Silva Quotes

I am not interested in being original. I am interested in being true.

I will never compromise Truth for the sake of getting along with people who can only get along when we agree.

Oh, that's just great. I come all the way back here, risking major brain cell burnout, and you don't even believe me? I'm basically guaranteeing myself a lifetime of heartbreak, and all you have to say is that you think I'm not right in the head?

Wanna dance?" he asked "I guess you'll do. All the cute guys are already taken," I answered with a grin. "You wound me with your callousness," he sighed dramatically, taking me in his arms. "I do have a black belt in demolishing overstuffed egos.

At the edge of the field Silva and Stefan witnessed heartrending images in greyscale as thousands of desperate refugees streamed down the road in leaden shades of melancholy.  This somber line of tired and dirty humans moved so close together that they jostled each other with each step; their random movements reminded Silva of corks bobbing in a slow moving stream.  They watched them pass from the side of the road, but eventually fell-in, trudging along with the suffering others, feeling safer in numbers, hoping for a destination worth finding.

I can be whoever you want me to be: CIA, FBI, DIA, an agency so fucking secret you've never heard of it before." -Gabriel Allon

Will you please stop peeking at me like that? This is degrading enough as it is." "Did it ever occur to you," I said, with a sly smile and a wink, "that you're irresistibly handsome, I can't keep my eyes off of you?" He threw his head back in a laugh. "Of course. I should have realized.

To Pakistan? Or Afghanistan? Or Wherever-the-fuck-istan?

So what are you planning to do with the rest of your life? Develop a drinking problem. More Scotch, please.

Want to talk about it?" I asked gently. He smirked at me. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm a guy. We don't do that." My nose scrunched up in confusion. "We don't discuss our feelings." "That's a relief; I don't want to talk about it either.

The secrets of survivors are not easily surrendered. They are locked away behind barricaded doors and accessed at great risk to those who possess them.

Jesus!” he yelped. “I fear not,” said a silky voice, and Curtis realised that he had collided with da Silva. “Both Jewish, of course, but the resemblance ends there.

He was fantastic eye candy, and I earned the right to have a few cavities.

To be inspired is the ultimate antidote to existential despair.

Mr. da Silva had a relevant quotation for everything that happened to him and in this way evaded real life.

During the Age of Glass, everyone believed some part of him or her to be extremely fragile. For some it was a hand, for others a femur, yet others believed it was their noses that were made of glass. The Age of Glass followed the Stone Age as an evolutionary corrective, introducing into human relations a new sense of fragility that fostered compassion. This period lasted a relatively short time in the history of love-about a century-until a doctor named Ignacio da Silva hit on the treatment of inviting people to recline on a couch and giving them a bracing smack on the body part in question, proving to them the truth. The anatomical illusion that had seemed so real slowly disappeared and-like so much we no longer need but can't give up-became vestigial. But from time to time, for reasons that can't always be understood, it surfaces again, suggesting that the Age of Glass, like the Age of Silence, never entirely ended.

Jews don't camp...The last time the Jews went camping, they spent forty years wandering in the desert.

So, what you're saying is that I bring out your book - wielding, short tempered side?" He hooked his foot through the straps of my backpack and brought in front of him. "Removing temptation." I gave him a look that communicated he should wither and die.

But the floor retained an unparalleled measure of excellence with a decorative array of ceramic tiles precisely laid by an anonymous Muslim artisan with limitless patience, pride, or skill.  He left behind an ornate work of art in a short, squat, non-descript building near the most dangerous piece of real estate on the planet.  Silva often wondered how an architect so careless came to work with a craftsman so precise.  Looking at that floor, she often thought that if everyone applied just a fraction of his dedication to their own work, it might cancel out the hatred driving the destruction.

