Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 27 °C, sunny and slightly overcast.
Thursday, the day of action and in two days, my birthday. I am up at 4 am, in the street by 5, exercising until 7, and giving classes at 8.
Classes all morning until 3 pm, then, after a shower and a change of clothes, I caught the bus to Flamengo.
There, I picked up Antonio’s advance payment and walked to pick up Yasmin on the other side of the neighbourhood. Between Antonio’s residence and Yasmin’s, the idea is to buy a present for Dudu, who will arrive in Rio in two days.
When I arrived at Antonio’s building, we met and talked for about ten minutes, and he paid me for the next month. He also kindly put in another R$100 for my birthday instead of a bottle of wine. Antonio has always been very generous, and of course, I thanked him for his kindness. And, of course, being money instead of wine helped much more, too.
After leaving Antonio’s, I walked down Rua Paissandu towards Rua Marques de Abrantes while thinking about where to buy a present.
I was also admiring Flamengo as a neighbourhood and comparing it with Copacabana. I lived in Flamengo for almost 20 years, and before that in Copacabana for the first time. I moved from Copacabana to Flamengo because of my boxer, Bruce.
Having a boxer dog is a life-changing experience, and because of him, I thought it better to move to Flamengo because of the number of parks to walk, especially for one so active. Consequently, I fell in love with Flamengo, vowing never to return to Copacabana to live.
So, fast-forwarding after my separation from Nalva, an opportunity arose for me to move back to the south zone of Rio from the north zone, where I had been living for about three years. I was initially apprehensive because the proposal was to Copacabana, not Flamengo, but I finally moved.
During the two years I lived in Copacabana, I have learned to appreciate it as a neighbourhood and its beauty onceagain. However, when walking in Flamengo after meeting Antonio and on my way to pick up Yasmin, many old, good memories flooded back, as I was surprised by how clean, calm, and pleasant Flamengo was.
Recently, I have been feeling a lot of anxiety about going back to live with Nalva in Flamengo for a couple of months before going to England. The walk helped calm my nerves in the wake of the significant life changes about to occur.
The sun is shining, the streets are clean, with very few homeless people, and nobody is rushing or stressed, as if the world is about to end, like in Copacabana.
As I was entering Marques de Abrantes, still marvelling at the beauty and tranquillity of Flamengo, I remembered a gift shop there that specialised in enveloping images on items such as mugs, coasters, pictures, T-shirts, etc. The shop had a lot of photos of Rio, of course, and of famous bands such as The Beatles, Queen, and The Rolling Stones.
I asked the shop assistant if he had anything of Michael Jackson; Dudu loves him, and the shop assistant showed me a picture of Michael when he was still a child, at the beginning of his career, when he was still recognisable as a human being.
The price was reasonable. I asked the shop assistant to wrap it as a present and was on my way soon after.
Continuing down Rua Marques de Abrantes, I admired the surroundings, how different Flamengo is from Copacabana, and how good I would feel living here before going to England.
After a ten-minute walk, I arrived at Yasmin and Nalva’s flat. Yasmin was ready, so we took the bus back to Copacabana. We quickly passed by the supermarket because there was nothing to eat at home, and before going home, we decided to buy an açai at the lanchonete on the same street as the supermarket.
A surprise was awaiting us when we entered the lanchonete. They were refurbishing the inside of the place, and it may be linked to a review I posted on Google about the place a week earlier.
The two times I had been there before with Yasmin, I had noticed that there were no problems with the food, the service was highly efficient and helpful, and the prices were excellent, but the inside of the place was a little tatty and run-down, showing its age.
I had written more or less this in the Google Guide that appeared, asking me to review the place four or five days after going there. Then, to go back and see them cleaning up the place with a new lick of paint, making it look fresher and more welcoming for their customers, is heartwarming.
I do not know whether it was directly related to my review and they reacted to it, or just a coincidence, something that had already been planned, or that they knew this was the only thing missing in their business, since everything else was more than good.
We waited, received our açais in no time, and went home. Yasmin went to organise her bedroom, and I went to read.
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
