Bajos 3ª

A few months ago, I found out that my neighbor from the next-door apartment, an elderly Japanese man with whom I had only exchanged a few words at the building's entrance, was moving out and leaving his apartment. At that moment, I didn't consider it to be significant news in my life. However, everything changed on the day of his move.



On that day, I noticed something unusual. I saw many people entering and leaving the apartment, presumably family members helping with the move. But what truly caught my attention was the amount of boxes and bags of trash they were carrying out. Somewhat surprised, I retreated to my own home and let them continue with their tasks.



The next day, I encountered the community president in the hallway, who confirmed my suspicions: indeed, they were getting rid of trash. It turns out that my neighbor suffered from Diogenes syndrome, and his apartment was a complete disaster due to the accumulation of garbage, humidity, and lack of ventilation.



The president asked me if I wanted to see the inside, to which I replied in the affirmative. When I entered, I was met with a suffocating atmosphere, laden with humidity and saturated with indescribable odors. However, when I turned on the light, I was amazed.



The humidity, food grease, and lack of ventilation had transformed the walls, ceiling, and floor into a display of astonishing colors, giving the apartment an atmosphere that reminded me of scenes from baroque paintings.



Faced with such a vision, my initial thought was, "I have to take photos here." I shared my idea with the community president, who looked at me incredulously and exclaimed, "You want to take photos here? It's full of filth!" To which I responded that, even though she couldn't see it, there was beauty in that chaos.



After a brief silence, she nodded and said, "Do as you wish, you'll know best..."



And that's what I did.