Silvio Theodore (1960-1993)

Silvio Theodoro da Silva was a young man I met in early 1981 at an English-As-A-Foreign-Language teacher's training course in São Paulo, Brazil. He had been a Rotary Club exchange-student in Denmark for a year in 1979. When he was back in Brazil he taught English-as-a-foreign-language at CCAA for a couple of years and in 1981, we met at this training course. 

We became fast friends and made plans to go abroad somehow. Just at this juncture I received a letter from Edson Rosa, a Brazilian man who had lived in Australia for some years. I had met Edson when I taught English AFL at a private school on Avenida Rebouças just opposite Escolas Fisk. He had to go back to Oz in order not to lose his permanent residency, so once he & wife Mirian got back to Sydney, he wrote me this particular letter inviting me to go to Sydney. I, on the other hand, invited Silvio to go along... and that's what we did on 5 September 1981.

Carlus & Silvio (with Clelia, my sister-in-law) on our way to Australia. We took a bus from São Paulo to Buenos Aires in early September 1981 and flew to New Zealand by Aerolineas Argentinas on 5 September 1981.

Silvio in Porto Alegre-RS on our way by bus to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Silvio walking through a double line of Volkswagens made into taxis. I remember showing this photo to my co-workers in Sydney and they could not stop laughing. They had never seen VW beetles used as cabs in their whole lives. I couldn't say anything... I just shut up and thought I should've hidden the photo.

I wish I knew the name of this Argentina town... (it's actually Paraná, the capital city of Entre Rios) the coach made a pit-stop there and we were eager to get our first photo-op on Argentine soil. We made friends with this Brazilian fellow who was going to Buenos Aires to get married to a Porteña he had met in Brazil the previous summer (Carnaval). What a story! But our story was even more colourful... We were travelling on a bus from São Paulo, Brazil bound to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to get an airplane bound to Auckland, New Zealand...

After 30 years I finally got to know this place's name: Paraná, the capital city of the Argentine province of Entre Rios, located at the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fé, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province.

See that tower in the back of us in the photo? I have just realized it is Entre Rios Province's government house - Casa de Gobierno, Paraná, Provincia de Entre Rios.

Paraná, Entre Rios in 2012. 

Silvio & Myself in Paraná (Entre Rios) the first Argentine town our coach made a stop.

Silvio and a bloke I forget-the-name who was traveling in the same bus to Buenos Aires.

more coaches at Paraná-Entre Rios bus terminal. with the government house in the background.

a map of the region Silvio & I traveled on the General Urquiza Argentine bus-line.

This is the route our bus took from Uruguaiana in Brazil through Road 127 to Paraná, Entre Rios. From there all the way south through Roads 11 and 12 to Buenos Aires. If I remember right: we left São Paulo around 9:00 PM; had lunch in Porto Alegre at noon, the following day; arrived in Paraná-Entre Rios in the 2nd morning; rode all day & night and finally arrived in Buenos Aires very early in the morning of the 3rd day. I remember it was still pitch dark when we arrived in Buenos Aires.

It is a mystery why we didn't take any photos whatsoever in Buenos Aires. Silvio & I arranged to stay in a 'pension' for the night. If I remember correctly we stayed in the big city for 2 days. We arrived at 6 o'clock on one day; left our stuff somewhere; we soon found out a 'pension' to stay. Silvio had an Argentine friend he had known when he had traveled through Bolivia and Peru the year before. I remember we went to this fellow's flat but didn't stay there too long. We slept in the 'pension' for 2 nights and left for Ezeiza Airport around 4:00 AM on the 2nd morning.

Silvio at Camperdown Park in Sydney circa 1982.

Marcia Rizzi & Silvio Theodoro on a sunny afternoon at Camperdown Park, near by where I used to live in a bed-sitter on Marion Street.

Marcia Rizzi arrived in Sydney on 10 March 1982, and shared a rented flat in Bondi Beach with some guys she had met on the plane. Marcia started working at Saint Vincent's on 25 May 1982. Soon after, Marcia rented a flat in King's Cross which was near the Hospital.

