We Were the Lucky Ones

Addy gets to know Rio de Janeiro: “Addy has found that the best way to avoid dwelling too much on the unknown, on the alternate universe he’s left behind, is to keep moving” (205). He and Eliska explore the city, drinking and dancing. Addy has struggled financially while waiting for a work permit, doing odd jobs. He sleeps on the floor of his tiny flat, has furniture he made himself from wood scraps, and fixes a broken radio so that he can listen to music.

Addy visits his new friend Raoul at his juice bar and tells him that he has found a new job in Minas Gerais, now that he has his work permit. Addy will be living there for a few months, working as an electrical engineer.

Addy goes to the post office, where he has become well known. Each week he mails a letter to his parents and asks if there is any mail for him. It has been two and a half years since he has received any news from Radom: “As the weeks and the months pass, the agony of wondering what has become of his family worsens” (208). Reading in the newspaper about the tens of thousands of Jews killed increases his fear and anxiety.