Then Drago began the deliberate, precise, business-like process of killing.  A knee-buckling burst of fire and flash laid waste to men and material within seconds.  A Panhard vehicle to Silva’s left simply disappeared in an explosion that spraying metal parts willy-nilly in every direction in a spread so thorough that Drago thought they were under fire, and he yelled at his men to respond.  Another blast destroyed a six-wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, but it didn’t break it apart; it simply expanded as if swollen or bloated, like an air mattress or inflatable toy, though it still had weight and quickly collapsed over its own suspension.  Some trucks were overturned; a Jeep flipped end-over-end.  None were left unscathed.  In short order, what had been ten or twelve vehicles were reduced to a single steaming and smoking pile of metal.

Imagination allows us to conceive of delightful future possibilities, pick the most amazing one, and pull the present forward to meet it.

Going through a tragedy leaves an impression on people’s souls. Once you’ve had a loss, you learn to deal with it and move on, but you carry that hurt with you always" - Yara Silva `Intrinsical

Holt gave a modest shrug. “I can hold my own.” “I dare say you have to,” murmured da Silva.

I warn you against shedding blood, indulging in it and making a habit of it, for blood never sleeps.

I used to be afraid of the dark until I learned that I am light and the dark is afraid of me.

We need to talk.” “I’m just – Look,” I said, as he took a step toward me. “I’m just going to give Cee Cee a call and maybe we’ll go to the beach or something, because I really … I just need a day off.”Another step toward me. Now he was right in front of me. “Especially,” I said significantly, looking up at him, “from talking. That’s what I especially need a day off from. Talking.” “Fine,” he said. He reached up and cupped my face in both his hands. “We don’t have to talk.”And that’s when he kissed me. On the lips.

Only a man with a damaged canvas of his own can truly be a great restorer.

I don't want any part of this. The whole thing kinda freaked me out. I'm sure girls always do what you tell them because you're hot, Brent, but I'm just not that interested." His head perked up with a wide smiled. "You think I'm hot?

Do people in the twenty-first century still dance?" My heart beat thundered in my ears, far louder than the slow music. "Um," I said, barely able to swallow, my throat had gone so dry. "Sometimes." "How about now?" he asked. And then his strong arms were encircling my waist, his breath soft against my cheek as he gently whispered my name: "Susannah. Susannah....

Like many Vatican pronouncements, the official version of events would bear little resemblance to the truth.

How did I dance with a guy who's never heard of feminism?" "I've heard of it, but that doesn't mean a woman can do everything a man can do," he goaded. I went to smack him on the back of his head, but he ducked with a snicker."I'm learning," he informed me. "How did I ever consider dating such a violent girl?" "We're both lucky we got out early before we really knew each other." "Oh yes, good thing neither one of is still interested in the other," Brent said with a playful grin.

I said, "Jesse, don't flatter yourself that I did this for you. I mean, it has been nothing but one giant pain in the neck, having you for a roommate. Do you think I like having to come home from school or from work or whatever and having to explain stuff like the Bay of Pigs to you? Believe me, life with you is no picnic." He didn't say anything. He just kept pulling me along. "Or what about Tad?" I said, bringing up what I knew was a sore subject. "I mean, you think I like having you tag along on my dates? Having you out of my life is going to make things a lot simpler, so don't think, you know, I did this for you. I only did it because that stupid cat of yours has been crying its head off. And also because anything I can do to make your stupid girlfriend mad, I will." "Nombre de Dios, Susannah," Jesse muttered. "Maria's not my girlfriend." "Well, she certainly used to be," I said. "And what about that, anyway? That girl is a full-on skank, Jesse. I can't believe you ever agreed to marry her. I mean, what were you thinking, anyway? Couldn't you see what she was like underneath all that lace?

<...> laimeti meile - vienas dalykas, bet ismokti su ja gyventi - visai kas kita <...>.

Here is a very simple and trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: If it's not about Christ, it's not Christianity.

The worst tragedy of sin isn't that it produced bad behavior, but that it produced the idea that bad behavior is strong enough to deflect love.

