A Series of Lasts

I would like to thank Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson for introducing the world to the term "the Bucket List."

Before writer Jack Zackham's 2007 film, I am not so sure I had EVER heard the phrase used. Now, it seems to be something everybody has--their own "bucket list" or things they want to accomplish before ________ (fill in the blank). In the film, Nicholson's and Freeman's characters, facing the last years of their lives, create a list of things they want to do before they die.  As a member of a fairly transient community, the "bucket list" is what people I know want to fulfill before leaving one post and heading to another. Knowing that you are leaving a city/country creates a lot of pressure to make sure you took advantage of all the city/country has to offer.

About a month ago, we fulfilled one item on Katie and Joe's "bucket list" by having a LONG Brazilian-style Sunday lunch at churrascaria Majorica in Flamengo complete with caipirinhas, gin and tonics, lots-o-carne, and plenty of conversation.

Koa shared his dessert with Ernesto (not really his name, I don't think, but this gentleman acted like the owner of the joint, so I decided to call him Ernesto.)

Since taking the job in Alabama, many people have been asking me what is on my bucket list.

I have to admit that I don't really have one...well other than finally making it to Igreja Nossa Senhora da Penha...

365 (one for each day of the year) steps lead the way to this incredible landmark of Rio de Janeiro. The energy is amazing, calming, overwhelming. I entered the church, knelt in a pew, gave my thanks to God for the blessings and opportunity in my life--the privilege. I cried praise and thanks. Literally. 

However, other than Igreja Penha, I do not have a LIST of things I need to do before my departure from Rio. I sure do look at the city through different eyes though. This weekend, I took advantage of being in Zona Sul and walked everywhere I could. I didn't want to get on a bus or jump in a taxi. I want to walk. I want to feel and smell this city. I want to remember the paths I have taken, yet not taken for granted. I want to tatoo the images in my mind so they are not to be lost.

I don't think it is possible for me to remove Rio from my senses. Last week, I went to EARJ for Sierra's 8th grade "graduation". I arrived early in order to say farewell/ate logo to a few people. Sitting with the HR Director, reminiscing over the last 6 years, she reminded me what I said  upon first entering my Rio apartment in July 2006.  I remember it like it was yesterday.

I walked in, I took a deep breath, I closed my eyes, smiling, and said, "Ahhh, it smells like Brasil!" and it did.

And since that first deep breath, I have lived. I have enjoyed. I have immersed myself so deeply in this city and this way of life that I am left with no "bucket list". No magic list of things I need to do before I go. I have done all that I wanted along the way. Danced on the beach, hiked to the waterfall, paraded in the Sambadromo, fell in love, road the buses, the metro, the train. I have lived my AmeRIOca dream. Even though the moments are but memories that stay with me, I hope, throughout my life, I encounter smells that bring me back like the first day I walked into my Rio apartment.