Mary, Michele and me in Brazil!
Photo by Angus Wright
My sister Mary and her husband Angus, fluent speakers of Portuguese, went to Brazil for months every year. One year they asked if I’d like to meet them there. I was thrilled. My friend Michele asked me, “Can I come too?”
Next thing I know, we’re booking tickets.
I think we got 15 different shots including cholera, typhoid, tetanus, dengue fever, and hepatitis B. And then the day came and we were off to Brazil!
We saw the sights and one day we went to the beach at Ipanema. It was incredible to be in a place that had been sung about and lives in music history. Later we moved on to a tiny 2 table restaurant to have lunch. While we waited for the food, we watched people passing by. The sidewalk had heaved up near the entrance and presented an opportunity to stumble if you weren’t looking where you were going.
We promptly named the restaurant “The Stumble Inn.”
Stumble victim one was a young child. He nearly pulled his mother down with him. They recovered their balance easily and walked on with a samba grace.
The second victim was a man who almost lost it completely.
He made what looked like the beginning of a prat fall, bumping into a group ahead of him and nearly sending them sprawling. Angry shouting followed as he tried to excuse himself, pointed to the pavement, turning up his palms in a sort of Tony Soprano “what are you gonna do?” gesture. Everyone calmed down, apologizes were traded and off they went.
Shamelessly, we started taking bets on who would be the next Stumble Inn victim.
And there he was. An elderly man with a cane. Oh, no! We shot to our feet as he pitched forward and was only saved from disaster by a man walking toward him. Thankfully, both were okay. I sank back into my chair, laughing so hard, I was crying. I choked out, “It’s the 3 stages of man! The cycle of life! Childhood, adulthood and old age.”
I think the combination of the sun, relief that the elderly guy wasn’t hurt and the white wine I drank that contributed to my helpless and inappropriate merriment.
Ah, but the most spectacular stumble of them all awaited us: A man pushing a hand cart piled high with flats of soda hit the heaved-up pavement. Cans flew like bombs, bursting open, spraying people on the sidewalk, and creating chaos.
I felt for the guy.
But who knew a sidewalk could be so entertaining? I guess you could say we were very merry, just not very nice.
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