I glanced at my Ipod to check the time, 11:15 AM. It’s only been three hours since we took off. That makes eight more long hours until we make it to Terceira.
To my left was a small window. Beneath the fluffy clouds I was able to see the big, blue Atlantic Ocean. To my right was my father. He was reading a travel magazine the airline provided.
Through the bulky seats I saw a cane waving in the air towards our direction. I sat up straight and saw a little old lady holding the cane. She looked at me with excitement and mouthed, Paulo. Oh goodness, this crazy lady wants to talk to my dad.
“Hey dad do you know that lady over there? The one waving that cane?” I said to my dad.
He put down the magazine and looked up to find the cane frantically waving in the air.
“That’s Maria Dos Anjos. She used to come to the dairy to talk gossip with your Avó. She’s a bit crazy,” he said, as if I couldn’t tell.
“Well I think she really wants to tell you something. She looks like she means business.”
“I’ll go say a quick hello. It’s been at least twenty years since I’ve seen her. I should probably go update her on a couple things.”
  “Well, it looks like she’s got an extra seat she’s pointing to, so go ahead I’ll save your seat.”
“Okay thank you, be right back.” My dad stood up and made his way down the rows of the snoring passengers.
I waited until he sat down, to take out my Seventeen magazine. I couldn’t read it without him reminding me that it was nothing but ‘trashcan gossip’.
I tried reading the magazine, but was quickly interrupted by the screaming children in the seats behind me.
Across the isle, in the seat that was somewhat close to my dad’s, sat this guy who looked like he just popped out of my magazine. His hair was brown and a little messy, but he pulled it off well. He looked right at me. He must have noticed I was staring.
I quickly turned away and fumbled with the pages of my magazine. Is he still looking at me? I turned and looked at him one more time. His eyes were staring right at me. A little embarrassed, I looked away and stared out my window.
I tried focusing on the moving clouds, while all of a sudden he sat down next to me.
“Can I sit here?” he said, with a smooth voice.
I forgot how to talk so I just nodded my head.
“Cool, I’m Marco.” He stuck out his hand in a friendly matter.
“Briza,” I said quietly. We shook hands as we gazed into each others eyes.
“Beautiful name, I don’t think I have ever met anyone with that name. I’ve also never been to the Azores, but I’m guessing you have.”
He pointed to the baggage tags I’d left on my bag from the trip we took a couple years ago.
“Yes, this will be my fourth time.” I said, hoping he didn’t think I was bragging.
“Nice! I just wanted to see if you could tell me what it’s like over there. Like what to expect, and I thought that you looked like an honest person.”
He thinks I look honest? I wonder what else he thinks about me.
“Oh well, it’s very different from the States. There’s a lot less people, but they’re all really nice. Um…” I was getting really nervous and suddenly forgot everything about the Azores.
“Do they have good food? I mean that’s probably what I’ll need to know first,” he said with a smile on his face.
I smiled a little too, “Yes, very good food. They eat a lot of bread, fish, and cheese. They also drink a lot of coffee and wine”
“Perfect! I know I won’t go hungry or thirsty.”
His excitement allowed me to gain a little confidence and ask him a question this time, “So what island are you staying at?”
“San Jorge. You?” he said while turning his body a little towards me as he waited my reply.
“San Jorge? Me too.” I replied. Then I thought: could it be possible that we are staying in the same village too?
“That’s awesome! You can be my tour guide and show me where to buy the best bread! And we can drink coffee in the old cafés!” he said excitedly. We talked for a couple hours and wrote a list of all the things we were interested in seeing, doing, and of course, eating together.
It was interesting how comfortable I was talking with him, when talking wasn’t the easiest thing for me to do.