An intense reading experience—an immersive journey from Europe to Angola and back, tracing the scars of colonialism and the challenges of contemporary life.

What does it mean to wait? Is it merely a pause, or can it become an act of resistance? In Angola, the Casa de Espera is more than just a place: it is a refuge and a strategy for survival. Here, pregnant women gather as they await childbirth, receiving care and support in a region where the long and treacherous journey to the hospital can mean the difference between life and death. Using this unique space as a starting point, Fabio Geda takes us to the heart of Angola, weaving together stories of struggle, exile, and rebirth in a narrative reportage that blends history, human encounters, and personal reflections. From Agostinho Neto, poet and Angolan independence leader, to the daily life of a rural hospital where doctors mentally calculate the exact number of IV drops needed for a child, this book is a journey through time and space. The author himself experiences tragicomic moments, such as when he faints at Lisbon airport due to what is likely just a cold drink and finds himself in a hospital, reflecting with irony on the frailty of the human body and the universal nature of waiting. With a sharp yet often humorous eye, Geda describes the surreal traffic of Luanda, where drivers can shop from their cars without ever stepping out, and his encounter with Quim, a man who, at sixteen, fled the Angolan civil war in a small, rickety boat, braving the “altumare”—a word Quim himself invented and which the author embraces with admiration. Through a tapestry of voices and settings, this book is a reportage, a travel memoir, and a profound reflection on the human condition.