Journalled on Thursday, 15 June 2023: Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 24 °C, hot, sunny, and slightly overcast.
I was up at 4:30 pm and in the street by five.
I was back home, showered and changed by 6:30, and was ready for the first class at 7 am. Now, Tuesdays and Thursdays are my heaviest days for classes.
However, I still had time to call the despachante (forwarding agent) to resolve the problem with my Brazilian ID. Five years ago, I had just renewed my Brazilian ID, as it must be renewed every ten years, when I was mugged near Maracana by four Flamengo football supporters. I lost my rucksack, which contained my laptop and some documents, including my Brazilian ID.
I was going out with Jacqueline, a beautiful and complicated woman in Tijuca, and I was living in Benfica, about 2 km from where she lived. It was midnight on a Wednesday, and we had just argued, so she told me to go. I left and walked to Praça Bandeira, where I would take a taxi home when, at that moment, thousands of Flamenguistas (Flamengo football fans) were leaving the stadium after a match.
Imagine seeing a foreigner, more like an alien, wearing a Panama hat and a rucksack at midnight alone in one of the most dangerous places in Rio, especially after a Flamengo match in Maracanã. It started with one, then two or three more jumped at me, trying to take my rucksack.
I fought. I hit one or two, but there were too many; one came from the side and kicked my knee, which put me to the ground; they got my rucksack, and they were off. I still have problems with my right knee to this day. It is not 100%. It may need surgery.
They took my rucksack, my work computer, and my Brazilian ID, which I need when travelling abroad. I should have renewed my ID earlier, but due to frequent life changes and the two-year lockdown during the pandemic, I need a second copy now that I’m travelling to England.
So, I called my despachante, and to my pleasant surprise, the cost for renewing the ID was the same as three years ago, and it would be fairly simple to do. Claudio asked me to email him some documents, which I did immediately.
In half an hour, the appointment to present myself at the Federal Police and the protocol were done and confirmed. I transferred the money into his bank account, and everything was arranged for the 26th of this month.
There is very little I am scared of, but going to public authorities, especially in Brazil, is a particular fear of mine, which is why I have not done so before. I had created an eight-metre-high wall in my head, but in half an hour, this wall was climbed, dominated, and conquered, and now it is in the past.
The problems we have in life are never what we imagine. Of course, there are problems, and they are our problems, and some are much more challenging than others. But really, they are just there to test us. As soon as we face this test and own up to it, it just disappears before us, and it is done.
This is why I believe so much in the saying that we are our own worst enemies. “No one can inflict so much damage on themselves as we can.” Maybe our problems are a test for us; if we pass, we go to the next stage or level.
If we do not pass or cannot resolve that issue, then we will continue at the same stage in our lives until we learn to own up to what we must do, face it, and evolve.
Job done, let us continue ahead!!!
In bed by 9 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
