Taurinos

The phone rang, taking me away from sleep. It's nine in the morning. I hear Meire's voice in the distance on the phone, I'm the one who's distant, eyes still pasted by sleep. She says she's not really angry with me. But I could have been less strict, she said. According to her, my frankness cuts like a dagger. I tell her daggers are for perforating not for cutting.

"You know what I mean, don't be so picky."

"I'm going to Minas Gerais this afternoon. I think we won't be seeing each other for a little while."

"Ah…"

Her voice sounded a bit weary. I realize Meire has really few friends on which to rely. The way she gives away her everyday issues is intimate as the matters she brings up, these explosions of opinions as Wednesday's. I promised to call her as soon as I'm back here and hung up.

At three on the dot, the doorbell rang. Duílio returns with his wife this time, all packed and ready to go. I wonder why she missed the interview or why the two had arranged to get her out of the talk. is a nice woman anyhow. A smile that is attractive without any shadow of exaggeration, unaffected by gimmicks of any kind.

"Google Earth has forgotten about us",

Maria Aparecida

We talked about virtually everything in the car. Politics and what the government will do next to rob us all. The Sea Mountain Range (which we were going through) and its breathtaking landscapes. Not that he makes no comments at all, but Duílio speaks very little behind the wheel. Aparecida and I do most of the talking instead.

I ask them about the city we are heading for, Taurinos, MG. Told them I had never heard of the city before. They replied that the city was much too small with its some 2,000 inhabitants to even be considered for mapping. "Google Earth has forgotten about us", said Aparecida, giggling.

"And it is limited by Varginha?"

"Yes, like they say in official statistics, it is part of Varginha's macro-region…"

"How many miles from Varginha to Taurinos?"

"One hundred twenty five miles."

I was less than sure I had understood it well.

"One hundred twenty five miles? How can it be a part of Varginha's macro-region if it is one hundred twenty five miles away from it? Depending on the direction, Taurinos might as well be in the state of São Paulo, not Minas Gerais…"

Aparecida felt embarrassed. Said she had never stopped to think about it. I wouldn't insist, she seemed to be categorical about the information. I wondered what it could be. Duílio's wife didn't seem to be joking at all.

I then asked the couple about the name of the city, how it became Taurinos. Duílio didn't even look my way, but it was plain to see the question was hard for him to answer. Besides, he was driving, what was a good excuse for not replying. Aparecida, as a good spokesperson, took her fair share of time to respond but said that the origin of the name lay in mating bulls of which the spot was a kind of open-air market back in the day.

"Interesting.", despite all Aparecida's kindness and warmth, I could not feel a very steady conviction as she spoke about the name of the city. Perhaps she was in doubt or even didn't know the origin of the name at all, but needed to present something to me. It would be very strange that, being natives to that town, they wouldn't know the origin of its name. But if you only think about it, how many natives of Santos really know the origin of its name?

It's already nine pm and we have already done most of the way to Taurinos, as we slither our way into more and more secondary roads until we hit a dirt road and start driving up a very high mountain. It took us two more hours till we got to Taurinos, at about eleven-thirty.

Duílio approached a fence that was very far from the dirt road going out of town. A sign at the gates read Taurinos Farm. I didn't see who was at the gates in the dark of the night, but I'm dead sure they didn't open by themselves or thanks to wireless technology. We stepped out of the car to be entertained by the night's cold breeze and the gorgeous cypress aroma coming from everywhere.

"Come on inside, Ms. Grisam, I'll show you your room."

Aparecida took me for a tour of the house. A beautiful colonial home, typical farm's main house with all those antiques from the coffee-and-milk heyday when so many fortunes here were made from the land cultivation and cattle raising. I asked about Andrés and she told me he was already sleeping. I would only be able to meet him in the morning. She also told me there was an internet connection in every room should I want to use it. In my room, I turned on the laptop even before I unpacked my other things.

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