„ visi tikėjimai iš tiesų tėra tik vedliai ar, veikiau, tik skirtingi keliai link tikslo, tačiau tame pačiame žemėlapyje <...>.

But it’s there. Just because I haven’t told anyone doesn’t mean it isn’t there, all the time, lurking in the back of my mind, like one those NSync songs you can’t get out of your head.

To be honest with you, I’ve always felt a little Jewish.” “You have an aversion to shellfish and German opera?” “I was speaking in a spiritual sense.” “You’re a professional assassin, Keller.

Hey look, Yara, there’s someone driving the car.” “Ha, ha,” Cherie grumbled. “You two haven’t come up for air since we picked Yara up from the airport.” “Circle the block,” Brent instructed. “I’m not done kissing her yet.

‎"The greatest discovery you'll ever make, is the potential of your own mind.

Podes, e deves, ter ideias políticas, mas, por favor, as «tuas» ideias políticas, não as ideias do teu partido; o «teu» comportamento, não o comportamento dos teus líderes; os interesses de «toda» a Humanidade, não os interesses de uma «parte» dela. E lembra-te de que «parte» é a etimologia de «partido».

You don’t need a Master’s in Theology to love people.

Bellator silvae servi. Warrior of the forest, I, the alpha, call on thee to serve in this time of need.

To understand Russia today, you must understand the trauma of the nineties. Everything we had, everything we had been told, was swept away. We went from superpower to basket case overnight.

Cuando un hombre tiene que abusar de la mentira para cumplir con su deber puede estar seguro de que anda equivocado de verdad o de deber.

Please be careful. Know that if something happened to you, you wouldn’t be the only one hurt.

Spesso la gente non ha le emozioni chiare, altro che le idee.

Something horrible had happened here, and had left it's residue behind. It seemed to rise from the bottom of the tiled pool and leak from the ceiling, clinging to the walls and binding itself like some parasite into any host it could ensnare. I imagined it's cold fingers rooting inside me, spreading throughout, and leaving traces of itself embedded in my soul.

When you're dealing with Switzerland, Mr. Allon, it's best to keep one thing in mind. Switzerland is not a real country. It's a business, and it's run like a business. It's a business that is constantly in a defensive posture. It's been that way for seven hundred years.

He glanced at the book in his hand and added, “I think I’d need to be a bit further away to grasp it, mind you. Manchester, perhaps.” Da Silva looked startled for a second, then his face lit with a smile.

The issue here revolves around the "right to be different (Mattos 1994:16). People have difficulty living harmoniously with those who are different. Because of this, they discriminate against anyone who has any distinctive characteristic whether of belief, religion, language, thought or color. ~ Valmor Da Silva p. 124 in Reading Other-Wise

When the heart is on fire, light comes from within.

We did what we always do. We closed ranks, burned our files, and waited for the storm to pass.

If you live to seek revenge, dig a grave for two. ANCIENT JEWISH PROVERB

But that’s the beauty of American cable news, darling. It doesn’t have to be credible. It just has to be entertaining.

Make no mistake, sin has been dealt with once for all, and we are as close to Him as we will ever be.

Repentance is a result of God's kindness, not a prerequisite to it.

Well, I guess slave-runners aren't really my cup of tea. That is who you married instead, right? A slave-runner. Your father must have been so proud." That wiped the grin right off her face. "You leave my father out of this," she snarled. "Oh, why?" I asked. "Tell me something, is he sore at you? Your dad, I mean. You know, for having Jesse killed? Because I imagine he would be. I mean, basically, thanks to you, the de Silva family line ran out. And your kids with that Diego dude turned out to be, as we've already discussed, major losers. I bet whenever you run into your dad out there, you know, on the spiritual plane, he doesn't even say hi anymore, does he? That's gotta hurt." I'm not sure how much of that, if any, Maria actually understood. Still, she seemed plenty mad.

