Journalled on Saturday, 23 September 2023 | Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro: 35 degrees, very hot, sunny and muggy.

In some ways, it was just a typical Saturday. In other ways, not entirely.

As usual, I woke up early and went to the Portuguese bakery. I wrote in my journal and had a couple of large coffees. I also bought bread, cheese, and ham for Yasmin and Nalva’s breakfast.

When I returned to the flat, they were still asleep, so I quickly changed into my gym clothes, grabbed Perola’s lead, and headed out to the park. It was already boiling, nearly 30°C, even though it was only 7:30 in the morning.

Whenever we go to the park, I take her off the lead as soon as we pass through the entrance gates. She sticks to me like a shadow as we walk towards the far end of the park, where there are many trees, concrete benches, and tables. There is also a post where I can tie my TRX straps for exercises.

Perola knows the routine.

She stays near me while I skip first, then alternates between skipping and aerobic exercises, and finally uses the TRX straps. Most of the time, Perola stays close to me. I tell her to go and explore, and sometimes she does. Now and then, a dog and its owner pass by.

Perola likes to greet the owners but not the dogs. Because she’s submissive, there is never any stress or confusion among the other dogs, who are jealous of her. They quickly realise she isn’t a threat and isn’t trying to dispute anything with their owners. Some owners like it when Perola greets them, while others not so much.

I pack up after about 45 minutes to an hour of skipping and exercising.

Before leaving, we do a lap of the park together. Once again, Perola always stays close to me, only straying about 5 metres before quickly returning. She’s a very good dog, and there’s no stress when going out with her.

We walked to the park along the seafront and returned by going through Flamengo, which is not on the seafront. I always enjoy going one way to a place and returning the other way. For example, in the south zone of Rio, many neighbourhoods are beachfront, lining the coast.

I like to walk to a place in front of the beach and then come back through the actual neighbourhoods. Or vice versa; go inside first, and on the way back, come back in front of the beach on the coast.

On the way back, we quickly passed by the convenience store inside the petrol station to buy water. Now that I haven’t been drinking alcohol for almost a month, I enjoy drinking sparkling mineral water on my way home.

This petrol station and convenience store was a frequent stop for me 10-15 years ago when I had my boxers. After going to the park with them, I would stop at the convenience store for a coffee.

I would leave them outside for 10-15 minutes and give them water. They never complained about waiting for me outside because they could see me through the windows. They would also attract a lot of attention; two beautiful boxers outside, one massive because Bruce was enormous for a boxer.

However, they were always willing to compliment passersby or anyone who wanted to get to know them.

When I arrived home, it was almost 10 a.m. Nalva had already got up, and Yasmin was thinking about it. I already knew what I wanted to do today: work!

I want to post at least one or two posts today on “The long gringo” blog and make any tweaks or changes if needed. I’m pleased with the site, although I know there is plenty of room for improvement, which will naturally occur over time.

In some ways, I feel I have surprised myself. When I was young, I could quickly learn new things without any problem.

Even if I didn’t know how to do something, I wasn’t afraid to teach myself or dive into something new and learn by trial and error. I was never scared to do this.

I was always willing to test myself and see where it would go. I feel that nowadays I have lost myself a little and decharacterised myself a bit because of the problems in Brazil. Even though I’m 30 years older, I’m finding my old self for the first time in a long time.

The rest of the day was spent working. Nalva cooked a late lunch, almost dinner, and everything was good.