Secondary school end of year trip. We had spent the whole year raising money and also saving our own money for this trip. At the beginning of the year we had no idea where we would go, it would all depend on how much money we would raise in the end. Options were many and we thought it should last a week so it felt like a well deserved holiday after a year of studying. It didn’t matter if you were an excellent, a good or bad student to join the group. As long as you were in our class and willing to help raise money, you were welcome to join us.
By October, near the end of our class term, we had raised enough money to choose from different places such as: 1-a week in Paraguay, visiting the Iguazu Waterfalls, 2-a week in Argentina, Bariloche, visiting the Perito Moreno Glaciar, 3-a week in the south of Brazil, visiting the best beaches in the world…..The last was the chosen one although it was not the best option in my mind. I would have loved to see the Glaciar!
We rented a hotel for a bunch of twenty-five students and a couple of mothers who were invited to go as “carers” in case anything happened – we were all between sixteen and seventeen years old. We rented a coach for the trip and by the end of November (cannot remember the year, it was too long ago!) we headed to the great city of Pelotas.
Pelotas is a Brazilian city the fourth most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, after Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul and Canoas. It is located 270 km from Porto Alegre, the state’s capital city, and 130 km from the Uruguayan border. For me who had only been to Montevideo (capital of Uruguay) as a big city, Pelotas was enormous. Although it was not right on the Atlantic Ocean, we visited a beach called Praia do Laranjal which was a paradise… white very thin sand and light blue water with a lovely temperature. It was so big that although there were many people enjoying it, there seemed to still be plenty of space for even more visitors. I felt as if I was part of a film in one of those touristic paradises where you were left alone in survival mode.
I need to mention that back in the city there were soooo many shops it was difficult to find the time to visit them all. Each shop was a building with at least three or four floors. On each floor you could find different items, one for children, another one for women, next one for men. I needed a swimsuit and therefore went directly to the women’s section.
It was difficult to choose as every single swimsuit was so nice! All of a sudden one called my attention: half blue, half red in diagonal and it came with a swim cap in the same colours. I loved it as soon as I saw it. It had a banded halter top which was blue on one side and red on the other and continued down the rest the same way. I did not even ask the price, just decided I should have it and with this combination no one, definitely NOT ONE! would have the same swimsuit as me. Especially after buying it so far away from my city where more than once you met someone wearing the same t-shirt as you!
You can imagine my happiness when I wore the new swimsuit the first time after we returned from the trip to Brazil! I felt so pretty in it, went to the usual beach I used to go on the River Plate. This day, I decided to go for a walk by the shore. The day was gorgeous and the water was a little cold so a walk would indeed help to feel better once you went into it.
If I hadn’t been walking by the shore I could have sworn I was lying on the sand.
How was that possible??
Myself sunbathing or walking?
I was sure I was the one walking by the shore…who on earth was that woman enjoying the sun and wearing my same swimsuit???
I got near her and said: “Excuse me, I felt curious as soon as I saw you…you’re wearing my swimsuit!
“I’m sorry but it’s MY swimsuit, I bought it with my own money! And apparently yours is exactly the same.”
“May I ask you where you bought it?” I needed to ask this.
“In Pelotas, Brazil, I usually go there to buy my clothes. Where did YOU buy yours?”
“Well, we definitely bought it in the same shop in Brazil!”
At that point both of us started laughing and started making comments about our trip to Pelotas, the coincidence and introduced each other.
I never saw her again as I did not go to the same beach during that summer.
Obviously never again bought a swimsuit in Brazil although I visited it many times!