Non siamo responsabili dei nostri sentimenti né del flusso che li causa o li alimenta e tutto sommato neanche delle nostre azioni, anche se poi dobbiamo risponderne (e farlo anche se nessuno ce lo chiede), com’è giusto che sia.

A book from a nearby shelf tumbled to the ground and the pages rustled a moment before settling. I bit my lip, debating. If this was a horror movie, I would be yelling at the stupid girl to run - but I ignored my own advice and walked towards the book.

In the online age, it was more important to live out loud than to live with dignity.

On Yom Kippur, it is not enough for one to feel sorry for the foul deeds one has done. To achieve forgiveness, one must go to the injured parties and make amends.

I leaned against Brent, resting my forehead against his cheek, but jerked back. "Brent you're hot." Brent grinned lazily and puffed up his chest. "Thank you. It's a burden I must bear.

She was remembering His gaze, those deep pools of blue, crystalline in nature, peering deep into her soul. She remembered the first night she had looked into that darkness – no, into that light in his eyes – they were level and straight, kind and compassionate, without any ado, Her hands in His, offerings of comfort and concern for Her station, the concern she felt for those close to Her, each to their own heaven or hell, and the law of attraction began to build.

IT SEEMS DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE, but there was once a time when human beings did not feel the need to share their every waking moment with hundreds of millions, even billions, of complete and utter strangers. If one went to a shopping mall to purchase an article of clothing, one did not post minute-by-minute details on a social networking site; and if one made a fool of oneself at a party, one did not leave a photographic record of the sorry episode in a digital scrapbook that would survive for all eternity. But now, in the era of lost inhibition, it seemed no detail of life was too mundane or humiliating to share. In the online age, it was more important to live out loud than to live with dignity. Internet followers were more treasured than flesh-and-blood friends, for they held the illusive promise of celebrity, even immortality. Were Descartes alive today, he might have written: I tweet, therefore I am.

My job as a Christian is not to get people to heaven when they die, it's to get heaven to people while they're alive

Don’t look back. You are never completely alone.

people may give words of suggestion but in the end your words will the final

Whereas for most whites racism is prejudice, for most people of color racism is systemic or institutionalized.

The best way to win at a game of chance is to remove chance from the equation.

She liked the way a ray of mild autumn sun infiltrating the thick cluster of trees caught a reddish orange leaf swirling in the wind and transformed it golden yellow. She liked that it wasn’t a leaf she recognised, that she could name or associate with her past.

A piece of paper doesn't make you a pastor any more than making predictions makes you a prophet.

I suppose I needed to share it with her. I suppose I needed someone to forgive me.

The Germans are fond of saying that only Austria could convince the world that Beethoven was an Austrian and Hitler was a German.

If race disappears as a category of official division, as it has in most of the world, this will facilitate the emergence of a plural racial order where the groups exist in practice but are not official recognized - and anyone trying to address racial division is likely to be chided for racializing the population.

That was . . .” I trailed off trying to find the proper adjective. “Long overdue?” “Long overdue? You’re the one who got skittish when I mentioned how I felt and backed away when we almost kissed.” “You call me on all my crap, don’t you?” He laughed throwing his head back. “That’s one of the things I love about you,” he said. His fingers skimmed up my shoulders until they cradled my neck and my whole body tingling.

Christians are famous for telling people to be "child-like" and yet one of the greatest qualities of a child (the never ending list of questions) is often discouraged.

We get called dishonoring for pointing out the garbage in the church, yet nobody ever seems to think it's dishonoring that somebody put the garbage there in the first place.

If people think honoring pastors means doing everything they say, why don't they honor Jesus the same way?

What wouldn’t my people give for a few bites of the biryani she ordered me to throw away yesterday because she said it smelt?

patriotism. During his lifetime of study he had concluded it was the most destructive force on the planet.

An old western standoff had nothing on the looks that my mom and grandma were exchanging. A tumbleweed could have rolled through the kitchen and neither would have noticed.