In early 1984, Silvio decided to move down to Melbourne where he lived for a couple of years. 

Silvio Theodoro & Marcia Rizzi on a tram in Melbourne, Australia 1984.

Luiz, Marcia & Silvio on a Sunday afternoon in Melbourne - 1984.

Letter written by Silvio Silva on 28 November 1983. Silvio wrote it while he waited for his laundry to go throught the cycles in a laundromette in Melbourne, Vic. 

Luiz,

... E ao chegar em casa... vi um envelope e uma caligrafia conhecida... fiquei contente... Pensei em responder no ato mas lembrei que a lavandeira fecha em duas horas.

Hoje é segunda-feira: dia de fazer tudo que ficou do fim de semana. Tem chovido muito por aqui... sábado e domingo fez sol de praia de manhã, trovoada de tarde... Tive que mudar os planos; a cidade inteira ficou no escuro quase 4 horas. Corri p’ra vendinha da esquina , à luz de velas fritei  a berinjela , misturei o purê de batata e o pão nosso de cada dia... que por falar nisso já custa mais de... conto.

Lugar estranho este. As pessoas vêm, jogam as roupas na máquina, fumam, lêm, lêm, fumam, tiram a roupa (da máquina) e olham no relógio... Ainda bem que só se vem aqui uma vez por semana. Lavar a roupa em dia de semana não é a mesma coisa... a cara das pessoas parecem com a roupa torcida na máquina, esperando a roda viva das secadeiras... Não se conversa muito na segunda-feira às 8 e 15 da noite... ainda não escureceu .

O meu primeiro violão custou vinte dólares... quando vi o anúncio no jornal, pensei até comprar um tubo de cola antes de ir ver como era... Foi surpresa. Andando com ele na mão pensei em uma porção de coisas, tudo ao mesmo tempo... Se fosse música acho que só eu mesmo ia gostar. Sentando, esperando o ônibus comecei a (tentar) tocar uma musica: ‘I’m gonna make it with you...’ (Bread’s ‘Make it with you’)...

Acho que esperei mais de duas horas; o ônibus não veio...  ou se veio, eu não vi... mudei de posição... dei ré e resolvi ir p’ra lá onde tem mais condução. No bonde, um carinha me pede p’ra tocar. Digo que estou começando... Afinar violão parece carta que se escreve, lê, relê, re-escreve e nunca manda... Mas a gente sempre acaba tocando p’ra gente mesmo.

Comecei a fazer uma coisa estranha, mas interessante... as vezes converso com Silvio-67... faço perguntas, ele responde. Outro dia ele resolveu me apresentar p’ra um conhecido dele Silvio-77. No meio de uma discussão (eu?) pensei: ‘Nossa, que pessoal estranho! ... Mas daí percebi que comecei a me relacionar com algum deles e observar (do meu ponto de vista).

Sabe, Luiz, nunca pensei que a rotina fosse tão importante... No serviço o dia passa tão rápido que, as vezes, penso que sou eu quem faz o tempo passar ou parar.

Agora já são 9 horas (da noite).

As duas estão fazendo tricô e conversando, olho para elas... smiles and giggles.

Lugar estranho este.

Abraço, Silvio.

Melbourne, 28 Novembro 1983.

Silvio Silva

Box 1145

City Road 3205, Vic. 

Silvio at a Lebanese restaurant on King Street, Newtown, Sydney circa 1984.

Silvio & Myself in Glebe, Sydney - 1984.

Silvio in a pensive mode while waiting for his food at a Lebanese eatery on King Street, Newtown.

Silvio moved from Sydney to Melbourne sometime in 1984. Lutch went to visit him there in October 1984. Lutch, another Brazilian friend of mine arrived in Sydney on 22 February 1983.

Silvio Teodoro da Silva 

* 30 September 1960  

+ 30 August 1993.