Robert Wladyslaw Parzelski's story draws
comparisons with Steven Spielberg's 2004 comedy The
Terminal
He came from London not Krakozhia and Catherine Zeta-Jones was
not waiting for him at customs.
But the strange tale of Robert Wladyslaw Parzelski, a
44-year-old Polish man who got "lost" inside São Paulo's
international airport for 18 days, has captivated Brazilian
newspaper readers and drawn comparisons with Steven Spielberg's
2004 comedy The Terminal.
In the film Viktor Navorski, a native of the fictitious country
Krakozhia, finds himself marooned inside New York's John F Kennedy
international airport after US authorities sever diplomatic ties
with his war-torn homeland. Navorski, played by Tom Hanks, enjoys a
lengthy but action-packed stay at JFK; sculpting a water fountain,
dating an air hostess played by Zeta-Jones and eventually making it
to a New York jazz club for a Benny Golson show.
The real-life story of Robert Wladyslaw Parzelski, a
London-based car electrician, got off to a more mundane start.
Parzelski reportedly arrived in São Paulo on 17 June onboard
British Airways flight 247. The tourist slipped easily through
customs, but without a return flight, a word of Portuguese or a
penny to his name, Parzelski decided not to venture outside.
Instead, he set up camp on a concrete bench inside São Paulo's
Guarulhos airport and waited, supposedly for a friend who had
agreed to meet him there, but never came.
Alone and unable to communicate with others – "I'm Poland," he
reportedly told those who inquired about his wellbeing – Parzelski
did his best to make himself comfortable.
Concerned airport cleaners began caring for "the German",
bringing him daily servings of water, yoghurt and cigarettes. Two
empty bottles of vodka and an improvised toilet were located on
airport property. Once clean-shaved, Parzelski's beard began to
grow.
Several days into his stay, Parzelski's case was drawn to the
attention of the folha a sao paulo newspaper. Their reporters
began investigating.
With airport police and officials seemingly uninterested in
their Polish guest, the newspaper called on a 70-year-old Polish
doctor from São Paulo to get to the bottom of Parzelski's bizarre
story.
After a quick chat with the doctor on 30 June – Parzelski's
first conversation in more than 10 days – his story began to
emerge. Parzelski was a father of five from Krakow who had moved to
London with his family seeking work as a builder. When he lost his
job during the economic crisis, a Polish friend in London proposed
a trip to Brazil. He accepted. Parzelski was handed a one-way
ticket to São Paulo and a mission: to return to London with two
telephone sets.
Neither the Polish doctor nor the newspaper's reporters were
able to establish why somebody in London had commissioned two
Brazilian telephones. The mystery thickened and the Polish
consulate in São Paulo was called in.
With the case still shrouded in mystery, Parzelski finally left
Brazil on Tuesday afternoon, onboard a Swiss Air flight bound for
Zurich. From there he would return to London.
"Before embarking … [we] spotted Parzelski enjoying a dark ale
at a bar inside the departure lounge," the Folha de São Paulo
reported on Wednesday, in presumably its final story about the lost
tourist. "Smiling he bade us farewell, with a little wave of the
hand."