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Published: March 8th 2007
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Monday 25th February to Thursday 28th February 2007.
An example of Brazillian reliability is thus. On Sunday night Glennu, in telling me of his love for cooking invited us round to lunch at his apartment which used to be the family home but which, since his parents had departed to live on a farm, had been his very own bachelor pad. The time arranged was 1.30pm.
At two Silv, Dave, Si and Jelena arrived at the Hostel to collect me and another half hour had passed before Silv announced that she had forgotten something or other and had to nip back to hers before we went. We´d been there another half an hour when the unmistakable sizzle of cooking emerged from the kitchen closely followed by Silvia with a plate of scrambled eggs and tomatoes and we finally arrived at Glenn´s at 4.45pm, three and a quarter hours late. I tried to apologise when we arrived but even he couldn´t see the problem and promptly served up a spread of garlic prawns, fish and a Brazillian meat dish with accompaniments that we ate al fresco on the balcony of the third floor apartment.
I´d made some half baked
Rio (5); The Good Samaritan.
His bachelor pad just as his parents had left it complete with Bible. arrangements to leave Rio the following day and accompany Caroline, Ryan, who by this stage was regretting his decision to let Caroline think that they were an item and a couple of others from the adjoining hostels to Ilha Grande but for some reason they were leaving at 4.30am and when I discovered that buses ran all day I decided against it, especially when Glenn said he´d received a heap of fish from his uncle and that he´d cook lunch again on the morrow.
I´d heard various people talk about a Scottish girl who had stayed in one of the adjoining hostels to the Lighthouse, subsequently moved into an apartment and who was now seriously ill and when I went downstairs on Tuesday morning I was greeted by the sight of a large, greasy lump of a girl lying prostrate and close to tears on the hostel sofa. It was Helen and I have to admit she looked bad. I was just heading through to fill up for the day on the complimentary ham and cheese rolls when Claudia asked me if I would mind taking her to the local A & E Department. What ? Why me ?
Still rubbing the sleep from my eyes I asked where it was and she told me that it was just around the corner. If it´s just around the corner what is the point of me taking her because I sure as hell ain´t going to carry her I thought. ¨But she may collapse¨ was Claudia´s response.
Somewhat reluctantly I agreed and escorted her around the corner gallantly carrying her things as we went, understandably a large bottle of water and bizarrely a plastic bag containing dry bread rolls. I managed to get to speak the head quack who informed me that he´d have to see her insurance documents before he could ask one of his staff to give her the once over which then resulted in us, her still sobbing and groaning, heading to the nearest internet cafe to print them off. Helen claimed to have paid an extra premium to ensure that she was certain of receiving attention but neither the Doc nor I had heard of such a thing and he politely assured me it would be 200 Reals (fifty quid) before any of his staff would so much as look at her. By now she
Rio (5); The Good Samaritan.
Simon and Dave, two good guys. Don´]t know what a bottle of JW is in my hands for, I don´t touch the stuff. was sobbing loudly ¨but my credit card is at the apartment (in Copacabana) and I don´t have any money¨ she cried.
I had a quick decision to make; Either the ruthless ¨Well that´s you buggered then love¨or the noble ¨Okay, I´ll lend you the money¨. I chose the latter, dashed back to the hostel and handed the cash over. When I finally left Rio over 24 hours later I had still not heard sight nor sound of her.
At 3pm the following afternoon, two hours after the arranged time I began to realise that lunch wasn´t going to happen and was beginning to think that with Fernanda at the weekend, lunch the day before and now this that it was me that people were trying to avoid. Claudia, who by now I had warmed to convinced me that this was not the case but was simply the way Carioca´s live, a fact confirmed when Glennu strolled in to the hostel at 5pm. ¨What happened to the fish?¨ I asked. He shrugged his shoulders with a boyish smile and replied ¨Man, I needed to sleep¨.
That evening I dined out with Lucy, a very atrractive well spoken 33
Rio (5); The Good Samaritan.
Even with a key it´s hard to get out of Silv´s. Simon, Jelena and Lucy struggle to get out. year old English girl who´d returned home to the UK after ten and a half months travelling, realised her mistake and boarded the next flight back to Rio for the final six weeks of her year and Hynal in a typical Brazillian restaurant where the food, presented in a buffet format consisting of everything you could think of is sold by the weight of your plate. Our plates appeared evenly stacked and I couldn´t understand why mine was valued at twice as much until it was pointed out that meat and fish weighs so much more than lettuce, cucumber and coleslaw.
Tuesday night was to be Dave and Simon´s last in Rio before heading off to the Inca Trail in Peru so a night out was inevitable. They were two funny guys who I´d hit it off with as well as anyone since my journey began and having said goodbye to Dave who was having a last night in with Silv I headed off to a club with Si, Glenn, Jelena, Christian, a Chilean lad who worked at one of the hostels and three of his countryfolk for a farewell night that went on a lot longer than anticipated.
Rio (5); The Good Samaritan.
Simon´s leaving party. David (Chile), Simon, Christian, Jelena, Glennu and me. When the club closed the party, for me and a couple of others at least, went back to Glennu´s and having slept during the day I returned to the hostel at 7pm. When I walked in Claudia went ballistic. ¨Where have you been? We´ve been worried about you¨. Apparently she genuinely had been worried and was on the verge of reporting me as a missing person. All I could do was say I was sorry for not phoning home, a forty three year old boy with a twenty six year old mother.
When she´d finished with me she added as an aside ¨Oh yes, I had to let your bed out as well¨. I couldn´t complain, I´d paid up until the previous evening and when I hadn´t arrived back by lunchtime my bed was up for grabs but she found a bunk for me at the adjacent Harmonia Hostel which I fell into at 11pm.
At about 8pm before I retired I´d been sat in the Lighthouse with Lucy, Adam and a couple of outspoken Australian girls who´d just arrived when a mid sixties Essex couple who´d checked in the day before came back. They sat silently
Rio (5); The Good Samaritan.
A deserted Ipanema Beach early morning. for a minute or two before informing us, at first ever so nonchalantly, that they´d just been mugged. We all sat open mouthed as they told us how they´d been walking down the esplanade on Ipanema, supposedly one of the Cities safer areas, when they had been squared up to by three guys, one of whom was wielding a knife and who had then wrestled the struggling, kicking old man to the ground. As he kicked and she screamed no one came to assist but the three guys, obviously realising there would be easier pickings elsewhere fled empty handed.
Adam the Australian then recounted his bizarre experience of the day before. His was a similar story, same time, same amount of conspirators only at Copacabana Beach. He handed over his credit card, cash and camera and then realising he couldn´t be doing with the hassles of calling his bank to cancel his cards and overcome with an attack of bravado/stupidity that he knew not from where it came he snatched his card back from his assailants hands obviously impressing them in the process as all three of them then shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder before
Rio (5); The Good Samaritan.
With Glennu and his two pals, Fabiane and Graciela. As you can see it was hot in there. handing all his property back and disappearing into the crowd leaving him shaken but relieved on the sidewalk.
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non-member comment
Finish the freaking story!! Did she get better? Did they keep her in hospital? Did you get your money back? Lucy looks your type.But then so do all the others....