Orange Grove
It's been almost 11 years since I moved to this neighborhood after a lifetime by the seaside. There was a basic reason for our choice when we decide to buy our own place. With three small kids, we needed a three bedroom apartment, preferably in a building with some playing area. Money was short, so it was impossible to get something adequate by the sea. This neighborhood was cheaper, allowed us to get an old apartment (which mean larger rooms), and it was extremely convenient for me to get to my job and for my former husband to get speedily to his. Also, I wanted my kids to study on this particular Catholic school which is just a few blocks away, and I thought this would help them.
So we moved from Ipanema to Laranjeiras, which means Orange Grove. There are no orange trees here anymore. There used to be a huge farm owned by an Englishman all around this valley, but that was almost 200 years ago and we have fun looking at the old prints that show the area. Now it is strictly middle-classed. There are lots of journalists I know who live around here, university teachers, small businessmen and women, doctors, dentists, mostly hard working people. My building is huge. It has 180 units. My father calls it "the project", but it is pretty unfair.
Orange Grove Street is pretty busy and rather wide. Further down the road, it becomes a two way street. By my building there is a shop that sells construction items (cement, paint, tiles and the likes), and a pretty good grocery shop. Across the road, we have two drugstores. One is very new fangled and sells lots of stuff besides medicine. There is a bar beside the construction shop and the market. A bar here means a greasy counter with pink colored eggs and hairy chunks of bacon, where guys talk about soccer and drink beer standing up. It can get rowdy on Friday nights. And on the street, there are all kinds of vendors. The pineapple guy, the watermelon guy, another one who sells bedspreads and home utilities. When I go to the gym, I always look at the one who sells old vynil disks. Today I saw a John Lennon, a Ray Charles collection, and Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother. Right in front of my building, there is a taxi stop. I know most of the drivers by name, and sometimes they give me a ride for free. Call it mileage reward, if you will. ;-) And there is also a mototaxi stop. It is a informal business, that takes people to places buses don't usually go like the top of the hills.
My new neighborhood is much more residential. There are lots of trees on the streets and no vendors. But to be absolutely truthful, I have to say that there is a bar on the corner and a drugstore. I wouldn't be in Rio if there were none.
2 Comments:
Livia, both areas sound like they each hold a special charm of their own. I think your new home will be a nice change for all of you.
The change will be welcome. :-)
Writing about it is a way to accept it, and not forget the way things are and the world we lived in for 11 years. Living by the beach will be healthier for the kids. :-)
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