HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE, ANYWAY?

CAROLINA CORDEIRO

Living on an island takes its toll on people and things. 

For centuries, till this day, transportation has been the single one condition the one must take in consideration when “deciding" to live on an island. With it, your survival may as well be at risk. It is similar as if you where entering a bookstore in need for that book and that book alone. Since most of us cannot have all the books, we have to choose one particular title or author or even cover. You immediately start looking for a book and you know you cannot have just every book in there. You pick your books as because you like them and that is the beauty of things: there’s one for each single taste of ours. And even though there are many destinations to choose from the global map there aren’t that many islands to choose from, so you really have to know what you want. 

If you are like me, the only sane thing you would want to do is to try and get away while you are still young and in need of adventure and you know there’s not enough Tom Sawyer stories to go around and suffice your interest on how to live adventurously. You need to branch out and see the world so you’ll, eventually, leave the island. In order to do that, you have to wait for transportation and there’s no real chance of hitchhiking. 

Well, as you may have noticed, my archipelago has been receiving plenty of flights in and lots of them have also been, of course, flying out. Lots of people are coming and going. This has branded its mark on us, our islands have not been the same, these past couple of years. But, it’s all part of a bigger plan… so they say. Not wanting to deviate from my story line, what I’m trying to tell you is that, as in any other story in your life, if you are born to it, or should I say here, you will feel differently. You will want and need to get out of the island’s mist and closure; you’ll need and want a fresh air, once in a while, no matter how much ocean breeze you daily get. If, however, you are an outsider, specially from a big city, what will cost you the most is W-time. Not clock time nor day or night time. It’s the waiting time. For that, you can only teach yourself how to be calm and have patience — the trick of the trade, for us, islanders. Not being one of us, yet, I guarantee you that you will suffer hard. Why? Let me explain. 

We are in the middle of the ocean. We bathe in the Atlantic Ocean’s waters. We have lived with it, throughout rough and great times, so we know how to wait. And, S. Miguel can’t complain much about it. But the far east and west islands are the ones where one really builds up a layer of the thickest skin in what waiting time is concerned. And if I were to be totally honest with you, I would say that the central group can pretty much complain about it too. Don’t be mistaken, my island suffers but it also loves to complain about the post deliver that is not fast enough or that the international delivery was stuck in customs a tiny bit too many days, or even that the plane doesn’t touch at its ETA. We do complain a lot. But try to understand us, we have been a somewhat isolated bunch for decades. Now, we are taking some fresh air in. Maybe it has been a bit too much, all at once, so now we complain about it too. People!

But, time is what took us here and so I must say that we have the same 24 time clock period as you do and we have pretty much everything your big city has. We just have it around nine islands and to get one thing from us, or to us, as any little handmade thing, you really have to know that, when you are here you will have to wait for it, patiently. There’s no doubt about it. The true question is, how patient are you? Because, all in all, is it not all up to you?