Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 31oC, hot, Sunny and slightly overcast.
This Tuesday was just another Tuesday of exercise, work, and resolving problems, but it was filled with a pinch of happiness throughout the day.
I completed a strenuous workout in the morning, arriving home drenched in sweat but feeling content and accomplished. After a shower and changing clothes, I was ready to give classes.
After lunch, I would have to give a class to Dona Vera at 3:30 in the afternoon. The temperature at that time would be in the middle to high 30s. Boiling!!!
She had sent me a message earlier confirming our class, but at the same time, she gave me the option of cancelling if I wished.
I could have cancelled, and everything would have been okay. I wouldn’t have needed to walk 3 kilometres there in the boiling sun and back; it would have been a blessing, but I decided to go and do my duty and what was right.
Deep down, I know she likes my company in the afternoon, and I think it is good for her. Sometimes, the classes are more about talking even in Portuguese and giving warmth and affection to a person verbally than objectively trying to teach somebody in a fixed, didactic way. It is all a part of what a teacher is trying to do and should do.
Halfway through the class, she offered me a coffee, which I accepted. We went to the kitchen to have our coffee there with her reliable, convenient, and expensive Nespresso machine.
After the coffee, we returned to the living room, where I tried to continue, but the rhythm of the class had gone; it was broken, and it was too late. The class was almost finished, and after about 10 minutes, I was leaving.
Later in the evening, after going to the supermarket, talking to Yasmin and doing some other chores, I received a simple message from Dona Vera thanking me for the class.
Even though I had thought that the class was didactically weak, she informed me that one of the highlights in her life nowadays was having lessons with me and that the class was perfect.
The message was concise and straightforward, but I could feel the warmth of her sincerity and the gratefulness in every word that she had written. I promptly answered back, telling her that it was my pleasure and that I enjoyed giving her classes, and I thanked her for her very kind words.
Later that evening, I beat Yasmin at chess, 2-1, for the first time. Overall, it was a good day!
In bed by 9:30 pm.
Thanks again.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