So, Yara brings Brent home to meet her parents, and he ends up in the E.R.

...a good biography tells us the truth about a person; a good story, the truth about ourselves.

A few minutes after discovering we had a goal but no plan, Brent was laughing heartily at a pathetic joke I had made. It reminded me of the first day on campus when I had thought his laughter sounded like a melody. It did now, even more so. It was music, beautiful, in a manly way, like a sensual, slow jazz. I loved jazz. “Jazz, huh?” Brent asked, his voice suddenly husky. “Uh . . . what?” “My laugh reminds you of jazz? Is there anything about me you don’t find attractive?” He rubbed his hand over his lips trying to cover his smirk. “So tell me, how much do you love jazz?” I’m sure my face was pinker than the inside of a watermelon. “I didn’t say any of that.” “You didn’t have to say it, Yara, I could hear it.” Brent tapped the side of his head. “I can hear your thoughts.” “You’re not serious.” “Oh, but I am,” he said, completely straight-faced.

Of course, I didn't know how I felt about my first kiss coming from one of the undead, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, and let me tell you something, Jesse was way cuter than any live guy I'd met lately.

Compared to Jim Crow racism, the ideology of color blindness seems like "racism lite." Instead of relying on name calling (niggers, spics, chinks), color-blind racism otherizes softly ("these people are human, too"); instead of proclaiming that God placed minorities in the world in a servile position, it suggests they are behind because they do not work hard enough; instead of viewing interracial marriage as wrong on a straight racial basis, it regards it as "problematic" because of concerns over the children, location, or the extra burden it places on couples.

Where are the coconut trees bowing allegiance to the wind, the wide open spaces, the verdant green fields?

Jesse, who had not stirred the whole time from the spot he'd been standing, confident I could handle Cheryl myself, was grinning. "It's every girl's dream to guy to go to prom with the guy she loves?" he echoed, not just one, but both inky black eyebrows raised. "Don't start with me," I said. I tried to hide my suddenly flaming cheeks by scraping away what was left of the cannolis, and replacing them with the contents of an upended bag of chocolate chip cookies. "I have things to do.

I don't understand why you are so unhappy about it," Jesse said. He had stretched out across the tiles, contented as I'd ever seen him. "I like it much better this way." "What way?" I groused. I couldn't get quite as comfortable. I kept finding prickly pine needles beneath my butt. "Just the two of us," he said with a shrug. "Like it's always been.

A forza di soffrire per te ho contratto un debito intellettuale nei confronti del tempo che attraverso. Sono un militante del pensiero critico. Mi attirano libri che fino a qualche tempo fa m’innervosivano solo a leggerne il titolo. Sei compatibile con tutto: con il privato, il pubblico, la politica, l’etica, l’estetica, la religione, la musica, la letteratura, il cinema, il teatro, l’informazione, la tecnologia, la pubblicità dei pannolini e persino quella delle macchine. Ogni cosa è compromessa con te. E io sono obbligato a speculare su tutto, perché tutto ti riguarda. Sei ovunque, tranne dove vorrei che fossi. Indovina dove.

Right,” I fumed, my index finger poking him in the chest. “So we’re even then. My kiss didn’t count because it was an accident and yours didn’t count because it was strictly for medical purposes. Neither of them counted as kisses.” “Would you have wanted them to?” Brent demanded suddenly, bending his neck so he whispered it in my ear

I stopped at a red light, turned my head, and allowed myself to enjoy the handsomeness that was Brent. He noticed my staring and asked, "What?" "As if you don't know. You're not the type of guy that a girl gets tired of looking at." "Oh. Well in that case, you're welcome to look all you want," he said and gestured to himself. "You're allowed to touch, too." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I lowered my voice into its sexy-husky range. "I was hoping you'd say that." With my flirtiest look on my face, I rubbed my hand slowly up his arm and then pinched him firmly on the shoulder. "Ow!" Brent rubbed his shoulder and grinned. "Not what I had in mind!

