Stranded in Cuiabá-de-Cima
Nine months after Jaime Ponciano's death I went to visit his sister Roseli (Tatchi) who lives in Vicente Nunes, a section of Nazaré Paulista-SP.
Visiting Jaime in Nazaré had always been a major operation due to the many different bus connections I had to take before I reached his lovely little house on top of a hill called Cuiabá-de-Cima. Everey time I went to Nazaré I woke up at 4:00 am to get the 4:30 bus from Rio Pequeno to town. Then I changed bus to Armênia Station where I would get me a van or bus to downtown Guarulhos where I'd arrive luckily at 6:30 and waited for the 6:50 Nazare bus. The trip to Nazaré usually takes 1:15 hours. From Nazare I had to walk 10 kilometres to get to Cuiabá-de-Cima where Jaime's father had a rural property and Jaime a small house he built in the back of his parent's during the 1990s. I usually arrived at Jaime's place around 10:30. So, it took me 6 hours to get to Jaime's place from the moment I left home at 4:30 am until I got to his place at 10:30.
This Saturday I arrived at Tatchi at 9:00 - a full hour earlier as one does not have to walk 10 km. She was still in bed but got up and made coffee. I had brought some Italian bread and we had a nice breaky. We talked for a while. Mr. João da Silva, Jaime's father came to get his car that had stayed at Tatchi's front yard overnight. I asked him for a lift up to Cuiabá-de-Cima because I wanted to check Jaime scrap books and stuff he left behind. I knew I had a lift up but didn't know how I would get me a lift back to town.
1st May 2010 - Saturday
I am at Jaime's parents' house and I'm about to go to sleep at one of the family's bedrooms.
I spent almost the whole day talking with Nenê, Jaime's brother. He turned out to be such a lovely guy. I thought he would be mean about Jaime's stuff like scrap books, letters, drawings but I was wrong. I was the one feeling mean and materialistic. I had to get Jaime's scrawlings and note books. That was important to me as if it were a part of him he had left behind. Nene even helped me arrange the stuff to be brought home with me.
After I wrote that I turned the light off and went to sleep. It felt strange to be sleeping in that place knowing that Jaime was not there anymore. That was the first time I went to visit the place after Jaime's death in August 2009.
2nd May 2010 - Sunday
When I planned to visit Jaime's parents' house I didn't know I would end up spending 3 days here. I usually hate staying away from home for more than one night and here I was, stuck in Nazaré Paulista for 2 whole days.
When Jaime was alive I usually went to Nazaré to spend the day with him arriving at 10 am, staying the whole day with him; sleeping over and getting up around 4:00 am next morning and walk all the way from the rural property to the town to get the bus back to Guarulhos around 7:00 am.
Now I knew I could not walk the 10 km to town because I was loaded with Jaime's stuff I had collected with his brother Nenê. So I had to rely on someone to give me a lift to town in order to get on a bus to Guarulhos or São Paulo.
I woke up early on the Sunday. Nenê was going down the lake to fish so I went along with him. It's funny I visited Jaime so many times and we never had the chance to go down to the lake. We usually had so much to talk about we couldn't be bothered to take the time to go all the way down to the water.
I didn't stay long down at the lake but climbed back up to the main house to see if I could get a lift to town. Renata, Jaime's sister, Repilica (Susana) and Bebéia (Rafaela) had stayed overnight and were waiting for Sergio - Jaime's brother-in-law - to come and take them to town where they live. Susana went to Congregation Church for the youth meeting at 10:00 am so I figured Sergio would be back at 12:00 o'clock.
Sergio who is an expert in electrical instalations was doing a job around the area and showed up at 12 to have lunch with his family. He said he had to go back to his work for a few hours but would give me a lift to town before 4:00 pm for me to get the Guarulhos bus at 5:00 pm.
Night was already falling and Sergio would not show up. I was really discouraged doing nothing but waiting for Godot. I really hate to be stuck in a place with no way to get out... and that's how I was feeling. I was praying he'd get me to the bus station on time, but he drove his VW beetle after dark. We drove out of Cuiabá-de-Cima past 7:30. There was no way I would ever get any bus now. So I had to conform and pray I would while away the hours with self composure.
We went to Sergio & Renata's house in town and they made my bed on the floor for the night. That was my second night away from home. I was mortified but had to put up and shut up! I missed Jaime so much. If he were alive I would never be in such dire straits. I woke up at 3:00 am and would not go back to sleep for fear of missing the bus to Guarulhos at 4:30 am. Sergio woke up at 4:00 and heated up the coffee. I went out at 4:15 and waited 20 minutes at the bus stop.
3rd May 2010 - Monday
It is strange riding a rural bus at 4:00 am. Most of the people know each other by name and their small talk is really peculiar. Most of them fall asleep as soon as they sit down. Others keep a droning conversation that is very irritating. We arrived at Santa Terezinha (Fortaleza district) where I got off and I took a bus to São Paulo Armênia Station. At 6:10 I was still stuck in traffic on the busy Monday morning rush hour in front of Center Norte Shopping Center.
the view from Jaime's house up on the hills of Cuiabá-de-Cima. 
looking out from Jaime's kitchen... that was no more in 2010.
