August 26, 2003
Rosa, Robson and Myself
Homage to Rosa Torres
And so it ends. I'm sitting at the computer in my room this morning with my duffle packed and lying on the bed behind me. Rosa and Ivan are milling around the house getting ready to go to work. I'm going with them and will be taking an embassy car to the airport soon after. My goodbyes have been sparse; no huge goodbye was planned, nor was one improvised because I felt horrible last night having eaten 3 ice cream bars too many after lunch yesterday.
But this is about Rosa, the woman who was kind enough to open her house to me over the summer. She's the hippest mom around and everybody knows it. She's the most gracious host around and I'm lucky enough to have experienced her supreme hospitality. It didn't take long for me to feel as though I was living with the coolest older sister in the world and a totally radical, however mildly retarded, little brother.
I have managed to wake Rosa from deep slumber due to forgotten or lost keys on several occasions. Just this morning I flooded the bathroom. I often forget to set the security alarm and sometimes I spin her dogs around on the tile floors just to make them dizzy. You'd think that my delinquent behavior would land me in the dog house all the time, but guess what? It never does. I'm ready to retreat, tail between my legs, every time I mess up, but Rosa just laughs a little laugh and shrugs it off. I'm not saying she's a sucker, she doesn't let me get away with anything I want, she just takes me in stride and I appreciate that. So, sorry for waking you up all those times, Rosa! It'll never happen again.
Although her diet is almost limited to chicken, Rosa makes a mean cake. A mean cake. She's a woman of supreme baking abilities and it's made life in Brasília oh-so-sweet! Coconut cake! Chocolate cake! Brownies! Cookies! Mmmmm! But those confections make for a great metaphor, which is this: Rosa loves to make the world a sweeter place for everyone. She's got a penchant for making people comfortable and happy. Life in Brasília has been great to me and Rosa's greatness has had everything to do with it.
Thank you Rosa! XOXOXOX