Mi sa che è questo il mio limite: mi mancano le conclusioni, nel senso che ho l'impressione che niente finisca mai veramente. Io vorrei, vorrei davvero che i dispiaceri scaduti, le persone sbagliate, le risposte che non ho dato, i debiti contratti senza bisogno, le piccole meschinità che mi hanno avvelenato il fegato, tutte le cose a cui ancora penso, le storie d'amore soprattutto, sparissero dalla mia testa e non si facessero più vedere, ma sono pieno di strascichi, di fantasmi disoccupati che vengono spesso a trovarmi. Colpa della memoria, che congela e scongela in automatico rallentando la digestione della vita...

One might say I had decided to marry the silence of the forest. The sweet dark warmth of the whole world will have to be my wife. Out of the heart of that dark warmth comes the secret that is heard only in silence, but it is the root of all the secrets that are whispered by all the lovers in their beds all over the world. So perhaps I have an obligation to preserve the stillness, the silence, the poverty, the virginal point of pure nothingness which is at the center of all other loves. I attempt to cultivate this plant without contempt in the middle of the night and water it with psalms and prophecies in silence. It becomes the most rare of all the trees in the garden, at once the primordial paradise tree, the axis mundi, the cosmic axle, and the Cross. Nulla silva talem profert. There is only one such tree. It cannot be multiplied. It is not interesting.

So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I was applying for campus housing and overheard Andy telling my mother that the only way I was going to be safe from all the sexual assaults he'd heard about on National Public Radio was if I lived in an all-girl dorm. Never mind that I have been kicking the butts of the undead since I was in elementary school, and that almost the entire time I resided under Andy's roof, I had a hot undead guy living in my bedroom. These are two of those secrets I was telling you about. Andy doesn't know about them, and neither does my mother. They think Jesse is what Father Dominic told them he is: a "young Jesuit student who transferred to the Carmel Mission from Mexico, then lost his yearning to go into the priesthood" after meeting me. That one slays me every time.

Ir Uršulę Norvaišaitę jam stebėtinai gerai sekėsi mesti iš galvos – kai susikaupdavo ir susitelkdavo į kokį reikalą, jau visiškai apie ją nebegalvodavo, ypač jei dar būdavo šalia kitų žmonių; ir tai jau buvo sėkmė, nes dabar apie ją jau galvodavo kur kas mažiau nei pirmosiomis dienomis. Dabar apie ją galvodavo tik tada, kai nuo nuodėmingai pats save liesdavo; dar galvodavo kiekvieną rytą prausdamasis prieš veidrodį; ir tik tada, kai valgydavo ar gerdavo ką saldaus’ ar pamatęs tamsų medų, kurio spalva priminė jos plaukus; tik kai einant gatve suskambėdavo kokios bažnyčios varpai ar pamatydavo žingsniuojančią vineuolę; tik tada kai pamatydavo ką nors ryškiai raudono arba kai pamatydavo ką nors vos vos besišypsant pačiais lūpų kampučiais, arba – išvydęs ką nors vilkint ilgais baltais marškiniais, apsitaisius šviesiai pilkai arba turint visiškai rudas akis, arba šiaip, kai nebesusikaupdavo skaitydamas, kai atsipalaiduodavo, užsimiršdavo, nebūdavo niekuo užsiėmęs, ir atleisdavo minčių vadžias; n air dar gulėdamas lovoje prieš miegą; tą sunkią valandą, kai pavargęs protas nenori paleisti iš gniaužtų praėjusios dienos; ir dar kartais, jei kankindavo nemiga arba ką ryškiai sapnuodavo ir pabudęs atsimindavo ją sapnavęs; bet visą kitą laiką Jonas Kirdėjus apie Uršulę beveik jau visiškai nebegalvojo ir laikė tai tikrai geru pasiekimu.

