Leaning against the wall of a Motel 6 room I see an oblong and thin gentleman, with a purple bandana covering his head from which long gray hair falls, he has a thick beard and tiny photochromic square glasses of the rimless kind, in short, one of those characters that I like.


Intrigued, I enter the room to admire his crystals and prepare to make the pleasantries that are generally given to exhibitors to entice them to exhibit themselves.
As I turn around, surprisingly he has vanished and has been replaced by an at-first-sight-unpleasant woman, who immediately looks at me with suspicion and doesn’t leave me alone even for a second.

Mariana is also Brazilian, so much so that I wonder if it’s a coincidence or in Brazil they’re all called Mário, María and derivatives. No, I don’t want you to take a portrait of me, she declares, if it was published then I would be very uncomfortable. Who are you? Who do you work for? In short, what do you want?

Well, I think, certainly not a photo of you, witch! But I have to admit that the staging of this bedroom is the most beautiful I’ve seen around. Can I take a picture of that corner? Suddenly she glows with pride. Oh yes, please, please! This year I’ve put my all into the setup! And, in the blink of an eye, that’s it! Mariana and I are two happy friends.