Life, Brazil and Resilience!!!
Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 24 degrees, warm, sunny and slightly overcast. Julie contacted me yesterday, or on Friday. I can’t remember exactly, but it was the first time in almost a month. She asked me to call her. I did, and the conversation was a little cold at first, with both of us a little defensive. As we began […]
Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 25 degrees, warm, sunny and with a blue sky. Today I had a pleasant surprise. Jim, the Scottish owner of the more sophisticated cafe in Wordsley, sent me a message. He is Julie’s boss, and over the months I was there, we began to build a kind of friendship. I like him, the cafe is […]
Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 33 degrees, hot, sunny, but slightly cloudy. It is Sunday. I am with a super cold. I should have had lunch at the Yacht Club, but I was too sick to go, so I had to cancel. Today, I do not want to do much—a long walk in the morning to try to open up […]
Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 26 degrees, hot, Sunny and beautiful blue skies; a beautiful day. I am still in my first week back in Rio, Brazil, and I’m with mixed feelings. I am happy and content to be back and near Yasmin, Jessica, and Nalva, too, and, in many ways, to feel at home with what has been, more […]
Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 29 degrees, hot, Sunny and beautiful blue skies; a lovely day. It’s my first workday back in Rio. In England, it was four hours ahead of Brazil when I left, so I had the morning until 11 a.m. free to do what I wanted. Usually, I exercised and journaled in the local café near my […]
Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 18 degrees, cool, sunny and slightly overcast. It is Thursday, and D-Day for returning to Brazil. I think my mother hadn’t slept, because even though I had set my alarm for 4 a.m., she was calling me at 5 to 4. I am almost sure she’s happy I’m going and wants to make sure I don’t miss […]
Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 17 degrees, cool, but sunny and with blue skies. It’s midweek and the day before I travel back to Brazil. I’m feeling strange, a bit anxious, wary of the unknown, and both happy and sad at the same time. I’ve sensed for some time that living with my mother is toxic, and I need to leave, take […]
Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 19 degrees, cool, overcast with showers. It is Tuesday, two days before I return to Brazil. I do not know what to expect; it has been seven months since I was there. Will everything be the same, or have there been changes? Or have I changed during this time? I also have the Julie factor in the […]
Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 20 degrees, warmish, sunny and a little overcast. It’s Monday, and the start of the week, I will return to Brazil. I thought I wouldn’t feel anxious or uptight, but I do. I was up early and exercising in the back garden. I had the usual chat with Julie this morning, which lasted nearly an hour. It […]
Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 23 degrees, hot, sunny and beautiful blue skies. Quite a productive and enjoyable day. I am gradually getting ready to return to Brazil. I won’t see Julie until the middle of the afternoon; I have promised my mother to have lunch with her. I know and feel that she might not genuinely appreciate it, seeing it more […]