I've been M.I.A. for the past two weeks because my good friend Laura was visiting me here in Rio. We spent two great weeks together doing all things Brazilian: Travelling to São Paulo (seeing Danielle for a millisecond); Riding bikes around Zona Sul; Going to Leme Beach; Visiting Pão de Açucar; Getting manicures, getting waxed, getting tipsy; Eating a great restaurants, eating at home, eating HEALTHY; But most of all enjoying each others' company because we hadn't seen each other in a year.
It's sometimes a hard reminder when you spend time with your really old friends from your former home. A reminder that even across time zones and languages your friendships can still remain strong, if not stronger, despite the distance. The fact is, these kind of friendships take time to cultivate. Time and quite probably embarrassing moments - my friends from Canada can attest to the fact that we've all had some awesomely embarrassing moments together. For God's sake, I watched Laura get a Brazilian wax last year when she couldn't communicate with the waxing lady and the waxing lady insisted I stay to help. Nothing builds a friendship like watching your friend get her thang waxed. (Sorry Laur, I needed that story to emphasize my point) ;-)
And while my new friendships in Brazil are also fantastic, they just don't have that 'time' factor yet. As Leslie says on the show Parks and Recreation "So what did you guys talk about? Old times? Oh, I love talking about old times. New times are great too, but there's just something about old times. You know what I mean?" Well said, Leslie.
So I guess the point of this sappy, sad post (gimme a break! Laura went home yesterday and I'm all depressed) is that I am really grateful for both of my worlds. My Aldous Huxley world and my Old World. But it sure is hard living in a parallel universe. I wish they could exist together as one life but at the same time, one wouldn't really even exist without the reality of the other. I did manage to bring them together, just a little bit ;)
On a positive note, I got to learn about my friend in a different way than either of us had experienced with the other. I suppose you could say that we uncovered each others' neuroses after sharing a house for 2 weeks. It was great waking up with her here in the morning, making breakfast together and sitting in front of the 'sitting' window (it's a great window we have for sitting and looking outside). Working together to keep the house in order then deciding what to do for the day. It was really nice to have her company. And the time went by so quickly. Le sigh.
It does keep me excited for the next guests we have coming - my mom and sister will be here for New Years this year! Lucky me!
For now, it's sad movie watching and laying on the couch. Tomorrow I'll be good as new ;-)
