Cat and Mouse

 

A couple of weeks ago I was startled by the declarations of two famous Brazilian political commentators a propos the Gaza strip unrest. Among other things they declared the groups involved as nothing else but favela gangs fighting a war promoted by some Western countries.

 

It’s a bold eye view but when it settled down I could take it much better. The Middle East war is going on for so long that sometimes I only see two possible attitudes: ignoring it or being bold about it.

 

Why do Tom & Jerry still fight after so many years? Because we enjoy watching them fight. If Tom and Jerry were regarded as mature beings, entirely capable of solving their own conflicts, maybe they would stop fighting – even if to get there they would have to learn it the hard way.

 

The question is that Middle East feeds the news and at the same time upsets the conscience of part of the world. As the situation seems far from being solved by a simple “How much?”, then there’s only a foreseeable way out: let them grow as human beings.

Movie Review

 

When we are on holidays, even the short kind, we can start the day talking about last night movie: Lucky Number Slevin.

 

“If it wasn’t for the rabi, this film should appeal to an eye for an eye kind of people!” said my husband also pointing to the fact that there was nothing new in technical terms, lots of close ups and the merchandize of IWC, the watches Hitler used to offer to his faithful officers, a Swiss made expensive watch still very popular in Southern Germany.

 

To all this, I just replied:

 

“Well, perhaps the movie shows us that even bad asses have feelings, and it was nice to see portrayed such satisfying and tender love.” I didn’t explain to him, because sometimes what we think is a little difficult to put in words, but I saw Lucky Number Slevin as a desert where two exceptional flowers could grow:  the assassin’s sympathy for the child and the feelings of the grown child for a woman.

 

The rest of the day was serious shopping. Much later than we expected, we met TD and went shopping again. I was impressed by a Mandela quote, because lately I am particularly sensible to messages of freedom and this is a powerful one.

 

To my husband despair, we couldn’t escape the usual speed fine, but for the rest the return to Maputo was pleasant, specially after TD took charge of entertaining us with good music and even better conversation. We think that he looks very tired, but after all one of the reasons he came here is to relax a bit.

 

When we returned, Andy was with four friends talking and drinking beer. So, we had to share our legume soup and lasagna for 4 with another 4.

 

Two important conclusions I have reached during this weekend, and I really have to write them down here are:

 

- Don’t fight with a digital camera or she will fight back. Mine has done some terrible things during the weekend, including a short movie without my consent.

- Soon or later I have to face my addiction for mille-feuilles and a couple of few other sweet things, or I will never be back to normal weight. 

Triunfo

 

My Saturday adventure was near Bairro do Triunfo, where I met a nice guy from South Africa with the sweet name of Andy. He will help us in the next four weeks to get the import license for our puppy.

 

We walked on the beach. It was the usual windy afternoon, but very pleasant. The erosion is patent everywhere we go, but the sunset is always breathtaking.