Saturday the 23rd of September 2023:“A Saturday of Routine and Reflection”!!!
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 35oC, very hot, sunny and muggy.
In some ways, it was just a typical Saturday. In other ways, not entirely.
As usual, I woke up early and went to the Portuguese bakery. I wrote in my journal and had a couple of large coffees. I also bought some bread, cheese, and ham for breakfast for Yasmin and Nalva. When I returned to the flat, they were still asleep, so I quickly changed into my gym clothes, grabbed Perola’s leash, and headed out to the park. It was already boiling, nearly 30°C, even though it was only 7:30 in the morning.
Whenever we go to the park, I take her off the leash as soon as we pass through the entrance gates. She sticks to me like a shadow as we walk towards the far end of the park, where there are many trees, concrete benches, and tables. There is also a post where I can tie my TRX straps to do exercises.
Perola knows the routine. She stays near me while I skip first, alternate between skipping and doing some aerobic exercises, and finally use the TRX straps for some exercises. Most of the time, Perola stays close to me. I tell her to go and explore, and sometimes she does. Now and then, a dog and its owner pass by.
Perola likes to greet the owners but not the dogs. Since she’s submissive, there is never any stress or confusion with the other dogs, who are jealous. They all quickly realise she isn’t a threat and isn’t trying to dispute anything with their owners. Some owners like it when Perola greets them, while others don’t.
I pack up after about 45 minutes to an hour of skipping and doing exercises. Before leaving, we do a lap of the park together. Once again, Perola always stays close to me, only wandering about 5 meters off before quickly returning. She’s a very good dog, and there’s no stress when going out with her.
We walked to the park along the seafront and returned by going through Flamengo, which was not around it. I always enjoy going one way to a place and returning the other way. For example, in the south zone of Rio, many neighbourhoods are in front of the beach, lining the coast. I like to walk or go to a place in front of the beach and then come back through the actual neighbourhoods. Or vice versa – go inside first, and on the way back, come back in front of the beach on the coast.
On the way back, we quickly passed by the convenience store inside the petrol station to buy water. Now that I haven’t been drinking alcohol for almost a month, I enjoy drinking sparkling mineral water on my way home. This petrol station and convenience store was a frequent stop for me 10-15 years ago when I had my boxers. After going to the park with them, I would stop at the convenience store for a coffee.
I would leave them outside for 10-15 minutes and buy them water. They never complained about waiting for me outside, as they could see me through the glass windows. They would also attract a lot of attention – two beautiful boxers outside, one massive because Bruce was enormous for a boxer. However, they were always willing to compliment passersby or people who wanted to know them.
When I arrived home, it was almost 10:00 am. Nalva had already gotten up, and Yasmin was thinking about it. I already knew what I wanted to do today: work.
I want to work on posting at least one or two posts today on “The long gringo” blog and make any tweaks or changes if needed. I’m pleased with the site, although I know there is much room for improvement, which will naturally occur over time. In some ways, I feel that I have surprised myself. When I was young, I could quickly learn new things without any problem.
Even if I didn’t know how to do something, I was not afraid of teaching myself or diving into something new and learning by trial and error. I was never scared to do this. I was always willing to test myself and see where it would go. I feel that nowadays, I have lost myself a little and decharacterized myself a little with the problems of Brazil. Even though I’m 30 years older, I’m finding my old self for the first time in a long time.
The rest of the day was spent working. Nalva cooked a late lunch, almost dinner, and everything was good.
In bed by midnight.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
