Luis Fernando and I were mugged by a guy this afternoon. He approached us on broad daylight, put one hand on each of our shoulders (mimicking the facial expression and body language of friends meeting on the street) and saying the classics ´this is a robbery´ , ´I have a gun´, ´don´t look around´ and ´pass me your mobile phones now and walk straight away without looking back or else´. As usual and as generally recommended we did not resist and felt really stupid afterwards. We spent about an hour on a payphone informing the two mobile companies of the theft and then THREE HOURS on a lousy police station to file a report to use with our insurances. I was sad/upset because of the present you and Fred gave me... I got two copies of the theft report so I can use one for the local GSM chip (they said they will replace it) and another to be translated (I guess) and used to claim the KPN insurance we made when you bought it. Should that be a problem my travel insurance might also be of use.

It´s not affecting my mood that much tough!

The fun thing was that while we were waiting forever at the police station Luis Fernando and I talked of Ricardo, an old old mutual friend whom we hadn´t met in person, or barely heard of, for the last 15 years. I decided to use the payphone (outside; there wasn´t one in the police station) to call the directory service, got Ricardo´s number and called him. He came by right away and spent some time with us in the depressing station corridor catching up with the news of all these years and then went back to whatever appointment he had leaving us waiting another two hours for the officer in charge, who turned out to be pretty polite and considerate after all.

I arrived in Sao Paulo Sunday night and a lot happened since then. I am still trying to recover from a talk I had last night with a gerontologist friend with whom my mom had a brief consultation some weeks ago. He prepared me for pretty heavy scenarios. From the little he saw during the consultation it seems her condition is very worrying both clinically and mentally. Add to that the fact that her health insurance company is sort of failliet and our ongoing family conflicts... oooohh, man, I feel it won´t be easy to untangle all this.

She is very happy I am here though and already convinced (it seems) that moving will make her life better... that alone seemed impossible a short while ago. Following Joe´s advice I got myself a YMCA membership on my first
morning here. It´s literally around the corner and very well equipped. I had a good serious swim yesterday (for a change) and have an appointment with a trainer tomorrow. He insisted I should do this to help alleviate the pressure the family situation brings and he´s right.

A friend called my trip a ´refurbishing vacation´. Since NYC I have been planning (and succeeding) in taking care of doctor/gym/dentist/eye doctor appointments. Goed zo, jongen! (tapping own shoulder)

Let´s not even talk about the war.

lots of love to you two

rog (starting to learn what time really does to people)

Officials at the French Embassy thought it was ignorant, pointing out that French fries actually come from Belgium.
‘‘We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes,’’ Nathalie Loisau, an embassy spokeswoman, told the Associated Press.

Yeah, let's hop in our SUVs, suck up some more $3.00/gallon gas on our way to McDonald's for Freedom Fries - that'll show 'em!

(p.38) Certain behavioral rules, or an etiquette of bathing, may also help induce your entry into realms of altered ontological status.

(p.101) A communal bathing situation, where everybody is equally conscious of notknowing the rules, can cause a momentary breakdown of social hierarchy which is actually quite a delightful sensation (...) confusion and discomfort replace delight when notions of courtesy, modesty, privacy and propriety are individually addressed in conflicting ways.

(p. 29) The bath, under propitious circumstances, is an informal ritual that awakens your mind to the existence of your body and your body to the existence of your mind.