Starting My Return to Texas

Tuesday, Mar. 8

Ib invited me to the apartment he shares with Adilsin (spelling?) for lunch today at 2:00. I felt lazy all morning, because I had not slept well last night. It had been so hot for me. The fan kept me cool, but the part of my body touching the bed was too warm. I don´t think I got to sleep until 1:00 or 1:30 a.m. So I stayed here and rested until almost time for lunch.

I stopped on my way to their apartment to buy flowers. I found some very nice ones that looked beautiful on their dining table.

Adilsin is a college professor in theater education. He speaks Portuguese, Spanish and French, but his English is limited. Ib helped the two of us communicate with each other.

They have a maid who comes two times per week. She cooks food to last them between her visits. She was there and cooked the meal we had today. It was delicious and represented the food of Minas Gerais. We had carne seco (sun-dried beef that is cooked in a sauce), black beans sprinkled with manioc flour, rice, fried potatoes, fried manioc (a root vegetable), baked pureed pumpkin and a vegetable tart. Later, we had caramelized shredded coconut for dessert and also fruits (goiaba and grapes). It was a wonderful meal.

We took photos and visited, but Adilsin had to leave at 4:00 for classes he teaches. Then Ib and I visited another 45 minutes before he, too had to plan for classes he had scheduled with students tonight.

I could see that Ib was sad to see me leave. No one he knows comes to visit anymore. After one trip here, it is so far and so expensive that people tend not to return. Unfortunately, he has not made many friends here, and his ability to see them is limited by the long hours he works. I am not sure if I will come here next year, so it may be two or three years before I will be back.

I went from their apartment to Modern Music, astore with almost any CD anyone could possibly want. It turns into a bar at 5:30 p.m. each evening with live music. Tonight, it was a trio—harp, bas, and guitar. Maria Helena has a CD by them. They play new-age sounding instrumental versions of popular Brazilian songs. I wasn´t comfortable being there alone, so after listening for 30 minutes or so, I took a final walk down Copacabana Beach.

Maria Helena, Lenise, and I visited at the apartment. But Lenise had class, and Maria Helena had to see her boy friend Paulo. I watched the news and packed.

Walking: 11,116 steps (7291 aerobic steps), 505 calories, 8 km (4.8 miles)

Wednesday, Mar. 9

It´s been a long, tiring day. I didn´t sleep well again last night due to the heat and itching. My skin has gotten dry in the last few days. Then I got up at 6:30 to start my journey.

I caught a bus at 7:15 for the bus station, got there at 8:10, and caught a bus leaving for São Paulo at 8:10. It was a 6-hour trip to here. Then I took the metro to Paraiso Station.

I got an e-mail saying the place where I stayed in January did not have a private room available; it had only dormitory beds. I am staying, therefore, at a Formula 1 Hotel this time. It is a chain owned by Accor, the same group that owns Motel 6 and Mercure Hotels. Formula 1 began in France as motels, but they are highrise hotels here. It is designed to make it easy for up to 3 people to share a room with the shower, toilet, and sink in separate compartments and a bunk bed built crosswise over the head of a double bed. It has air conditioning, TV, and a double-glazed and tinted window as well as a built-in pull-down metal shutter to block out light.

After checking into the hotel, I decided to make a test run to see how long it would take me to walk to the nearest bus stop for the airport bus. It took 22 minutes, so I will leave the hotel about 35 minutes early on Friday morning. I could take the metro for 1 stop and maybe cut 10-12 minutes off the trip, but I won´t do that unless something happens to slow me down at the hotel that morning.

There are several Arabic restaurants near the hotel. All I had eaten today was the snack package (chips, juice, and 3 small candies) given to us by the bus company. I went to Arabic Chic, a popular restaurant down the street, and had their Damascus plate—checken kebab, shredded chicken on rice, tabouli salad, humus, and pita bread.

I was so tired that I went to bed at 9:15. I had tried to finish reading the final 10-12 pages of the novel I am currently reading, but I just couldn´t. I slept well for 10 hours!

Walking: 11,329 steps (7318 aerobic), 487 calories, 7.7 km (4.6 miles)

Thursday, Mar. 10 (Part I)

I chose not to pay for breakfast at my hotel. I will leave tomorrow before it is served, and the menu seemed limited—bread, butter, jam, juice, and coffee. Then, as I reviewed my guidebook, I recalled the special place at the market called Hocca Bar. The lines were so long by 11:00 a.m. when I was there that I decided to go there today for an early lunch.

I walked all the way from my hotel—about 4 metro stops and another distance equal to half a metro stop (about 4.5 km or a little more than 2.5 miles according to my pedometer). As I came, I happened upon a celebration at the main fire station. There was a band, a flag corps, displays of all their trucks and other vehicles, and displays of specialty items—boat rescue equipment, fire protection equipment, equipment for lowering injured people, the rescue dogs, etc. It was fun to see, and it was nice to hear the band.

When I arrived at the market, I realized something special is happening here, too. There were many policement outside, and there were many men in dark suits with walkie-talkies. They were placed at each aisle. They look like secret service men, so probably the President or a foreign official is coming here sometime today.
I broke the rules at Hocca Bar without knowing it. You are supposed to order and pay at the cashier station before being seated. She gives you a slip to give to the waiter. I just took a seat. I asked the waiter what was best, but he implied it all was good. A man several seats down the bar said he spoke English, so I explained that I had seen most people ordering a sandwich there before. He and a lady beside me gave the same response—Mortebela. So that is what I had. It is in a small French loaf about 10 cm by 20 cm (4 inches by 8 inches). It is thick with luncheon meat that has been fried on a griddle (about 2.5 cm or 1 inch of meat). There are two slices of mozzarella cheese and a layer of sun-dried tomatoes. They had picante sauce which the waited indicated is normally used on it, so I squirted that onto the sandwich. It was delicious. And it and a can of cola cost only 7 Raid ($2.70)! By the time I finished, I could see the normal procedure there—line up to order and pay at the cashier station, then stand behind a stood where someone is eating until they finish. It reminded me of how people do at the Neiman-Marcus snack bar at Northpark in Dallas, except there you just stand behind someone waiting for a seat and do not order and pay in advance.