Santo Cristo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 27 degrees, hot, overcast and with showers.
It’s Wednesday, and in just over two weeks, Julie will be arriving in Rio.
Am I excited?
I don’t know if ‘excited’ is the right word. I am calm, slightly anxious, but pleased to know she will arrive soon. It’s a mystery to me, and probably to anyone else, how it will turn out. As I just wrote, this will be a holiday for me, the kind of holiday I have never truly had!
A solid month without teaching classes, worrying about money, and spending special time with someone I want to be with. I haven’t told her this yet, but I will, just as she told me she has never really had a holiday where she can relax with someone she truly wants to be with; it’s pretty much the same for me.
I want to make the most of every moment to enjoy our time together.
The only work I’ll be doing during this period will be blog posting and uploading some YouTube videos. Whenever I can, I want to set aside an hour and a half each day for these activities. Classes no.
Although I will miss teaching, and it will feel quite strange, it is good to take a break from teaching during this time to recharge my batteries and invest a little more in myself as well.
I’ve always carried the burden of teaching; the pressure of having to instruct has consistently weighed on me, along with the stress of bills and supporting others.
Now that I have a bit of financial freedom, just enough to breathe, relax, collect my thoughts, consider the future, and properly bid farewell to the old year while welcoming the new one with someone special.
Not much happens in the first couple of months of the new year here in Brazil, so for many, giving classes won’t make much difference. In a way, I’m doing my pupils a favour by giving them a longer break because everything really only restarts after Carnaval.
This brief month that Julie will be here will be very special for me, and hopefully for us in many ways.
We have not slept together yet; it will be our first time. We haven’t lived together in such a short-term, permanent arrangement before. If this month goes well, what will our plans be? Will we stay together in the future, or part ways even if everything is good?
We can love someone but not necessarily be able to live with that person. We might enjoy their company, but something minor could prevent it from progressing further. There are so many variables and possibilities that the whole situation, like any, remains a mystery, and all we can do is try our best in the sincerest way possible.
It’s not easy, no, but we must try.
I feel that our relationship experiences some minor fluctuations, but overall, it is clear we enjoy each other’s company very much. It is normal for us to talk for hours without noticing how long it has been. I am not used to it; it is something new and strange for me, although I appreciate it greatly.
When I was in England, our time together was very meaningful. We cherished each other’s company deeply. It seemed that the time we spent apart there acted as a catalyst for what we are experiencing now.
We talk every day; we have spoken honest and sincere, frank words to each other, but never unkind, and I believe that is very important.
It all depends on when she arrives and what will happen. I expect only good things, and it is our responsibility to ensure that, only ours, nobody else’s.
There is a lot to happen in the next couple of months with Julie, my work, Brazil, and England. I feel that I have been planting, and I still am, and that next year I will be able to start harvesting what I have already planted.
Let it come, and I will receive it all with open arms!
In bed by 9 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
