Madrid 25/10/1989 Wednesday
Well, the penance is over. My mum just phoned me from Banco do Brasil saying the money had arrived. When we were at the airport in Rio, we bumped into Eneas, the PRONA candidate. He is such a character! We have only been here for two days but it feels like weeks. I keep imagining what I’d be doing back in Rio and always conclude I’d be doing nothing much. Here is more interesting. While I’m waiting for my mum I’m reading ‘1968, the year that never ended’ (About the dictatorship in Brazil). Yesterday I finished reading a book by Dina ‘Palmas pra que te quero’. Due to the timezones, insomnia is all pervasive. When I sleep I have mad dreams. Tonight I was pregnant and Gustavo was spoiling me with tenderness and hugs, telling everyone he was going to be a father. What the heck? My other dreams are even crazier, but maybe best not to talk about them. Hasta Luego! (my Spanish is so shit, they speak so fast, sometimes I don’t get anything at all. I think my English is better than my Spanish and I lived in Mexico for 2 years!)
So, in the afternoon, loaded with money, we went out to eat. Afterwards we went shopping and walked to the Prado museum. Nearly lost my senses! Because we got there at five, and it closes at seven, we only managed to see a few painters. Amazing. But after a while I got tired, my feet were hurting. We walked back.
We rested a bit and then went out for another walk. There’s more people in the streets at night than during the day. It seems everyone goes out after work for a walk. We went to Plaza Maior, which is currently being refurbished. We went to a cafe and some guy started talking to us, saying he has been to Brazil. I was starting to talk to him, but my mum wouldn’t let me! There are lots of brazilians here, we met two at the hostel.