The books I have just finished reading ...

I have just finished reading "Beckett Remembering Remembering Beckett"  by James and Elizabeth Knowlson and soon after a very tiny hard-cover book by Paul Auster - Auggie Wren's Christmas story.

The authors James and Elizabeth Knowlson are said to  have assembled the edited recollections and essays  written by those who knew or worked with Beckett throughout his life time "to depict the evolution of Becket as a personality, to look at him from the point of view of people who had very different relations with him".

I found these to be valuable testimonies which provided me with a deeper insight of who Beckett was or may have been beyond his written heritage.

I was particularly drawn to the opinions provided by his students, whilst he was a lecturer at Trinity Colege in Dublin, mainly because of being a teacher myself and then his rigorous adherence to the rhythm he had laid down in his theatrical texts in an attempt to make the actors envision what he was envisioning those plays to be visually.

Worth being read by both Samuel Beckett's enthusiasts  and those who are not.

"Auggie Wren's Christmas story" by Paul Auster is a very interesting "giving-related" story, which has been majestically illustrated by the acclaimed young Argentinian illustrator Marisol Misenta (Isol).

A perfect gift for Christmas, particularly for those who know what giving is, but even more for those who don't.

"Every seventh wave" by Daniel Glattauer ...

Every seventh Wave highlights some of the important aspects related to email exchange communication and the way it allows those involved in this kind of communication approach to talk far more personally to one another as they would in face-to-face contact.

Whether this could be looked at as being a refuge rather than an engagement is disputable, as I have come to understand after having read the intensity of some of the prompts and "dialogues" between the characters involved in this story.

"To be together is to want to be together and one day perhaps learn to get to know each other."

Quite an interesting book, which I managed to read overnight and which made me "re-evaluate" some of my concepts regarding "unconventional" approaches.

São Tomé and Principe, São Tomé island - The last two days - January 2004

No having been able to fly to Principe island, I ended up spending the remaining two days in the capital city, wandering back and forth to PM  and "Lagarto" beaches, with one or two odd things in-between, amongst which I would highlight the book fair, which allowed me to buy a few interesting books (some of which in the French Language) on the islands, as well as meet some interesting people.

Some of the souvenirs I bought have a rather special meaning, as most of them are made from natural things and represent the traditional handicraft.

 

 

Some of one's memories as far as visiting a country may be strongly associated to people we meet and the extent of the knowledge they were able to impart. I personally don't think my trip to São Tomé would have been so interesting, had I not been given the opportunity to stay at Dina's, whose father despite being a silent presence in the house (we shared for the entire week) made it all possible for me walk in and out at any convenient or "inconvenient" time; the young people I met at the Book Fair, whose help in providing me with additional information was precious, as well as all the people I have mentioned before. I feel I will always be indebted to them.

On the last day as I was walking out of PM beach I came across a Santomean student I had taught Aeronautical English to at the Aviation Training school in Lisbon a few years back, who having spotted me stopped his car to say hello and introduce me to their children.

What a surprise it was ... and the last one as well, before flying back home to the cold and a different routine, which certainly didn't contemplate the introduction of the "leve-leve" attitude I felt I had so easily adapted to whilst in São Tomé territory.

São Tomé and Principe, São Tomé island - Day 5 - January 2004

Porto Alegre was my fifth day's destination and though I had been looking forward to it since the previous day, "my" driver having felt in a "leve-leve" sort of mood didn't pick me up but much later than we had arranged.

It turned out he had had a "passionate availability" encounter (that's the way he put it as far as "love" was interpreted in his Santomean perspective) that being the reason as to why we hadn't driven further into Porto Alegre the previous day.

I was nevertheless happy to make the same route we had the previous day, as I managed to get a clearer picture of what São Tomé island was about, which one may not get the first time around (most of the time).

  

The fish drying nets brought back some of my childhood memories, though back in Figueira da Foz the only fish to be brought out onto the nets used to be cod.

The beaches around the area were, like most of the ones I had seen - of an extreme beauty, I believe, mainly because of the luxurious vegetation around, giving them a "paradise" type of environment.

Back in Lisbon I realised that "my" driver had finally "captured" me in one photograph ... (of the dozens he tried to "capture" me in before, but which unfortunately didn't materialise).

