Sometimes in this crazy life, when the stress level builds to boiling, all you need is a little bit of what passes for normal. In the middle of brazil, the western concept of ‘normal’ isn’t exactly the easiest thing to find. This is a ramshackle country, the children here are oft times trained to be pick-pockets, you walk with your purse slung commando-style across your chest, you don’t carry a lot of cash etc etc. But none the less, normal you sometimes can find.
How would you like to go to an actual modern, air conditioned shopping mall?
That…sounds like a really good idea
I am not a shopper, but just being around some kind of structure that was recognizable is a boon at the moment. A mall is a mall is a mall. Just walking into the air conditioning brought a sense of overwhelming relief.
So, the reason I brought you here…I’m told they have a pretty good bookstore
At which point I looked at the huge storefront standing beside me. It was beautiful; it was almost-coming-home beautiful.
But…but I don’t speak Portuguese
No, but I figured…you could breathe in
And he was right, I stood in the doorway and took one almost painfully deep breath. Fresh paper. New stories, unbroken spines. I adore the smell of books.
Journals I wonder if they have journals…you know the first journal I ever really kept was just a spiral bound notebook, oooh like this one!
Enjoy, I’ll be over there
So I went and comfortably lost myself picking out yet another journal. I’m very particular about my journals, they have to ‘speak’ to me, and they have to say the right thing. I cast aside most of them, cartoon cats and rock bands aren’t my thing; there were a lot of Disney ones, many of which were nice enough, the Cheshire cat one caught my eye briefly, but it’s Tink I always look for. Most of them were too attitude-ridden, or too ‘cute’, but then there was one, at the very back, just one; instead of a traditional image it was pencil sketch style, with big wide eyes looking out at me that seemed somehow hopeful, and the words “today, I will shine” written across the front.
One more added to the collection. I suppose that one of these days I’ll fill them all up.
Eventually we ambled down to lunch, which was one of the yummiest lunches I’ve tasted in a while. Probably because I didn’t even realize how hungry I was until I started eating, but also because the beef sandwich I was so happy to be sinking my teeth into was absolutely perfectly prepared and the bread was still warm! Nom nom nom. Also, fresh watermelon juice is to die for…just an observation.
Of course, eventually we had to make our way back out into the sticky Brazilian heat to catch a taxi home, though thankfully the car at least had air conditioning! I swear I’m losing several pounds a day just because of the heat in this country!
Amusingly enough although the cab’s radio was naturally broadcasting a Portuguese station it seems there are some things that even in the middle of the Amazon you can’t get away from, smattered in between the lilting, almost lulling, Portuguese were a few phrases that definitely stood out “Hillary Clinton” “Bernie Sanders’ and last btu not least ‘Donald Trump”
At that point, there’s really nothing you can do except lean your head back against the seat and laugh…