Sunset over Ipanema |
Activities of daily living transcend time and place. Even in the glorious city of Rio de Janeiro, you
still need to get up, get dressed (even if only in a pair of shorts!), eat
something – preferably healthy – and set about the business of your day. For most people and certainly for most of my
adult life, that business was a paying (and sometimes non-paying) job. Retired folks like me benefit from having one or
more projects – often volunteer work or cultural pursuits. But inevitably, whether your major activities
are for pay or pleasure, there are always errands to run and chores to be
done.
My first day in Rio was like that. My husband and I arrived in this wonderful
city early last week. By the time we got
to our short-term rental apartment, it was almost 4 o’clock in the afternoon. The sun was shining brightly. We couldn’t resist leaving immediately to
walk to the nearby beach, the world famous Ipanema to watch the sun set over the
Dois Irmãos, the “Two Brothers”. The
Dois Irmãos are two large granite morros or promontories that mark the western
end of the Ipanema and Leblon beaches.
Watching the sun set over these gigantic rocks is a popular, early evening pastime
in Rio – we joined a crowd of folks to witness a spectacular display.
Laundry Drying |
The next morning after my husband went to work, I set about
my chores. First I did the laundry,
washing dirty clothes by hand in the big sink in the kitchen. There is no washing machine in our small urban
apartment but it was fun, even relaxing to splash around in the cold soapy
water. I hung the clothes on a rack on
the small terrace and went in search of a salon to get a much-needed manicure
and pedicure. The tropical climate is hard on old feet. Retirement gratefully gives me time to do these things. On my
way back to our apartment I discovered a farmer’s market nearby. I went home to get grocery bags and returned
to buy fresh food. First I went to the neighborhood
supermarket. We needed some basics, mortadella
(despite its fat content, I consider this Italian-style bologna a basic in
Brazil), milk, yogurt, shampoo and such. The supermarket was ridiculously crowded for
a weekday early afternoon. I asked the woman
serving me in the deli “What’s up?” She
laughed and told me it was a holiday week.
Of course I realized it was the week of Easter – a much bigger holiday
here in Brazil than in my homeland of the United States. Along
with many other “idosos”, i.e., senior citizens, I waited in line for the
cashier. Our line was long, stretching
back beyond the beginning of the grocery aisles but the other lines were even
longer.
Chocolate eggs for sale |
The woman in front of me and I
started chatting about everyday things, buying chocolate eggs for Easter,
the warm weather, the difficult politics of Brazil and what not. Although I haven’t gained fluency in
Portuguese I find that I can converse at least enough for casual chitchat. My new found friend insisted that I use her
“preferred client” card so that I could get any discounts available. She made me, a part time resident, feel very welcome.
Fresh garlic for sale |
After finishing at the supermarket, I walked to the farmer’s
market to buy fresh fish, fruits and vegetables. I am always amazed at the variety of fruits available in Brazil – pineapple, mangoes, papayas, persimmons,
melons, oranges, limes, and all sorts of lovely fruit that we don’t get in the
northern hemisphere. In addition to
fruit I bought garlic, shrimp, arugula, tomatoes, onions, watercress and
basil. After I’d purchased
everything I wanted, my big shopping bag was full and I had several plastic
bags hanging from my arms. I am stronger
than when I arrived in Brazil after two months of consistent workouts at the
excellent gym in Piracicaba and regular swimming, walking and yoga in the
Amazon. Nevertheless, by the time I got
back to my apartment building I thought my arms would drop off.
I felt contented as I put the groceries away. There is a pleasure in the consistent, simple
practices of daily living – washing dirty clothes, hanging them up to dry,
procuring food, cooking, doing the dishes and cleaning the house. While these practices are often shared across
cultures, in many parts of the world, some activities of daily living are
unfairly difficult due to lack of safety or freedom or financial capacity. Too often there isn’t adequate food or potable
water.
Sometimes it is necessary to get help with the activities of
daily life – and, if at all possible, to pay a living wage for such help. As a busy working mother I often needed to
hire help. So did my own mother both in
the prime of her life and as she aged and lost the ability to care for
herself. My mother was a socialist at
heart, her English parents were both active in the labor movements of the early
twentieth century. She imparted some of
her philosophy to me – particularly the importance of equality and treating all
people with respect. In today’s world,
some of these values are being forgotten, perhaps even lost. From my perspective, such loss undervalues us
all. If we forget our basic shared
humanity, how will we solve the difficult problems that face all of us? For me, the simple activities of daily living
are reminders that all of us have similar needs. When I am living abroad, this
recognition helps me connect with other people even if my language skills and
cultural background are quite different.
The Entrance to the Imperial Palace |
The last emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, authorized a German
born, naturalized Brazilian engineer, Júlio Frederico Koeler to plan and build the city in
1843. At Dom Pedro II’s request, Koeler
designed the city carefully, with a pleasing layout of cobblestone streets,
praças and churches including a beautiful cathedral, São Pedro de Alcãntara. This impressive building, with a delicate
spire that dominates the end of the central boulevard, is the burial place of
Dom Pedro II.
São Pedro de Alcãntara Cathedral |
Dom Pedro II was an enlightened and benevolent emperor. Given the royal circumstances and the time in
history of his birth, I doubt that he spent much time doing the laundry. However, he was a very intelligent man –
someone who I suspect would have been successful and productive regardless of
when and into what circumstances he was born.
He was a highly disciplined, educated and tolerant man whose positive contributions
to Brazil’s economic and cultural development and support of education are
considerable. During his reign, and
largely as a result of his and his daughter's influence, slavery was abolished. Despite being born into the monarchy, he lived
simply and worked collaboratively to strengthen the Brazilian representative
government and the country.
Beer Brewing! |
Modern day Petrópolis is both a cultural and historical
monument to this great man and an important commercial center for clothing
manufacture in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
It is also home to the Bohemia Brewing Company and an extremely interesting
beer museum. We ended our visit to the pretty
town with a visit to the museum – discovering much to my delight that the
development of beer pre-dated the development of writing! How delightful is that?