PARADISE

It´s been a while since I arrived to this new country. My eyes have seen different places and landscapes. Ruins and temples were among my favorite places. Narrow old streets in the coast of Pireaus remind the innocence of my childhood times; whereas street art, forgotten alleys and large avenues in downtown remind me of Baixo Centro neighborhoods of my Brazilian youth.

And despite of bureoucracy reasons, it is better to wait for a passport card given by Elleniko Demokratia (I love this name!) to university researchers. With this, I would be able to get free pass in lot of museums and attractions across the city.

But let’s skip the superficial inclination towards cultural activities because in fact I was focused on my beloved and never ending thesis. It demands me a lot of attention, concentration, energy and love. Yeah… Our relationship is complicated, but we are doing well. We argue because of other issues, like when I forget to buy something on the supermarket, when she complains about the crowded buses, or when there is wifi problems in some public spots. She is by my side almost everywhere. Literally, I feel her 4-5 kg weight in my back as she is immaterially and electronically stored in a hard material old device borrowed by my job institution that I carry on with as Atlas supporting a Planet.

After spending many hours whit her, maybe one of the best time is when I go back home. After writing and thinking a lot to deliver the best gifts she likes (controversial knowledge and doubtful information that could be erasen the next day), and when I finish my meal in an old-fashioned canteen, we look into each other and know what to say: “Time to go home”.

It is at this moment that I feel little pieces of achievement and homeopathic doses of realization inside me. This sensation grows exponentially whereas I pass through underground ways and galleries. The modern urban “dirty and old” walls with colorful graffiti and the messy traffic became the expression of a hedonistic place where I experience tiny pleasant moments. Even the vertical modern 60s architecture and plain windows are iluminated by the lighter colours of the walls contrasting with the increasing shadows of the night. And the sky is clean and my mind is empty. The city is a kind of a sexy and mysterious dame at sunset. In short, going home, to a place that is not mine, turns walking into being in paradise.

Dancer in the night

Playing with my eyes

Velvet tongue so sweet

Say anything you like

Crush me with the lies

And tell me once or twice

That love is paradise.

Love is paradise.