The sea water was fairly warm and as he walked into the closest stalls to get some fruit I ventured into it, having thus had a "taste" of the Santomean waters for the second time.

It was a pretty calm day, but one I will remember and cherish for ever ...

São Tomé and Principe, São Tomé island - Day 4 - January 2004

"My" driver turned out to be a rather talkative and humorous man, though the first impression I got was that he seemed quite a shy looking character. I feel I was privileged in having met him, not only because we spent two consecutive days together, which might have been dull, had he been different, but also because he told me a lot of oral transmitted "stories" I may not have had access to through books.

The image of women washing along the inner courses of the Yô river with their children wrapped around their backs strongly reminded me of Angola and an unexpected feeling of sadness took over me ... though I had left three years ago I still missed it.

The next stop was Santana, the capital district of one of the most populated areas in São Tomé - Canta Galo (The Cock crows). According to popular tradition the name of the district originates from an old legend, in which due to the constant cackling and crowing of the numerous cockrels which lived in São Tomé people who disliked the noise threatened them with war if they were not to choose somewhere else to live. They therefore went around the island and every islet until after a year they found the perfect spot. - this district, where its inhabitants never complained about the noise.


Though it was an agricultural area with quite a few plantations I didn't feel too much of a difference in regards to other areas I had previously visited.

Santana church built in the old colonial architecture style is said to be a replica of an old 1640 Portuguese church.

Agua Izé was one of the "roças" we visited, said to have belonged to the first Baron (Barão João Maria de Sousa Almeida) responsible for the farming activity established here in 1822. He is said to have introduced and later expanded the plantation of cocoa on the island which ended up occupying 60% of its area and having ultimately led the archipelago to become the world's greatest producer.

 

We stopped at Boca do Inferno (Hell's Mouth) whose name derives from a natural phenomenon caused by the waves making their way into a cave with an upper part in the form of a hole, from which the water sometimes forces its way up.

Entering the Caué district we came across the beach of the seven waves,where a slave ship is said to have sunk in the 15th century, having thus led to the establishment of the Angolar kingdom  led by king Amador, who for many years (until 1596) resisted the Portuguese settlers when he was finally captured and hanged.

 

Named after the Angolan slaves who settled in the area where the ship was wrecked, São João de Angolares is a rather unique settlement, where most of the slave descendants still speak Angolar (Ngola) a kimbundu dialect of Bantu origin, which is naturally very different from the creole spoken on the island.

We visited "Roça" São João de Angolares, which has been refurbished by a well known Santomean sculptor, best known for the Portuguese has having had a TV programme on the traditional cuisine of São Tomé island - João Carlos Silva.

Having been turned into an eco-touristic hotel with quite a few ongoing activities connected to Art I had the opportunity of also visiting its Art gallery and buy a few artistic pieces made by some local artists I spoke to.

We then headed towards Ribeira Afonso, where I stood for a while watching a group of small children "body" surfing on some rather creative thin wooden beams ... that reached an incredible speed (I wish I had had a filming camera with me).

The surrounding atmosphere was dark coloured and grayish ... had it not been the cries of joy from the children on the beach ... though I must confess there was also some indescribable peacefulness ... to which the white cross stuck on the beach added a respectful "mourning" side ...

I couldn't help stopping at Ribeira Peixe to appreciate the wooden village houses and talk to a few people who seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see their eyes "scrutinizing" every move as I made it into the "heart" of the village followed by my "loyal" driver, who could not understand what exactly I was interested in ...

On the way back we stopped at a few amazingly beautiful and unequalled luxuriously vegetated spots, which strongly resembled many of the photos I had seen of Amazonia ...

Walking through one of those I set my eyes on a "piroga" which had been partly carved ...
I must say I was particularly impressed, because although I had seen some fishermen sailing on some of those I hadn't exactly been made aware of the way they were built.

Driving towards the capital I managed to see Pico Cão Grande, a volcanic pinnacle rising up from the immense mass of tropical vegetation.

What a day it was ... a day of breathtaking views ... and endless stories, some certainly true and others creatively crafted by "my" driver, the one I would be looking forward to meeting the following day for a further extended "exploration", as he decided Porto Alegre (which we had been fairly close to) should be visited some other day (more precisely the next day).