Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 24oC, warmish, sunny, and slightly overcast.
It is Yasmin’s birthday; she is sixteen today; where has the time gone? The issue in the morning was that as she had school in the morning, I wanted to see her before she went, but I did not want to miss doing my exercise.
So, I got up at four-thirty, went to the park, and did a quick generic session so that I could quickly pass by the baker’s and buy something nice for her to eat before she went to school. To my surprise and delight, when I entered the baker’s, Nalva was already there buying some nice things for Yasmin for breakfast.
Seeing her mother taking the trouble to buy something nice for our daughter’s birthday was such a pleasant surprise. This is probably one of the highlights of the day for me. She bought pão doce(sweet bread), pão de queijo(cheese bread), sonho(dream, an extremely sweet Brazilian sweet), and some other things that Yasmin loves.
Yasmin left for school late with her mother, and I began to give classes. Later, after school, Yasmin sent me a message saying she was in a nearby shopping centre with her best friend, Iza; it is a teenager’s thing. When she later arrived, we had a late lunch, and in the early evening, Nalva arrived. The idea was for us to go to a restaurant of Yasmin’s choice.
Unfortunately, she chose KFC, which I hate. The last time I went to KFC was in England with my mother. She, too, likes KFC and invited me out for something to eat. We went to a horrible KFC franchise near where my mother lives. The place was dirty, and all the windows were smudged with grease. I hated it; we had to wait for a long time, there was slow service, and the food was below average.
As it is Yasmin’s birthday, I will have to swallow a frog and accept going to KFC; there is one in Catete, a 15-minute walk from where we live. On the way, it brought back lots of good memories from where we lived here in the past.
Along the way, we passed by numerous food trailers aligned along the side of the pavement selling fried food with tiny stools and chairs for you to sit and eat outside and soak up the atmosphere of the carioca night.
The super sophisticated newsstands that only exist there in Flamengo and Catete in Rio sell everything from newspapers to tobacco, books, mobile phone accessories, and toys. On the way, we passed by a new complex of mini shops and restaurants with alfresco dining outside that were not there two or three years ago. Life is fluid; sometimes, we think it is stagnant and that it is not changing, but it is constantly changing, even in its incubatory form.
We got to KFC, found a table, and ordered, and what we ordered was very disappointing compared to what we paid. An enormous bucket looking empty, half full of chicken wings, was not very complimentary. What could we say or do? I have to admit that even though there was little, the hot, freshly fried, and tender wings were really good and melted in our mouths.
We were feeling a bit dissatisfied with the food options available to us, so we decided to swing by Raimundo’s street-side barbecue stand on our way home. I’ve known him for more than two decades, and we thought it would be a great idea to buy some barbecue spits from him, bring them home, and make sandwiches or whatever we wanted. We were all excited about the idea.
We made our way to Raimundo’s stand, and fortunately, he was still working. We then made a quick stop at the bakery to pick up some bread. Everything went according to plan, and in no time, we were back home enjoying some typical Brazilian churrasquinho de gato (barbecue on a spit) in rolls. They were even better than KFC, and we were all pleased with our decision.
The day was very special for various reasons:
- I have many bad memories from living with Nalva, but now I see a better, more positive side to her. I still think that she is difficult, like we all are in some ways but she is the mother of my younger daughter, a hard worker, and has her good points.
- Going to Catete in the evening and walking around the streets, the images, the smells, and movement reminded me of how good it was living there but buried under the fights, arguments, confusion, etc. Even though there were bad days, there were good days and living there was genuinely nice, and I am thankful for it.
- Going out with the three of us was an enjoyable experience, and I think it was also perfect for Yasmin, our daughter, to experience it.
Finally, I think Yasmin has had a very pleasant day. In fact, she has had twenty-one very lovely and enjoyable days, and I do not think it has finished yet!
In bed by 11.30 pm.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
