Days with Friends

Sunday, Mar. 6

I was tired from being up late last night, but I got up at 9:00. I read for two hours until Maria Helena and Linese got up. We had breakfast, then I went to the beaches.

I walked down Copacabana Beach and then Ipanema Beach. I watched people. They were everywhere--on the beaches, on the sidewalks, on the half of the street which is closed except for pedestrians on Sundays. The sad thing to see is the size of so many bodies today. When I came here the first time 7-8 years ago, it was noticeable how slender and pretty the bodies were. Now, it is more obvious how many bellies are protruding over the swimsuits. There are still some beautiful bodies but not nearly as many as there used to be.

At 4:00 p.m. I went to Ana´s apartment. Ib and their daughter were there, but Ana had been delayed. Her computer is down, and she had gone to a cyber café to complete a translation job. Ib and I visited for two hours until Ana arrived. Then the three of us visited another hour. They had many questions about degree programs (master´s for Ana and doctoral for Ib) in the U.S. They were hoping to try to get grants that would cover their costs while getting degrees. I had to explain that grants seldom cover all expenses and that it would be difficult to try to apply for grants, programs, and a student visa at the same time. Also, it is doubtful that the government would let someone on a student visa bring a child into the country with them. But I encouraged them to contact a person at a university that has a degree program and ask if it might be possible to apply for what they want. I explained that someone there should be happy to talk to them and give them an idea if what they want to do is possible, how much money would be available through a grant there, what the cost of living would be, etc. They are used to the Danish system where tuition and fees are free and the government pays students´ living expenses while they attend university. They are desperately wanting their lives to become easier, but there is no shortcut or easy way to accomplish that or everyone with a hard life would have already done the same thing.

Maria Helena and I had planned to go to a concert tonight. Some of her friends are in a group that was performing. She called, however, to say she was running late and could not make it. Linese and I watched TV, visited, discussed the differences between cute, pretty, and beautiful, etc. We ate leftovers, and I was tired and ready for bed at 10:30.

Monday, Mar. 7

Maria Helena needed to work at the apartment, and I needed to enjoy the city. I left about 10:00 a.m. for the day.

First, I walked along Copacabana Beach. It was too bright to really enjoy it at that time of the day. So I took the metro to the downtown area. I stopped by the modern, open-air cathedral. On the outside, I think it is ugly. But I have always enjoyed the inside. The stained glass windows are beautiful, and there is always nice recorded music being played. The construction creates a breeze through the building, so it is a nice place to relax.

From there, I caught a streetcar to St. Teresa, a hilltop area. I stayed on the streetcar until it passed the castle-like house that is the home of Maria Helena´s friend Luis (and that is on most postcards of this part of town). Then I walked back down to the square where Marco, a man I met on my first visit here, has a restaurant. Unfortunately, it is closed today. I have eaten there and visited Marco on every trip I have made to Rio, but now I will have to miss it this time.

I walked to another square that is the end of the line for one of the streetcars. There, I read until the streetcar arrived. Then I returned to town on it.

I ate lunch at a place that I have always noticed is busy with the office workers eating there. I had food from the state of Minas Gerais—two flavorful pork chops, rice, black beans, and a shredded green (kale?) that has been wilted in a pan of hot grease.

I returned to Copacabana, and it was much nicer to be at the beach. There were some clouds in the sky and there were far more people. By then, all the organized activities (exercise groupos, volleyball games, soccer games, etc.) were in progress. I just walked and watched.

Ildone and her son Antionio were coming to visit at 7:00. (Adelmo, the husband and father, was out of town selling their car.) Because of that and because Maria Helena had hinted for it, I bought supplies to make guacamole. Unfortunately, the avocados weren´t quite ripe enough and I had to cut them up rather than mash them. The flavor was fairly good, however. I also made a dip using plain yogurt and onion mix, since guacamole is considered to be quite exotic here. (Avocados are eaten only as a sweet fruit here and are never salted.) Maria Helena loves guacamole, but Ildone preferred the onion dip.

Antonio is so cute. The last time I saw him, he was a baby. Now, he is a handsome boy almost five years of age. In general, he is undisciplined like so many other children today, but tonight he wasn´t so bad until after we had had a nice visit of about an hour.

It was a quiet evening in the apartment. Maria Helena showed me some of her photography. She is quite talented. I encouraged her to consider entering some of her photos in a contest.