Chapter 3: The Diary
The Night of the promise and the bubbles
Summing up diary entries along instax photographs, the visitor opens up her diary to share the experiences she had in Súcua Haven. Now, not only as an anthropologist or an artist but as an individual that while she was in the midst of a project finds herself being transformed by this place and its people.
The night started as usual. First, drinks at Pacifico until Diana ends her shift. Later Chakras and later some poker at some clandestine garage. We ended the night at Fernanda´s place.
It was the usual girl crew plus some guys from the poker. Julian, originally from Guayaquil, tall and noble. He was not like the typical poker guy who would go on and harass young girls or that he would take as a persona insult any gesture of care between Diana and I. There was also Felix, he is also from Súcua. He is a dentist and holds his clandestine practice at his house but during the day he is a delivery man from Amazon. There was Fernanda, too. She is young, around 22, and was born in Spain from Ecuadorian immigrant parents. She arrived in the US first in 2018, overstayed, left for Ecuador then back to Spain and then 6 months ago decided her future was here, in Connecticut. She crossed the north border in Canada, was caught and immigration officers felt bad for her and left her in the closest Mcdonalds, believe it or not, but that's another story.
Anyhow, Tania was flirting with Felix but the way you flirt and highschool like bothering him, making a joke or two…Felix didn't pick it up. He is cute but not sharp so he took it the wrong way and start calling her a slut and sorts, basic dude insults basically. The tensions rose and went down but it was 3 am, I was tired. I told Diana that I wanted to leave. She said in a bit. A bit and two and three pass so I said that I was leaving. The thing with Diana is that as a bartender her resistance levels are high. She can drink and party and everything in ways and lengths that this little treintañera just can't anymore.
She got upset.
D: “But like…. we are like a team. You just don't care if I stay?”
V: I don't want to cut short your night but I wanna go.
She got more angry. I continued
V: But If you want to go, let's go to my place.
D: Fine
We left.
During the ride from East Haven to New Haven we start feeling like we drink all those drinks that we did drink. While she was irresponsibly drunk and driving through those majestic american highways (Yes, even better than the ones Correa built) I cried and said: I am gonna learn. I am not very good at working as a team but I will learn.
She said nothing.
We got to my cheap airbnb, settled in the kitchen, opened two beers and then she said.
What do you mean you are gonna be better? What do you mean you are gonna learn how to be a team? You are gonna stay for two more months and leave back to Ecuador. For you, I am dream. But you, you are in my life, you hang out with my friends, you are real for me.
She had a point. We were drunk and we were both crying .
I said, there are things that only last for like a second but are very beautiful like bubbles or even butterflies ¿Do you know that there are some that only live for like a day?
She stayed silent.
Only after a while she replied: Do you know…. I do not miss Ecuador, I miss my mom.
When you go back, do you promise you will go to Sucua and give a hug to my mom for me?
They haven't seen each other for over 11 years.
I promised and I did. But that's another story.
When we said goodbye she gave me a bubble machine. Some other night I mentioned that I always wanted one of those and never dared to ask my parents. They look expensive. She gave one to me and that's how we said goodbye, with a bubble party, but that too is another story.