Journalled on Saturday, 8 July 2023 | Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 29 degrees, hot, sunny, and slightly overcast.
It’s Sunday, the day after a lovely night with friends I hadn’t seen in a while.
What I also found nice is that when I’m socialising with friends and family now, I don’t feel the need to drink too much. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have known when to stop.
Now, just a couple of glasses of something is more than enough for me. It’s genuinely reassuring to realise that I don’t need to drink to have fun and enjoy myself. I’m also glad that I now know when to stop and don’t end up regretting it the next day.
As it is Saturday, I get up a little later than on weekdays because I want to combine going out, exercising, walking, having a coffee, and shopping in Largo do Machado for new headphones. By coincidence, Yasmin’s and my headphones broke almost simultaneously.
Yasmin uses her headphones at home and outside, going to and from school. I bought her a good pair of headphones a few years ago, so they have lasted well.
Jessica bought me an exceptionally good pair of headphones about five years ago, knowing that, since I had the dogs, I would love to take them for long walks while listening to music and very often drinking a longneck at the same time. Unfortunately, the dogs have gone. I think about them daily, but I still like to listen to music while walking or doing something in the street.
When I exercise, I listen to music; when I walk anywhere on the street, I listen to music; even at home, I listen to music. For a long time now, I’ve preferred music much more than TV; TV doesn’t interest me much anymore.
So, I got up, left the flat, exercised, had coffee, and walked to Largo do Machado to find some shops that sell headphones. Since I haven’t bought headphones in a long time, I don’t know which ones are good or bad; I will only know they are the right ones when I see them. My intuition will tell me.
I went to two or three shops I knew and others I didn’t know, but I didn’t buy anything; it felt wrong. Either the sound quality wasn’t what I wanted, or they were overpriced. Something wasn’t 100% in any case, so I gave up and walked home without my much-needed headphones.
The afternoon was slow, and Yasmin and Nalva did not want to do anything special. I suggested we go out for dinner, since tomorrow would be a small farewell dinner because Nalva would be in São Paulo for work.
It was about half past six when we left home; we walked around, still deciding where to have dinner. I then remembered Planalto do Chopp at the corner of Rua Senador Vergueiro and Rua Barão do Flamengo.
It is an enormous commercial restaurant with many tables inside and outside on the street. On Saturday night, the place buzzed with people in beachwear. They had come straight from the beach with friends to eat and drink before going home. It’s very Carioca to go to a restaurant or bar after the beach.
Twenty years ago, I would do this all the time in Ipanema, Leblon, and Copacabana, as the Carioca culture favours restaurants that are more open-plan, without a wall or a door, without any form of partition at the front of the establishments; people can enter, come and go as they please. It is an unwritten rule of informality in Rio, and being a part of it is very enjoyable.
Luckily, we found a nice table outside on the pavement in the middle of the hive of tables and movement. I ordered two glasses of wine for Nalva and me, and a matte (iced tea) for Yasmin. We also ordered a barbecue hot plate with a variety of meats, including steak, sausage, pork, and chicken.
It was also accompanied by rice, fries, molho accompanhar (a delicious vinaigrette sauce made from chopped onion, tomatoes, and peppers), and farofa (a meal made from toasted cassava. It is eaten mainly in Brazil.
You can buy it commercially produced and packaged, but you can also prepare it at home using family recipes. Most recipes will also contain varying amounts of salt, smoked meat, and spices; it is tasty, but it is like eating gravel.
Simple food but abundant and tasty, more than enough for the three of us.
We talked and decided on things for the upcoming week, when Nalva won’t be here. It was enjoyable. Fate brought Nalva and me back together as friends so we can see and understand our differences, find closure in our relationship, and, more importantly, have peace for the future because we have a daughter in the middle.
I ordered a second glass of wine, paid the bill, and asked the waiter to pack up the rest of the food so we could take it home. This time, as on many other occasions, we gave the food to a homeless mother living in an encampment in front of a shop on the main street as we headed home. It was a pleasant walk home on a cool Carioca winter evening, so nice for everyone.
In bed by 11.30 p.m.
Thank you very much.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
