On
the
day
after
I
went
to
the
Beirute
restaurant,
in
Brasilia,
the
majority
of
my
collegues
at
work,
insistently
reminded
me
to
tell
them
one
of
the
three
versions
that
I
made
up
to
tell
the
story
of
our
adventure
that
lasted
until
the
beginning
of
early
morning.
It
seemed
to
be
a
report
of
success,
so
big
it
was
the
impatience
that
they
showed
for
the
happenings
,
and
mainly
for
the
descriptions
of
the
characters,
all
of
them
seeming
to
be
taken
from
some
surrealist
work
of
fiction.
It
is
that
the
Beirute,
at
first
sight,
is
a
different
place
from
any
other
in
the
whole
world,
a
type
of
stage
set
from
a
Pasolini
film,
so
diverse
are
the
physical
and
psychological
make
up,
a
human
fauna
to
leave
any
good
Christian
with
his
hair
on
end,
even
the
less
curious.
Cristina,
my
collegue,
had
told
me
that
I
would
love
the
Beirute,
be
it
as
a
painter
or
a
color
hunter,
or
even
a
character
researcher
for
future
literary
adventures.
Besides
this,
why
not
study
the
components
of
our
own
table
that
would
alos
have
to
be
different
from
the
rest,
and
perhaps
be
the
focus
of
observations
from
the
rest
of
the
local
fauna.
It
is
not
always
that
side
by
side
can
be
found
Jorge
Fensterseifer,
Kalunga,
Iasbeck,
Ludgero,
Cristina
herself
and
I,
individually
or
together
perhaps
even
more
bizarre
than
the
others.
Jorge,
around
three
hundred
pounds,
Kalunga
and
Ludgero,
extremely
bearded
and
unruly
Iasbeck,
hair
looking
much
like
it
had
never
seen
a
comb
in
its
life…Cristina,
a
tall
girl
with
her
1.80m.
of
beauty
and
grace,
and
I
nearly
bald,
all
of
us
together,
forming
a
group
far
from
normal.
I
think
that
is
why
the
other
clients
were
gaping
at
us
so
much!
But
why
is
Beirute
considered
to
be
so
different
from
other
restaurants?
By
the
environment
that
is,
it
is
certainly
not
a
bad
place
to
eat,
because
everything
there
is
in
good
order
and
the
restaurant
itself
has
a
family
atmosphere,
with
the
presence
of
mothers
and
their
children,
of
gracious,
romantic
young
ladies,
the
intellectuals
in
their
butterfly
ties,
and
long
sleeved
shirts,
and
respectable
gentlemen,
until
where
respect
can
be
closely
observed,
with
table
so
close
to
each
other.
Beirute,
I
believe,
should
probably
be
the
most
democratic
place
in
the
world,
a
free
territory
on
block
109,
where
each
person
lives
moments
of
happiness
and
discontracao,
a
tenderness
that
only
a
close
friend
can
offer.
The
Arabian
food,
the
quibes,
the
slices
of
bread,
the
patês,
stupidly
cold
beer,
all
mkixing
to
form
a
very
pleasant
atmosphere.
A
world
apart!
I
have
been
back
there
many
times,
and
I
have
never
lost
the
interest
for
its
exotic
enchantments.
As
it
was
so
pleasant
when
Nivaldo
Voigt,
manager
of
the
Bank
of
Brazil
agency
in
Manaus,
Vera,
of
S.
Miguel
do
Iguaçu,
Ivone,
of
the
Freguesia
do
Ó,
and
I!
How
wonderful
it
was
to
take
Olimpia
and
Ana
Irlanda
there
after
such
a
vast
advertising
campaign,
choosing
an
Arabian
dish
with
a
very
complicated
name,
which
we
thought
would
certainly
be
an
exotic
Libanese
specialty,
but
what
the
waiter
brought
us
at
last
was
a
very
Brazilian
shish
kabob!
I
never
will
tire
of
Beirute,
and,
if
possible,
always
after
ten
in
the
evening.
It
is
after
ten
that
the
really
exotic
fauna
come
out
of
hiding,
making
Beirute
fascinating
and
more
relaxed.
