Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 31 °C, hot, Sunny, overcast and a little stormy at the end of the day.
It has turned out to be a pretty productive day, even though it wasn’t expected. A heavy exercise session from 5 until almost 7 am to begin classes. A speedy shower, a change of clothes and right into giving a couple of classes, one after another.
I then went to the local greengrocer to buy lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, onions, and other salad ingredients for the next few days. I have a large Tupperware container that seals reasonably well. After cleaning everything in the kitchen sink with water and vinegar, I dried the lettuce and arugula as much as possible so they wouldn’t go off too quickly.
I added the cherry tomatoes and onion. Now, on standby in the fridge, I have a container full of fresh salad that I can use with almost anything, at any time, for a meal. Last week, I mixed some salad with cold rice and added extra virgin olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper, and it was terrific.
I don’t know what is happening, but I am feeling more serenely confident with everything I am doing and living at this moment.
I am learning to give myself some slack and not to be too hard on myself. It is an ambiguous feeling of well-being that I cannot quite pinpoint, but it is there with me all the time, everywhere I go. It feels good.
In the afternoon, I gave a class to Dona Vera, who has been studying with me for at least 5 or 6 years. She began before COVID. When I had to close the school due to the lockdown, she didn’t feel comfortable with online classes but continued to pay every month.
I felt embarrassed because I was receiving something I hadn’t worked for. Despite my insistence that it was unnecessary, she continued to pay me every month. When the world began to return to normal after COVID, I offered to give her in-person classes at her home in Copacabana to reciprocate for her past kindness.
She gratefully accepted, and I felt better about giving back what she had already paid for during the long pandemic.
For the past year and a half, I have been teaching English classes twice a week to Dona Vera in person at her home in Copacabana. She is the only student for whom I offer presential lessons. I do this to show my appreciation for what she did for me during the lockdown. Despite receiving multiple requests for presential classes from others, I have declined them all and now only give them to Dona Vera.
Dona Vera continued to pay me during the pandemic despite having no obligation to do so. I feel grateful and compelled to repay my debt to her, even though she has never demanded anything in return. It makes me feel good to do so.
The classes we are having together now are more therapeutic than English, with us both speaking English and gossiping about past pupils from the school and about life in general. There is always something to learn from old people; it is just a question of stopping and listening, and you can learn a lot from them.
I like her company and her friendship. Unfortunately, lately she has been slowly receding, with her light not as bright as it used to be. I am grateful to have known her and to have her in my life. Thank you, Vera!!!
After arriving home from Dona Vera, I talked a little to Yasmin, gave a class and went to bed early.
In bed by 9:00 pm.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
