![\"little_girl_ginza\"](\"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/little_girl_ginza-682x1024.jpg\")
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 \u2018normal\u2019 isn\u2019t 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\u2019t carry a lot of cash etc etc. But none the less, normal you sometimes can find.<\/p>\n
How would you like to go to an actual modern, air conditioned shopping mall?<\/em><\/p>\n That\u2026sounds like a really good idea<\/em><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n So, the reason I brought you here\u2026I\u2019m told they have a pretty good bookstore<\/em><\/p>\n At which point I looked at the huge storefront standing beside me. It was beautiful; it was almost-coming-home beautiful.<\/p>\n But\u2026but I don\u2019t speak Portuguese<\/em><\/p>\n No, but I figured\u2026you could breathe in<\/em><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Journals I wonder if they have journals\u2026you know the first journal I ever really kept was just a spiral bound notebook, oooh like this one!<\/em><\/p>\n Enjoy, I\u2019ll be over there<\/em><\/p>\n So I went and comfortably lost myself picking out yet another journal. I\u2019m very particular about my journals, they have to \u2018speak\u2019 to me, and they have to say the right thing. I cast aside most of them, cartoon cats and rock bands aren\u2019t 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\u2019s Tink I always look for. Most of them were too attitude-ridden, or too \u2018cute\u2019, 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 \u201ctoday, I will shine\u201d written across the front.<\/p>\n One more added to the collection. I suppose that one of these days I\u2019ll fill them all up.<\/p>\n Eventually we ambled down to lunch, which was one of the yummiest lunches I\u2019ve tasted in a while. Probably because I didn\u2019t 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\u2026just an observation.<\/p>\n 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\u2019m losing several pounds a day just because of the heat in this country!<\/p>\n Amusingly enough although the cab\u2019s radio was naturally broadcasting a Portuguese station it seems there are some things that even in the middle of the Amazon you can\u2019t get away from, smattered in between the lilting, almost lulling, Portuguese were a few phrases that definitely stood out \u201cHillary Clinton\u201d \u201cBernie Sanders\u2019 and last btu not least \u2018Donald Trump\u201d<\/p>\n At that point, there\u2019s really nothing you can do except lean your head back against the seat and laugh\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 \u2018normal\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly the easiest thing to … Continue reading