Celebra-drink Life
22 June 2005 (Wednesday) – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
There was a cold front that set in since last Sunday and it caused some rain yesterday. Yes, I now learn that Rio de Janeiro does rain! Time to adjust the picture-perfect postcards you have of sunny Rio de Janeiro. Last night, on the bus-ride back to Carol and Nando’s apartment from the rodoviaria, the streets were quite empty. I think the people here can handle the sun, but dissolve under the rain, so they had long scrambled home.
Today, the weather is still pretty cool. I left the apartment without my jacket and absolutely regretted it for the rest of the day.
I took a bus to Copacabana and headed out to the beach, shivering, just to take a look. If ever there was a need to take a photo of Copacabana beach nearly empty, now would be the time. But, wait… there is still one carioca in white bikini jogging along the shoreline. She is so dying of pneumonia tonight.
As I wandered down Av. Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, I took pleasure in remembering some of the stores or restaurants that I visited during my last trip here… here’s where I bought my bikini… ah, that’s the little shoe repair shop where I had my boot sewn up… oh yes, I remember going to this post office in that corner to send my parcel home… I think this is where I had my first buffet-por-quilo. Nice.
My right leg had undergone several ‘accidents’ before (hence, the sub-title: Trish tumbles through South America) and for more than a week now, I felt some pain there whenever I walk. I wanted to try and see if I could have my legs massaged but I did not want to end up in a dodgy massage parlour either.
By chance, I happened upon a tray of brochures for health-related matters in a store, and I found one for foot reflexology. The address stated on it was just 3 blocks away. Fine, I shall take a look.
I found the Centro Comercial Copacabana and went through the trashy-looking complex, looking for the address on the brochure. Useless information but just in case you need to know this… if you ever find yourself needing Arabian dresses – the sequined bra and see-through skirt combi – when in Rio de Janeiro, please visit Centro Comercial Copacabana on Rua Siqueira Campos 43, Level 3. *roll eyeballs*
Upon entering room 617, I discovered it was a doctor’s consultation room, not a place to have your run-of-the-mill foot reflexology done. A teenager playing computer games greeted me. I asked how much the consultation would cost. He said, consultation free, foot reflexology R50. R50?? That was too much. Anyway, I sat there, waiting my turn.
The doctor came out for a short while to invite the other waiting patient in. She seemed nice. Her aura appeared very warm and friendly. But I wondered what I would do with free consultation spoken in a language I could not understand. This complex also seemed to have other clinics as well. Should I go check them out first?
I left the clinic and looked at the others. Some were for plastic surgery. One was for acupuncture, tui-na (Chinese massage) and other assorted Chinese therapies… ah, if the doctor is Chinese, then I would be able to communicate with him or her. But it was very crowded, with at least 10 patients waiting in there. Another was a Japanese massage parlour… I went in and found guys dressed in tacky Japanese costumes, with very shady characters ducking in and out of private rooms and a waiting room thick with stale cigarette smoke. Argh and R80 too!! Next was another acupuncture clinic with consultation fee of R60 and treatment, extra.
I returned to the foot reflexology clinic like a docile lamb.
When the doctor was done with the other patient, she turned to smile at me. She seemed really really nice. I immediately confessed that I do not speak Portuguese. I showed her my right leg and described my problem to her in my crappy portuñol. As she brought me into the consultation room, she introduced herself as Celina. Then, she did some serious figure pressing on my two feet and I winced in pain. She slowly and methodically pressed certain points and looked into the mid-distance, concentrating in her mind.
After maybe 20 to 30 mins of analysis, Celina concluded, “Tudo bom. Voce, tudo bom.” (Everything OK. You, everything OK.) and mentioned something that sounded like musculação (musculation? muscles?). Oh well, great to hear that I am tudo bom. Guess my treatment would be to lie on the beach.
When I got up and asked her how much it cost, she smiled, “Nada” (Nothing). What?? Seriously? I was really surprised, she had exuded a wonderful aura and was so detailed, concerned and wonderfully warm to me. So, the consultation (and apparently, some form of treatment) was really free indeed! When I departed, she even said it was a pleasure knowing me. Oh, how sweet!! “Um prazer conhecê-lo também, Celina!!” I replied. (My only complete Portuguese phrase!)
Her massage was quite good and for a while, my feet felt really relaxed.
Last Friday, during the mêlée of squeezing through the party crowd in Lapa, Elaine, Sarah’s friend, had pressed a cinema ticket into my hand, asking me to go. It was called Cachaça Cinema Clube where there would be a screening of 4 Brazilian independent short films. And it was for today at 8:30pm.
It was too freaking cold out there without my jacket, so I dawdled inside Rio Sul Shopping Mall, speed-reading Portuguese phrase books, before making my way to Cinema Odeon BR at Praça Floriano, near Cinelandia metro at around 7pm.
It took me a while before I realised that the ‘ticket’ I had with me, which I thought gave me free entry was actually just a brochure. I spotted loads of it distributed free, like air, near the cinema. And yet, no one took them and everyone was queuing up to buy tickets. Silly me!
Wow, Cinema Odeon is an old-style 1920s cinema, recently restored, built in the centre part of Rio de Janeiro in grand style, near the National Library and Teatro Municipal, both with equally elegant and stunning architecture. This area was probably the centre of political and cultural prominence way back in the good old days of Rio de Janeiro.
The 4 Brazilian short films are about drinks, namely cachaça! I did not understand a word, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. The first was made like a documentary celebrating cachaça as it evolved through the centuries. The second and third were comedy-dramas done in a funny style. For the third film, I had found the bar familiar-looking. It took me til the end of the film to realise that it was the exact same bar that Elaine had taken us to use the pipi room (toilet) that night. Yeah, now I recalled that Elaine had mentioned that this was the place where one of the films was made. Wow, nice to see the connection! The fourth one must be the most hilarious of them all. However, as it was done in an interview style, I could not follow what was going on, but the audience were laughing and clapping away.
Of course, at the end of the screening, free cachaça for all. I had an absolutely delightful evening!
Tags: 02) And God Created Brazilian Women, Rio de Janeiro
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