauty.

Last weekend he showed up at my work place, which is close by, asking for support for a street event he’s promoting on the 17th of August with the innovative and utterly appropriate title “Neighbor’s Day.”