ESL Blogs

     When engineer Zbigniew was called to count for his earthly deeds in the heavenly Court, his son’s [from here onwards called Engison] world was shattered to pieces like a crystal vase, literally and figuratively speaking.

    Engison felt much like a victim of a mega catastrophe, as if a tornado-earthquake-tsunami combo pounced on him out of the blue, ripping apart and rocking the fundaments of his short life -  drowning what remained  of it in sorrow and anguish. His mom, Tina, was the only life-buoy he could cling to in the foam crested,  turbulent waves of the oncoming storm. For an eleven years old boy, the future looked pretty much dreary and bleak. [guys, pass on some tissue, otherwise the cascade of tears will wreak havoc in the electrics of my keyboard – LOL- ok, ok, let’s continue the namby-pamby thread]

     For Engison and Tina things went from bad to worse. Tina decided to move from their comfortable apartment to a single room in the basement of the lodging house [called by the tenants – the dungeon] in a desperate effort to keep Engison in the private school he was attending.  There is no need to explain that the “dungeon” was the living quarters of less affluent tenants and staff of the lodging house. Enigson and Tina’s new abode was situated at the end of a dark, narrow corridor with a lingering odor of dampness. There was no individual toilet or bathroom in their new hearth. They had to use the communal facilities. They could not relish the nice view of the city from their windows with a spacious balcony they had in their previous apartment for the simple reason that there were no windows. [well, fellas, how do you like that, even Bronte could not come up with such a picture of misery and desperation]

    As their situation tended to deteriorate rather than ameliorate [lol, uncle google translator in use, huh?] Tina ‘s letters written to her mom, who at that time was working in Kuwait for the American Mission Hospital as head midwife, became grief loaded day by day, Engison’s granny, Natasha, started encouraging Tina to come to Kuwiat, assuring her that she would get a good  job there and Engison would be able to continue his education. When Tina showed some kind of reluctance, granny Natia hurridly sent a letter where the chief doctor of the hospital pledged to personally see that Tina would get a job and Engison would be sent to college.

   It took two years, until Engison finished primary school, and no hopes for a better future, to make Tina take up a final decision. Armed with the written pledge from the hospital, Tina started  to use all her wit and  personal charm to rise enough financial support to get the trip to Kuwait arranged. The company where Engison’s dad worked surprisingly enough showed a lot of empathy towards Tina, who also used to work there, and wrote out a handsome cheque. Tina also found support from the nuns running a girl’s school where Tine used to teach basic French and drawing, actually, Enigson started his primary education in that girls’ school. [lucky lil’ squirt – can you guys imagine that, a whole class full of girls and that urchin the only male around, all the staff there was female, except for the gardener and the dog named Cachorro, which means dog in portuguese, LOL]  The rest of the needed sum was contributed by granny Natia, doubtlessly with a significant donation from the hospital.

    In the mean time, Engison was desperately trying to get some information about that Kuwait. One must remember that at that time there was no internet and uncle google where one could get all the needed information at one click.  The information that Engison was able to get did not make him leap with joy. [I shall refrain from telling what the information said about Kuwait, as not to offend any eventual Kuwaiti ec members, but believe me, there was nothing to be happy about, expect that it was a british dependency with  no rivers, lakes, forests…..only sand and petroleum. Aha…and up to 50degC in summer. ]

     By and by, everything was arranged, packed and ready to go. Tina and Engison embarked on a French transatlantic liner named Provance and  in mid june 1957 they departed from Rio de Janeiro.

   Tina and Engison stood on the deck of the liner watching the outline of the Corcovado disappear in the horizon.

  Engison was full of hope, yet some irrational doubt squeezed his heart in an icy grip…what lies ahead of him… another storm or…..

    [to be continued]