Yes, I wanted to remain here in Faerie, with Wendell. Yes, I knew it went against reason and common sense--- ordinarily two of my strengths. My arguments with Rose had been nonsense all along, because the truth was that I agreed with him. Of course it wasn't a sane decision to befriend a monarch of the Folk, let alone marry one, particularly if he reigned over the Silva Lupi. Nor did I think Wendell was different from other Folk, particularly--- kinder, less enigmatic, or somehow more human. I simply didn't care. I loved him, and I suspected that I would grow to love this beautiful, horrifying place if given the chance. I wanted the chance. I wanted Faerie, its every secret and its every door. If there was danger in my decision--- and I knew there was--- then so be it. I would accept danger, if it meant I could have this.

E sì, mi manca ancora. Per quanto incomprensibile possa essere, sento ancora la sua mancanza. La sento soprattutto in questo tipo di situazione, quando esco, quando mi siedo in un ristorante con qualcuno, quando viene un po’ di sole dopo che ha piovuto, quando la gente intorno parla del più e del meno, quando la normalità incalza. E’ soprattutto in quei momenti che mi domando cosa ci faccio lì. Perché rimango. Perché non me ne vado. E perché quello che mangio non sa di niente. E perché delle cose che mi dicono gli amici, cose per le quali dovrei provare un qualche interesse, non m’importi assolutamente nulla. E risponda per pura cortesia, sperando che se la bevano e pensando che se pure non se la bevono fa lo stesso. E perché quando mi sembra di cominciare a rilassarmi, finalmente, vengo subito assalito dal solito stormo di piccoli ricordi felici che vuole portarmi via da dove sto. E perché mi sembra di aver lasciato la vita da qualche parte. Ma dove? Fanculo, va’.

After his initial homecoming week, after he'd been taken to a bunch of sights by his cousins, after he'd gotten somewhat used to the scorching weather and the surprise of waking up to the roosters and being called Huascar by everybody (that was his Dominican name, something else he'd forgotten), after he refused to succumb to that whisper that all long-term immigrants carry inside themselves, the whisper that says You do not belong, after he'd gone to about fifty clubs and because he couldn't dance salsa, merengue, or bachata had sat and drunk Presidentes while Lola and his cousins burned holes in the floor, after he'd explained to people a hundred times that he'd been separated from his sister at birth, after he spent a couple of quiet mornings on his own, writing, after he'd given out all his taxi money to beggars and had to call his cousin Pedro Pablo to pick him up, after he'd watched shirtless shoeless seven-year-olds fighting each other for the scraps he'd left on his plate at an outdoor cafe, after his mother took them all to dinner in the Zona Colonial and the waiters kept looking at their party askance (Watch out, Mom, Lola said, they probably think you're Haitian - La unica haitiana aqui eres tu, mi amor, she retorted), after a skeletal vieja grabbed both his hands and begged him for a penny, after his sister had said, You think that's bad, you should see the bateys, after he'd spent a day in Bani (the camp where La Inca had been raised) and he'd taken a dump in a latrine and wiped his ass with a corn cob - now that's entertainment, he wrote in his journal - after he'd gotten somewhat used to the surreal whirligig that was life in La Capital - the guaguas, the cops, the mind-boggling poverty, the Dunkin' Donuts, the beggars, the Haitians selling roasted peanuts at the intersections, the mind-boggling poverty, the asshole tourists hogging up all the beaches, the Xica de Silva novelas where homegirl got naked every five seconds that Lola and his female cousins were cracked on, the afternoon walks on the Conde, the mind-boggling poverty, the snarl of streets and rusting zinc shacks that were the barrios populares, the masses of niggers he waded through every day who ran him over if he stood still, the skinny watchmen standing in front of stores with their brokedown shotguns, the music, the raunchy jokes heard on the streets, the mind-boggling poverty, being piledrived into the corner of a concho by the combined weight of four other customers, the music, the new tunnels driving down into the bauxite earth [...]