Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 26oC, warm, sunny, and slightly overcast.
MOVING DAY!!!
I was going to get up early and have my last workout in Leme, but as it was a little overcast and rainy, I thought it better not to while I was also feeling a little lazy. It was better that I had not gone; there was still much to do before the removal guy arrived at 9 am.
So, the day began with a simple series of exercises at home, a green tea, and then double-checking if everything was ready before it would be taken. When I thought that everything was more or less ready, which included taping all the boxes and sealing all the bags.
I then put everything into the corridor near the entrance to the service lift so it would be easier for Sergio, the removal guy, to take everything downstairs and load it on to his cart.
I had to disassemble my work desk, which consists of two wooden easels for the legs and a large plywood slab tabletop. The tabletop is too long for Nalva’s place; I faced a similar issue two years ago when I moved to this actual flat in Copacabana.
However, it was not such a big problem then as my bedroom was spacious enough. But for Nalva’s place, it is impossible to fit the large table full size.
There is a carpenter near my home; the idea is to stop by on the way to Flamengo to see if they can quickly cut it down to size. It should be a quick pitstop, not more than ten minutes if they can do it.
Sergio, the removal guy, had already arrived before nine, which was an excellent sign; we began loading everything onto the cart, which was a chronogram of transporting everything from the corridor into the service lift, then downstairs, from the service lift out into the hall, and then load onto the cart.
We also decided to quickly take the plywood tabletop to the carpenter’s around the corner to have it cut. Unfortunately, they did not have a slot in their schedule to cut it.
Just two cuts to resolve the problem, but they did not want to know; I was angry because of their intransigence, but what could I do? I even offered to pay more, but it was no good.
This is quite common in Brazil. When you have some small urgency and are looking for help to resolve it quickly, people with the conditions to help are not empathetic to your problem or cause. It sometimes seems that the more you are in trouble or need help, the more people want to turn their back on you.
I am not sure if it is common all over the world, if it is a characteristic of human behaviour, or if it is just with Brazil and Brazilians.
So, after coming and going from the carpenters with an enormous slab of plywood, everything was finally loaded up and secured tightly to the cart. We could now set off towards Botafogo. It is about three to four kilometres between my old place and Nalva’s.
The journey along the streets goes from Rua Duvivier into Rua Barata Ribeiro. We take the tunnel that puts us in front of the Rio Sul shopping centre, then go down to the second tunnel that leads us into Praia de Botafogo, Nalva’s street and her building at the other end, more towards Flamengo than Botafogo.
Sergio did very well; he steered his enormous and long cart and its load with ease. What surprised me even more was the speed at which he walked. I walked fast, but he was walking much faster and with the load.
He also preferred to pull the cart in the street in the middle of the traffic and not on the pavement or paths. It is more efficient, but if you know the carioca traffic, it is much more dangerous and complicated than European traffic, but everything went well.
It took about an hour to go from Copacabana to the front of Nalva’s building, which I thought was very good. Yasmin was awake and waiting for me there; Nalva was working, so it was easy, quick and uncomplicated to unload everything outside the flat in the corridor. After we had unloaded everything, I thanked and paid Sergio.
We had initially arranged R$250.00 Reais for the freight, but I decided to finally pay him R$300.00 Reias in recognition of his work and professionalism. During our walk from Copacabana to Botafogo, Sergio told me that he was from northeast Brazil.
I deeply respect people from the northeast, as they are incredibly hardworking, objective, and professional. If you are lucky enough to have them as friends, they are loyal, hospitable, and generous.
After Sergio had left, Yasmin and I tentatively organised the things until Nalva arrived. She finally arrived after 7 pm and was very tired, but we got to superficially organise everything to face the rest tomorrow. At ten pm, I was dead, and my back was killing me. I made my bed in the living room and was asleep by eleven.
Thank you.
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Richard
